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Bush Owes His Successor A Tough Finish on Foreign Policy By JOHN R. BOLTON September 6, 2008; Page A11 As the Bush administration enters its last months, its pursuit of a "legacy," especially in foreign policy, becomes ever more frenetic. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's travel schedule is packed. State Department "signing ceremonies" are blossoming, even for agreements that would not have attracted high-level attention just last year. Editorial writers are being quietly encouraged to laud administration successes. While neither unique nor unexpected, the legacy frenzy masks what should be our real concern until Jan. 20, 2009: the risk of...

Palestinian source told Al Quds: Rice supports the creation of a Palestinian state on the borders of 67 - Jones to propose security arrangements Palestinian source told Al Quds: Rice supports the creation of a Palestinian state on the borders of 67Google translation:http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ar&u=http://www.alquds.com/&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=1&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dal%2Bquds%26hl%3DenAl Quds (Jerusalem) Wednesday August 27 2008 -- Jerusalem - A high-level Palestinian source in the Palestinian Presidential Office told Al Quds that the American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice touched for the first time during talks yesterday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah ono the need to establish a Palestinian state on the borders of...

Secretary Rice Remarks With Palestinian President Abbas [negotiating Jerusalem now] They are dealing with all issues before them. No issue is off the table. Remarks With Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Secretary Condoleezza Rice Ramallah August 26, 2008 www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2008/08/108921.htm PRESIDENT ABBAS: (Via interpreter.) In the name of God, the merciful and the compassionate, again, we welcome Dr. Rice and thank her for her repeated visits, unprecedented level of visits - number of visits, unprecedented in the history of the region. These visits, if they indicate anything, they indicate basically the will and the determination of the American Administration to reach a...

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday praised Sen. Joe Biden, the newly named Democratic vice presidential candidate, as a statesman and a "true patriot." "I am not going to comment on the politics of it. I will just say that Sen. Biden is obviously a very fine statesman," Rice told reporters as she flew to Israel for talks on Israeli-Palestinian peace. "He's a true patriot." The warm words were unusual from Rice, who generally steers away from commenting on the U.S. presidential election pitting Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona against Democrat Sen. Barack Obama of...

via translation - ALERT - The American troops out of Iraq end 2011 BAGHDAD - U.S. troops have left Iraq at the end of 2011 under the security agreement negotiated with the Americans who should be further examined by the highest authorities of Iraq, announced Friday by AFP Chief negotiators Iraqis. "At the end of 2011, American troops will withdraw from Iraq," Mohammed told al-Haj Hammoud.

via translation - ALERT - Condoleezza Rice arrives in Baghdad BAGHDAD - The U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has arrived in Baghdad Thursday to meet with Iraqi officials when the negotiations on the future of the American military presence in this country are parking in their final phase, according to an AFP journalist .

<p>WARSAW, Poland (AP) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her Polish counterpart signed a deal Wednesday to build a U.S. missile defense base in Poland, an agreement that prompted an infuriated Russia to warn of a possible attack against the former Soviet satellite.</p>

President and Mrs. Bush Saddened by Death of Zambian President Levy MwanawasaLaura and I are saddened to hear of the passing of Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa. President Mwanawasa was a champion of democracy in his own country and throughout Africa. As President of Zambia, President Mwanawasa launched a sweeping anti-corruption campaign and dedicated himself to improving the welfare of all Zambians. As Chairman of the Southern African Development Community, President Mwanawasa worked tirelessly to uphold the values of good governance, speaking out against human rights abuses and threats to democracy when many others were silent. On behalf of the United...

In the equation which makes up the odious, criminal and murderous Bush regime and its murderous, criminal and odious foreign policy, the constant factor is constituted by a teacher, promoted to positions way above her personal and intellectual station by a gullible fool of a President. This teacher, whose sheer incompetence as National Security Advisor and as Secretary of State is today so blatantly apparent, goes by the name of Condoleeza Rice.

Nato united in the face of Russia’s failure to withdraw from Georgia today, freezing regular contacts with Moscow and declaring that there could be “no business as usual under present circumstances”. However, there will be no Nato troops rushing to Tbilisi to put military muscle behind the tough statement issued at an emergency meeting of the alliance’s 26 foreign ministers in Brussels. Military assistance will be restricted to training exercises and talks about prospective membership of the alliance. David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, who flew off to meet Mikhail Saakashvili, Georgia’s President, in Tbilisi after the meeting, emphasised that he...

