Rice defends Iraq invasion

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice defended the Iraq invasion again today as she faced a second day of anti-war protests on her visit to the north-west of England.

While mistakes had been made, “the birth of democracy is sometimes difficult”, she told the BBC ahead of a meeting with Muslim leaders in Blackburn.

Dr Rice, who is in the area as the guest of British Foreign Secretary and local MP Jack Straw, also insisted suspects at Guantanamo Bay were being treated within the law.

And she said Washington was “bending every muscle” to find a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear crisis.

The second day of her tour will see the Secretary of State and Mr Straw meet Muslim leaders and other dignitaries at the Town Hall after a visit to Blackburn cathedral.

The Stop The War Coalition said it hoped thousands of people would join a march to the town hall against US foreign policy.

A planned trip to a local mosque was cancelled earlier this week because of safety fears and there were large demonstrations last night when she attended a concert.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, she said of Iraq: “Of course there have been mistakes. But it was not a mistake to overthrow Saddam Hussein. It was not a mistake to unleash the forces of democracy in the Middle East.

“It’s not at gunpoint that democracy is taking place in Iraq. At gunpoint Saddam Hussein was taken out of power but Iraqis did not go to the polls at gunpoint.

“The birth of democracy is sometimes difficult.”

Mr Straw backed her analysis, adding: “Not everything worked out afterwards as anticipated but I am absolutely clear that without that military action you would never have been able to unleash the forces of democracy not only in Iraq but…across the Middle East.”

Questioned about Guantanamo Bay, Dr Rice said that the Geneva Conventions on treating prisoners of war would have to be “stretched to their limit” to cover al-Qaida.

But nevertheless they were being treated “with military necessity, consistent with the Geneva Conventions”.

“We don’t want to be the world’s jailer. We want people to have trials but we also want to keep terrorists off the streets and we want to be able to get information from them that’s necessary,” she said.

“(The US has been) one of the staunchest defenders over time of international law and we are going to live up to our international obligations. We are going to live up to our domestic laws.

“Within those domestic laws, the president has made clear he is going to do everything possible to prevent another attack of the kind we saw on September 11.”

On Iran, the Secretary of State said that the possibility of military action remained on the table as no American president would rule out an option.

“I think we are bending every muscle to make sure the diplomacy works. If the international community really stays united and sends a unified message to Iran, Iran will have no choice.”

She said she hoped all sides would stick to the Road Map in the Middle East but criticised Hamas for not speaking out against a recent suicide bombing.

“That seems to me not in accordance with the spirit in which one keeps peace.”

Dr Rice also ruled herself out of standing to be president herself.

“I know what I want to do with my life. I know what my strengths are. I have enormous admiration for those who do stand for office. It’s not what I want to do.”