RICE VERSUS THE COLONEL

CNN LATE EDITION WITH WOLF BLITZER
Interview With Condoleezza Rice; Interview With Thomas Pickering, George Mitchell
Aired June 19, 2005 - 12:00 ET
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0506/19/le.01.html


RICE:We are not going to have to carry this, shoulder this burden until the day that the last moment of violence is over in Iraq. The Iraqis will have to do that. But we can leave them a firm foundation for a better future, and I think we can do that in a relatively quick period of time, because they're getting more and more involved in their own future, both on the security and the political side, every day.

'Hardball with Chris Matthews' for June 16
Read the transcript to the Thursday show
Updated: 8:15 a.m. ET June 17, 2005
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8254919/

Marine Colonel T.X. Hammes was in Iraq last year and was involved in building a new Iraq army, a perfect guy to have on. He‘s also the author of the new book, “The Sling and the Stone,” which is a look at warfare in the 21st century.


COL. T.X. HAMMES, U.S. MARINES: I think we definitely need a plan. That‘s one of the things that is missing. No one can coherently express what our plan is. As far as a timeline, I would rather see an event-based when we achieve this, then we can do this.
MATTHEWS: What would be a good event to mark?
HAMMES: An event would be the capability of the security forces at various levels for various places. If do you a plan, something like the British did in Malea, where you designate areas of the country that you‘re going to secure first. We simply lack the troops and Iraqi security forces to secure the whole country at once. So, we have to decide what is a priority, work on that, and when we achieve that step by step, then we move on to the next part.