Interview With Zain Verjee of CNN

SECRETARY RICE: Well, the Syrian Foreign Minister and I had a chance on the margins of this meeting to talk about the need to stabilize Iraq. I talked to him about the flow of foreign fighters across that border, a major source of suicide bombers (inaudible).

And he said that he understands that Syria has no interest in an unstable Iraq. But of course actions speak louder than words and I'm hoping that they will come through.

QUESTION: Would you characterize your conversations as substantive?

SECRETARY RICE: They were substantive. They were professional and businesslike. We talked only about Iraq because this is a neighbors' conference, (inaudible) having said that the (inaudible) conference (inaudible) I had a chance to reinforce the message that has been given, that I would take that chance.

QUESTION: Would it lead to open (inaudible)?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, we'll see. This was a good opportunity in the context of an international conference in which everybody is making commitments to a stable Iraq to reinforce that message with the Syrians.

QUESTION: The Bush Administration really criticized Speaker Nancy Pelosi when she (inaudible) essentially saying that you were (inaudible) bad behavior. Did you just do that?

SECRETARY RICE: Look, (inaudible) go to the masses and to have those pictures that suggest a relationship that doesn't exist with Syria, a relationship that would have to be built differently, have (inaudible). This was really a very, very limited to Iraq. We talked about nothing else.

I did say to the Syrians that we have no desire to have bad relations with Syria. Of course, we want to have better relations with Syria. But it has to be built on the basis of something concrete.

QUESTION: You ran into the Iranian Foreign Minister over lunch and you exchanged pleasantries (inaudible). What was the atmosphere like between the two of you? Could you give us a flavor?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, there were (inaudible) people there. The Saudi Foreign Minister --

QUESTION: But was there a dynamic here that even in a moment that you (inaudible) be able to (inaudible)?

SECRETARY RICE: We're both civil people and we -- this was a social luncheon among the foreign ministers. If I have an opportunity (inaudible) to reinforce the message that has been given (inaudible) by the international community or the neighbors that we are going to do everything we can to support this Iraqi Government, then I will take that opportunity.

QUESTION: So that's not necessarily it? I mean, do you want to have more candid discussions, a potential one-on-one in this context (inaudible)?

SECRETARY RICE: We're not seeking a bilateral with Iran, nor are they seeking one with us. But the real breakthrough is that we are all here together at this conference to support Iraq, and Iraq's neighbors have a -- not just an obligation, but really a tremendous self-interest in seeing a more stable Iraq. And that really is the message that we are (inaudible).

QUESTION: You said that the Iraqis are not delivering fast enough on the issue of political reconciliation and you've said before too that your patience is limited. Why haven't you been willing to -- been willing to impose consequences on the Iraqis when they don't deliver?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, they do need to deliver and they need to deliver more urgently. Our concern has been that we don't want to limit our own flexibility and the flexibility of General Petraeus, the flexibility of Ambassador Crocker, to be able to use the tools that we have to help bring about Iraqi reconciliation. To the degree that we tie our own hands with timetables and goals and --

QUESTION: But don't you maintain our status quo then and just enable a situation (inaudible)?

SECRETARY RICE: It's not (inaudible). The Iraqis have a timetable of their own (inaudible) what their own people (inaudible). And we've been saying to them that it's not just the United States, although (inaudible), but the Iraqi people, what they expect.

Now, again, I today again or yesterday talked again with Prime Minister Maliki, I talked with other members of the Iraqi Government, about the need to deliver. But it would be a mistake to tie our own hands in being able to do what we need to do to help (inaudible).

QUESTION: Do you think that there's room for any compromise at all on this issue of Democrats who want to see benchmarks with consequences in the spending bill? Is there room for compromise (inaudible)?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, I know that the President met yesterday with members of Congress. We do need to come together and I know that he hopes that we can come together. But we need to do it in a way that gives us, the Administration, the new leadership that we have out in Iraq, both political and military, to have the flexibility to use our tools and our national --

QUESTION: (Inaudible) since you won't -- you wouldn't, then?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, we will see, and I'm sure the President wants to have conversations in order to be able to (inaudible) find a place where we have the needed flexibility and send the right message to the Iraqis that the United States, in fact, doesn't have limited patience. There ought to be a way to come together on this issue.