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday that Russia is playing a "very dangerous game" with the U.S. and its allies and warned that NATO would not allow Moscow to win in Georgia, destabilize Europe or draw a new Iron Curtain through it. On her way to an emergency NATO foreign ministers meeting on the crisis, Rice said the alliance would punish Russia for its invasion of the Georgia and deny its ambitions by rebuilding and fully backing Georgia and other Eastern European democracies. "We have to deny Russian strategic objectives, which are clearly to undermine Georgia's...

JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israel's cabinet voted on Sunday to release about 200 Palestinian prisoners as a goodwill gesture to president Mahmud Abbas aimed at bolstering slow-moving US-backed Middle East peace talks. The August 25 release will coincide with a visit by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice aimed at encouraging the negotiations, which have shown little visible sign of progress since they were revived in November. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's spokesman Mark Regev called the move a "confidence-building measure" towards Abbas, adding: "We hope the release will help strengthen the peace process." The list, which will be considered for final...

President Bush and Secretary of State Rice met in Crawford today and then addressed the media about the situation in Georgia. President Bush welcomed Russia's signing of a Georgian cease-fire agreement as a "hopeful step," but also sternly warned Moscow that it must withdraw troops immediately and cannot claim two breakaway Georgian provinces as its own. President Bush Discusses Situation in Georgia The focus of the President’s Radio Address today was Global Diplomacy. FULL REMARKS OF RADIO ADDRESS

Rice to visit Poland to sign missile shield deal WASHINGTON (AFP) — US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday she would travel to Poland in coming days to ink a deal on installing US interceptor missiles on Polish territory. "I'm going to Poland to sign a missile defense agreement in the next couple of days, after the NATO meeting," she told Fox News Sunday. Foreign ministers of the 26 NATO members are due to meet in Brussels on Tuesday to discuss the crisis in Georgia, after a five-day war between Tbilisi and Moscow over the pro-Moscow region of South...

Washington has toughened its stance towards Russia as it sought to limit the damage to its prestige over the crisis in Georgia. On the defensive after criticism that its response to the crisis has failed to stop Russia from prolonging its military operations in Georgia, the Bush administration lashed out at Moscow. Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, said that Russia's reputation was now "in tatters". But this did not stop Russia from searching for a fresh pretext to extend its occupation of Georgian territory. While President Dmitry Medvedev announced that a troop withdrawal would finally begin on Monday,...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 16, 2008 – Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said today she expects Russia, which reportedly signed a cease-fire deal with Georgia, will begin to withdraw its forces “expeditiously” from the former Soviet republic. Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev today signed a French-brokered peace deal, a day after Georgia's President Mikheil Saakashvili endorsed the agreement, which includes a drawdown of troops to levels that existed before Russia invaded its neighbor last week, according to news reports. “Now that President Medvedev has reportedly signed the cease-fire agreement, I assume that Russian forces are going to begin to withdraw expeditiously,” Rice...

Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, warned Russia that it must withdraw its troops behind the boundaries of two disputed Georgian enclaves as she secured a ceasefire agreement that leaves open the possibility of continued incursions. America's chief diplomat arrived in the Georgian capital Tblisi for talks with a deeply suspicious President Mikheil Saakashvili, who sought to strengthen guarantees of a complete Russian pullback. In the end, the pro-Western Georgian leader had little option but to accept the accord on a day that Russia threatened to target Poland with its full arsenal. Before the arrival of international monitors, Russia...

This morning, after receiving an update from his national security team on the situation in Georgia, President Bush delivered a brief statement from the White House Rose Garden. (Transcript) The United States and our allies stand with the people of Georgia and their democratically elected government. Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity must be respected. Moscow must honor its commitment to withdraw its invading forces from all Georgian territory … The people of Georgia have cast their lot with the free world, and we will not cast them aside. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Tbilisi, Georgia today and met...

Sec. of State Condoleezza Rice is holding a press conference at the State Department. It was being covered by Fox.The hot quote by Rice is her telling Russia "this is not 1968" where they can go into a country and topple the government like was done by the Soviets to Czechoslovakia.

