Interview on WESH (NBC) Orlando with Greg Fox

QUESTION: Tonight at nine, President Bush will address the nation on the war on Iraq. He's expected to announce 30,000 U.S. troops will head home by next summer. I'm joined now by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Secretary Rice, thanks a lot for joining us.

SECRETARY RICE: It's a pleasure to be with you.

QUESTION: The President is expected to ask for more time for success to take root in Iraq tonight, yet time and patience seem to be waning here. The stakes have never been higher for this Administration, have they?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, the stakes are very high, not just for the Administration, but for the country and indeed for the entire region of the Middle East and therefore, the world. But the President will announce tonight that we've made progress, that General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker have told him that the progress that we have made will likely allow the bringing home the American troops, the roughly 30,000 American troops, by this summer. Some home as early as the end of the fall this December because very important events are taking place in Iraq. You do have local leaders who are beginning to take their streets back by force of their own arms, their own sons going to fight them. We are seeing an Iraqi Government, while it is not making as much progress as we want at the national level, that is distributing revenues out to the provinces and that is bringing about -- carrying out policies that are allowing local leaders to provide goods and services for their people. So the trend is in a good direction.

QUESTION: Let's talk a little bit then -- yeah, let's talk a little bit about the political battle here at home, because it's a tough one. You have Senate Democrats already talking about legislation limiting the U.S. mission -- the mission of U.S. forces in Iraq. This is going to be a tough sell for the President. How does he make it?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, I think the President will point again to what our people on the ground, thorough professionals. General Petraeus has served this country in uniform as a professional. Ambassador Crocker is a professional in the Foreign Service. These are people who went to the Congress and said, it's going to take time, but we can be successful. And when we are successful, it will be much better for the United States. And if we are not successful, we're going to leave behind a chaotic Iraq that will make a chaotic Middle East and, to be sure, we will have to fight there again and I think that is a persuasive argument.

QUESTION: Well, Congress and the White House set eighteen benchmarks to measure the progress in Iraq and admittedly, few have been met. And then today you have a key political ally in the al-Anbar Province who was killed today. And in spite of everything, Iraq is still a very, very dangerous place.

SECRETARY RICE: Well, of course, Iraq is still a very dangerous place. And as to the benchmarks, yes, the government has not met some of the benchmarks. And we would hope that they would pass the national legislation, but we shouldn't lose sight of what is happening in Iraq. It's a bit like not seeing the forest for the trees. Yes, some of these benchmarks need to be met. But when you look at the fact that money is getting out to the provinces, even if there's not a national oil law to share revenue, money is getting out to the provinces so that it can provide goods and services. Local people are taking their streets back from the terrorists and from the insurgents. We are making progress in Baghdad's neighborhoods so that markets are reopening and people are resuming natural -- normal life. Violence is coming down.

And as to the very tragic assassination today of Sheikh Sattar in Anbar, yes, al-Qaeda is very brutal and they're very ruthless. And I would only quote what his colleagues, the other sheikhs and other local leaders are saying, which is they will not be deterred, they will not be intimidated. If anything, this strengthens their resolve because they know the brutal people with whom they're dealing.

QUESTION: Secretary Rice, let's talk about what appears to be a major diplomatic success story in North Korea. It's apparently going to abandon its nuclear weapons program in exchange for energy aid. How did this come about when you consider we were practically ready to launch -- well, I don't want to go quite that far. But it was a tough situation as much as six months ago.

SECRETARY RICE: No, it was a very tough situation. And just a little while ago, a little over a year ago, when North Korea actually tested a nuclear device. But I think this is a very good lesson that, first of all, you have to have the right group of countries working on a problem. Many people said this should just be done between the United States and North Korea. Well, it's really helped that in the context of the six-party talks, which is the framework for the denuclearization of North Korea, you've had China which has real influence and leverage over North Korea, South Korea which withheld $300 million in assistance until North Korea agreed to these measures. You have all the right countries at the table that have the right set of incentives to show the North a different way if they do denuclearize and disincentives if they refuse to denuclearize. We've still got many steps to go.

But I've heard from the team, that's the team that is out surveying the nuclear weapons facilities in North Korea that are to be disabled. They got good cooperation. So yes, we believe we're on a good path.

QUESTION: All right. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, we appreciate your taking time and spending it with us today.

SECRETARY RICE: Thank you.

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