QUESTION: The message that you've been sending to (inaudible) Iraq's Arab neighbors is that, first, there has been progress in Iraq. But many Arab leaders are saying we just don't see it and they point to the increase in sectarian violence as they see it. Is there a disconnect here in the way that Arab leaders and yourself see the situation in Iraq? Who's inaccurate here -- them or you?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, we have had a chance to talk about this. I've talked to Prince Saud, the Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia, and with others about the fact that we are seeing reductions in sectarian violence, we are seeing greater evenhandedness by Iraqi security forces. It's not perfect, but we're seeing a much stronger effort to defend Iraqis across the board regardless of ethnicity or religion.

Now, the best thing is that the Iraqis themselves have a chance to make that case tomorrow and to talk about what they're doing, and that's why this neighbors conference is so important.

QUESTION: Sunni Arab countries though (inaudible) been part of the discussion (inaudible) they just don't like or they don't trust Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, they don't like the Shia-dominated dominant. So why should they, from their point of view, offer the kind of political support and financial support that you're asking them to do?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, the suspicions about Iraq go back a long way. It didn't begin with Prime Minister Maliki --

QUESTION: No.

SECRETARY RICE: This goes back to Iraq under Saddam Hussein that was very destabilizing to the region. So there's a lot to overcome here. I'm not surprised that the suspicions are still there.

But I did see today (inaudible) that their neighbors -- the Saudis, for instance -- they're going to produce aid (inaudible) major move forward. And I think the reason that they are trying to find ways to help the Iraqis is that it is really in their self-interest to have an Iraq that is stable, an Iraq that can be a force for fighting terrorism in the region. It's not going to do anybody any good if Iraq is in chaos, and so what we see here is a combination of obligations of the Iraqis -- that's a good thing -- but also very strong self-interest in this region in having Iraq be stable.

QUESTION: Your critics say that you're just not being realistic about the situation on the ground in Iraq, particularly when it comes to imposing consequences on the Iraqis when they don't deliver. How do you respond to that?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, I think we're very really realistic about the challenges involved. You know, they have (inaudible) challenge of extremists from various quarters -- some Sunni, some Shia, al-Qaida which is a factor in all of this. We understand the challenges of overcoming political difficulties by trying to decide what role people who were once members of the Baath Party played, building security forces, trying to divide oil resources equitably.

These are challenges that would be hard under the most favorable circumstances. We're very realistic about that and the Iraqis are. But the fact is that we have no choice for our own security as well as for the security of the region to support this government and to help them make it work. And that is really the message of this conference, that it is hard, it is challenging, but if we all do what we need to do -- securing borders, dealing with the circumstances of reconstruction, helping on the security side -- if we all do what we can do, the Iraqis can meet these challenges (inaudible).

QUESTION: And finally, if I may just on a personal note. Is Condoleezza Rice's legacy at stake here? There have been many people that (inaudible) your predecessors (inaudible) and have reached out and met the enemy and (inaudible) really has been progress. Is this your chance to do the same?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, it's a little early to worry about my legacy. (Laughter.) I'm not going to worry about that.

QUESTION: (Inaudible.)

SECRETARY RICE: I am simply trying to do what I think is right in the support of a policy by this President that really is changing the face of the Middle East. And there's no doubt that this is a region that for 60 years the United States pursued certain kinds of policies linked principally to stability, and now we have pursued a different set of policies. Do I believe that it is important to try and lay a foundation that the Middle East will move over time toward greater democracy, greater freedom, and thus greater true stability rather than false stability? Absolutely. And I think that it's important to reach out to all of those who might be a part of that, absolutely.

But in helping young democracies like Iraq or Afghanistan or Lebanon, I think we really are helping to lay that foundation. And that's what I'm concerned about today.

QUESTION: Thank you so much, Secretary Rice.

SECRETARY RICE: Thank you.