Is anybody else watching Condi's State Dept. press conference? She's laying it out straighter than I've ever seen before from Foggy Bottom.THe big highlight was when a Russian "journalist" badgered her, saying that the US response to 9-11 was over-reaction and the Russian operation in Georgia was far more justified than our response to 9-11. She smoked him. Big time. She told him that this is not 1968, that things have changed and Russia cannot overrun a country and its government unchallenged anymore.

Live from Tblisi on Fox News and CNN. Georgian President has been speaking for a while.

Choosing expediency over principle, the United States and its allies are pushing Georgia's pro-Western government to accept major concessions in a cease-fire with Russia. Despite warnings of serious consequences for Russia for its invasion of the former Soviet republic, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice heads to Georgia on Friday to try to persuade its leadership to agree to a deal that expands the mandate of Russian troops on Georgian territory. The French-mediated proposal calls for the immediate withdrawal of Russian combat troops from Georgia, but allows Russian peacekeepers who were in the flashpoint separatist area of South Ossetia before last...

ALERT - Condoleezza Rice arrives in Tbilisi MOSCOW - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has arrived in Tbilisi Friday to affirm the support of Washington to face Georgia in Moscow, has seen an AFP journalist.

Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, is set to land in Georgia in a strong show of support for Tbilisi over the conflict with Russia. Ms Rice, who is hoping to secure President Mikheil Saakashvili's agreement for a French-brokered peace plan, earlier said: "It is time for this crisis to be over. Georgia, whose territorial integrity, independence and sovereignty we fully respect, must be able to go back to normal life." The US warned Russia of the "profound implications" for their relationship caused by Moscow's military action in Georgia. However Mr Saakashvili, who had earlier criticised his western allies...

Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, has threatened Russia with international isolation unless it keeps to a peace deal with Georgia brokered by Nicolas Sarkozy, the French President. As she was despatched for Tblisi by George W Bush, in a strong show of US support for Georgia, Ms Rice said Russian troops' violations of the truce since the agreement was reached have "only served to deepen the isolation into which Russia is moving", as Moscow confirmed its troops remain in the state. There is a "very strong, growing sense that Russia is not behaving like the kind of international...

Mideast edition, Thursday, August 14, 2008 ARLINGTON, Va. — President Bush has ordered the U.S. military to begin a humanitarian mission in Georgia. "This mission will be vigorous and ongoing," Bush said Wednesday at the White House, adding that a U.S. C-17 aircraft with humanitarian supplies was on its way to Georgia. Russian troops and tanks invaded the country last week in response to a Georgian offensive intended to retake the breakaway province of South Ossetia. The Russian president later ordered Russian forces to halt their drive into Georgia, but it was unclear Wednesday whether Russian troops had moved further...

The US has cancelled a joint naval exercise with Russia after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned that Moscow's attacks on Georgia jeopardised its integration into international institutions. The cancellation of the military exercise, set for next week, is the first concrete disapproval from the US over Russia's military operations in Georgia and South Ossetia. "I can assure you that Russia's international reputation and what role Russia can play in the international community is very much at stake here," said Ms Rice. The exercises were to involve warships from Russia, France, Britain and the US in the Sea of Japan...

U.S. Keeping N.Korea on Terror List 'Indefinitely' North Korea remains on a list of state sponsors of terrorism from which the U.S. had been expected to remove the Stalinist country on Monday. A diplomatic source in Washington said U.S. President George W. Bush decided to postpone the removal since North Korea failed to agree on a verification regime for the nuclear programs and stockpiles it has declared. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Japan's Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura by phone about the policy change. By law, the U.S. president could have removed the North from the terrorism list on...

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States suggested on Sunday that Russia was interested in "regime change" in Georgia after Moscow rejected Tbilisi's offer of a cease-fire in the separatist region of South Ossetia. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had told U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that the president of Georgia "must go," the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, told the Security Council. Khalilzad then looked straight at Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin and asked if Moscow was looking for "regime change."

