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 29 August 2008 19:33 BST

Rice accepts "thousands" of Iraq errors

Friday, 31 Mar 2006 21:09
Rice accepts "thousands" of Iraq errors
US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice has admitted that US armed forces have made "thousands" of "tactical errors" since coalition forces invaded Iraq in April 2003.

Speaking to reporters in Blackburn on her visit to the UK, Ms Rice justified her concession by distinguishing between flawed military decisions and the wider strategic choices made by President Bush's administration.

She referred to her speech which re-stated US foreign policy aims, outlining her country's goal to spread freedom and justice, maintain international law and commit to a close relationship between Britain and the US.

"I know we've made tactical errors - thousands of them, I'm sure," Ms Rice said in a question and answer session with journalists after making her foreign policy speech.

"But I believe strongly that it was the right strategic decision, that Saddam had been a threat to the international community long enough."

Ms Rice responded to growing criticism of the detention of around 500 terror suspects in Guantanamo Bay by claiming that the US has "no desire to be the world's jailer", claiming that she wants "the terrorists that we capture to stand trial".

"We do not tolerate either at home or abroad engagements in acts of torture," she added.

Her speech also touched on the US' nuclear stand-off with Iran, saying that although military action was not "on the agenda", President Bush "never takes any option off the table".

40 people died following a suicide bomb attack on a US base near the northern Iraqi town of Talafal earlier today, a town which President Bush recently hailed as an example of the US military's successful anti-insurgency tactics.track End of story


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