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice defended Israel's right to make its own decision about whether it takes military action against Iran, in an interview released over the weekend. "We don't say yes or no to Israeli military operations. Israel is a sovereign country," she said in response to a question from The Politico Web site as to whether she was concerned that America would be blamed in the case of an IDF attack on the Islamic Republic

GAZA, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Three Palestinian students from Gaza made a personal appeal to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday to allow them to study at American universities after their student visas were revoked. A U.S. diplomat said this week that visas for the three, who won prestigious Fulbright scholarships, were withdrawn after "new information" was received about them. Rice had previously championed efforts by the three Gaza residents to secure exit permits from Israel, which maintains a tight blockade on the Hamas-controlled territory. "We were very disappointed to hear that after all of your efforts ......

Election '08: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says America "will be fine" under Barack Obama. While respecting a busy diplomat's wish to keep out of presidential politics, she couldn't be more mistaken.Is the secretary of state auditioning for a post-government career with an all-girl pop group? Telling Politico and Yahoo News that "Oh, the United States will be fine" under a President Obama sounded more like the infatuated lyrics of the Chiffons' 1963 number-one hit "He's So Fine" than the sober reflections of a member of the president's cabinet. "That handsome boy over there" the Bronx songbirds swooned over, for...

In an interview with Politico and Yahoo News released Thursday, Rice was asked if she would feel secure with a president Obama. "Oh, the United States will be fine," she responded. "I think that we are having an important debate about how we keep the country safe," she said, pointing to the Middle East and Iraq.

A few days before he left on his eight-country world tour, Barack Obama wanted to discuss the trip with an old contact in Washington: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Obama's phone call was in part a courtesy, but over three years of occasional phone conversations, the two have quietly discussed everything from foreign aid to the Middle East and nuclear proliferation. Obama and Rice have come to have a certain respect for each other, says an Obama aide familiar with their conversations, because both take an intellectual, sober view of foreign affairs. "They've had good exchanges," the aide says. "Does...

Can democracy survive the closing of a major political party – the ruling political party in the country? Imagine if the Supreme Court had convened to discuss banning the Democratic Party. Something no less momentous is happening in Turkey this week.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned Iran Tuesday not to delay a decision on an international offer of incentives if it halts sensitive nuclear work, ahead of a Saturday deadline. "The Iranians should know that this is not going to be a matter that they can stall," Rice told reporters after talks with her Italian counterpart Franco Frattini at her office. "The world is watching...," she said. Asked if there was no satisfactory response from Iran, Rice said, "We have been very clear that we have two tracks -- if one track is not working, then we are going...

Israeli and Palestinian officials have confirmed that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is putting heavy pressure on both sides to hammer out a “document of understandings” detailing progress in the peace process before the UN General Assembly convenes in September.

The President and Mrs. Bush are at the WH this weekend. The President delivered his weekly radio address from the WH. In Focus: Freedom Agenda

She may be the highest ranking African-American in the Republican administration of President Bush, but when it comes to who will get her vote for president in November, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice won't say publicly that she's backing Sen. John McCain. When asked Sunday by Wolf Blitzer on CNN's “Late Edition” if she had "decided who to vote for,” Rice replied, “Wolf, yes.” But when Blitzer asked if she wanted to reveal her choice, Rice said, “No.”

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned Iran on Monday that it faced more sanctions if it defied a two-week deadline to agree to curb its nuclear program. Rice said Iran was stalling and must give a "serious answer" within the deadline set by six world powers which offered trade and technical incentives if Tehran halts its uranium enrichment. The West fears Iran wants to build a nuclear bomb. "We are in the strongest possible position to demonstrate that if Iran does not act then it is time to go back to that (sanctions) track," Rice said,

TEHRAN -- Critical talks in Switzerland over Iran's nuclear program began today with both Iranian and United States officials making their highest level diplomatic contacts since the 1979 Islamic revolution. Iran's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili and European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana smiled as they posed for pictures before heading into the closed-door meetings which will include U.S. undersecretary William J. Burns, the State Department's number three official.

Interview on the Sean Hannity Radio Show (Condoleezza Rice) (Excerpt) - SECRETARY RICE: ... First of all, this decision, this tactical decision to send Bill Burns one time to receive the reply that the Iranians are supposed to give to the offer that the United States, Russia, China, and three European states made – he’s going to go receive the reply, and he’s going to tell the Iranians, in no uncertain terms, that if they want to negotiate, the condition for doing that is to suspend verifiably their enrichment and reprocessing. So this is really to reinforce the policy that...

For months before a group of disguised Colombian soldiers carried out a daring rescue of three U.S. citizens and a prominent Colombian politician from a guerrilla camp, a team of U.S. Special Forces joined elite Colombian troops tracking the hostages across the jungle in the country's southern fringes. The U.S. team was supported by a vast intelligence-gathering operation based in the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá, far to the north. There, a special 100-person unit made up of Special Forces planners, hostage negotiators and intelligence analysts worked to keep track of the hostages. They also awaited the moment when the rescue...

US has means to verify North Korea statement -Rice (Adds amount of plutonium, other details) By Susan Cornwell KYOTO, Japan, June 26 (Reuters) - The United States believes it has the means to verify North Korea's estimate of its nuclear programmes, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Thursday. North Korea was expected to declare between 30-50 kg (66-110 lb) of plutonium in the document, given to the Chinese government on Thursday, a senior U.S. administration official said separately, but added that "our estimates are greater". Verification, which meant calculating and resolving differences in estimates, could take "months and...

In his weekly radio address, President Bush said, "This week, the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives held a conference to highlight the work being done by our Nation's armies of compassion, with help from the Federal government. This conference demonstrated the remarkable difference these groups have made over the past eight years." US President George W. Bush said Saturday he had directed that sanctions be drawn up against the "illegitimate" government of Zimbabwe after a run-off vote boycotted by the opposition. US President George W. Bush declared a state of emergency in California on Saturday and ordered...

From: http://news.trendaz.com/index.shtml?show=news&newsid=1230980&lang=EN N. Korea invites media to nuclear plant blast 24.06.08 11:19 North Korea is to blow up a key part of its controversial Yongbyon nuclear reactor on Friday. The destruction of the plant's cooling tower is part of an agreement with the United States aimed at denuclearizing the Korean peninsula in exchange for loosening some restrictions on the highly secretive Communist country, reported CNN. The North Korean government has invited news organizations, including CNN, to witness the event. Earlier this year, Pyongyang agreed to disable its nuclear reactor and provide a full accounting of its plutonium stockpile, "acknowledge" concerns...

Iran's rice farmers ask where's the money By Zahra Hosseinian CHALUS, Iran (Reuters) - From the lush paddy fields of northern Iran to the dusty grain bazaars of Tehran, the pain and paradoxes of the global crisis spawned by rising food and fuel prices are starkly on show. Rice prices have more than doubled in Iran since March but farmers working from sunrise to sunset in the rice-growing northern region around Chalus, a city on the Caspian Sea, say little of that money goes into their pockets. "Traders bought our rice very cheap. They have put it in storage and...

BERLIN (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Monday the United States was determined to reach out to the Iranian people despite quarrels with their government over Tehran's nuclear ambitions. ... "The United States has been for some time trying to reach out to the Iranian people in various ways," Rice said. Iranians could travel to Dubai to get U.S. visas, she said, but acknowledged it might not be convenient for them to do so. "We want more Iranians visiting the U.S.," she said, adding that she favoured cultural exchanges such as visits by artists and athletes....

International donors offered $120 million on Monday to help rebuild a Palestinian refugee camp badly damaged in fighting between Islamist militants and the Lebanese army last year. The Austrian foreign ministry, hosting a conference in Vienna, said the sum had been pledged for the Nahr al-Bared camp in northern Lebanon. It did not give a breakdown of the donations by country. The camp was home to about 40,000 people before fighting erupted in May last year in the worst internal violence since the civil war. The 15-week battle killed more than 420 people, including 168 soldiers, and left the camp...

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says she welcomes a new power-sharing arrangement in Lebanon, even though it increases the power of Hezbollah militants at the expense of US-backed moderates. "Obviously, in any compromise there are compromises," Rice said during a surprise visit to meet Lebanon's new consensus choice for president. The election of former army chief, Michel Suleiman, last month is the clearest sign that Lebanon has stepped back from the brink and that the deal with Iranian-backed Hezbollah is taking hold. But Hezbollah's ascendancy is a bitter pill for the US, which is worried that Iran's influence is...