Interview on NBC's Today Show With Matt Lauer

SECRETARY RICE: Nice to be with you, Matt.

QUESTION: Let's talk -- you're going to hear a lot today, I would imagine, over -- about what's gone wrong over these past four years in intelligence, in planning and execution. So let me start on the other side with you and why don't you tell me what tops your list of what's gone right over these last four years?

SECRETARY RICE: First of all, Saddam Hussein is gone. This is a man who terrorized his people and terrorized the region for decades, drew America into a war in 1991 when he invaded Kuwait and would have drawn the region into wars again. Secondly, the Iraqi people have an opportunity now, having been liberated from this monstrous tyrant to build a country that is based on politics, not on tyranny and violence. They voted 12.5 million strong. They have a constitution. And finally, Matt, I think that from the point of view of the United States, the counterinsurgency strategy that General Petraeus is now pursuing is a strategy that has a chance to give the Iraqis a new opportunity to get their political reconciliation in place. So those would -- that would top my list of things that have gone right.

QUESTION: You go back to Saddam Hussein and of course, it turns out he did not possess weapons of mass destruction. We don't know if he was in the process of acquiring them. So to get rid of him, even if now we have a democratically elected government, was it worth the cost of 3,200 American lives and some $350 billion?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, first of all, one has to recognize that those are lives that are irrevocably lost for their loved ones and for the country and we have to acknowledge that sacrifice, but nothing of value is ever won without sacrifice. And Saddam Hussein did have weapons of mass destruction when we invaded Iraq or when we invaded Kuwait in 1991. It was clear that he was continuing to pursue them. We don't know where he would have come out, but we do know that this was a bloody tyrant who had used weapons of mass destruction before against his people and against his neighbors. He was a dangerous man in the world's most dangerous region and, yes, it was worth it to overthrow him.

QUESTION: Let me tell you about a current poll. Iraqis were asked about their lives today, Madame Secretary. Listen to these results: Nearly nine in ten people said that they live in fear that the violence that is ravaging their country will strike them or the people they live with. That's startling. Ninety percent fear that they'll fall victim to the violence in that country right now. Don't you have to wonder what that percentage would have been under Saddam?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, under Saddam, I guess, the fear would have been that he could have come into your village with his secret police, lined up the women and men and shot them and put them in the mass graves as he did in villages in the south and in Kurdish territory or used chemical weapons against your neighborhood. I don't doubt that the Iraqi people have a lot of fears. It's a very violent circumstance, particularly in and around Baghdad. It's a circumstance that the Iraqi Government understands that it has to get under control. That's why this opportunity that is afforded by the Baghdad security plan thus far going relatively well, though I would be the first to say that there will be good days and bad days. This gives them an opportunity now to deliver security for their people and to delivery it as a democratic government for all Iraqis.

QUESTION: I want to ask you about that plan in a second. Let's talk about the toll of this war. We've talked about the financial cost between 350 billion, some say by the end of this year 500 billion, the 3,200-plus American lives lost, all the wounded. What about the cost in terms of the image and reputation of the United States around the world when you look at things like faulty intelligence and Abu Ghraib and even the way the execution of Saddam was carried out? What's the cost of that in your opinion because you deal with the image of this country all around the world?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, certainly the decision to pursue the war was not universally popular and there are places in which it has made it more difficult to make the argument about America's desire for democracy and peace in the Middle East. But I will tell you that when I go out now, universally around the world, people want us to succeed in Iraq because they understand that the cost of an Iraq that is not stable, the cost of an Iraq that becomes a haven for terrorism, the cost of an Iraq that is not unified and cannot deal with troublesome neighbors would be an unacceptable cost for the entire region and therefore an unacceptable cost for the peace and security of the world. So I find great support now around the world for getting this job done, for making certain that we are able to deliver a stable Iraq. And I just want to say about the neighbors conference that was just held in Baghdad where Iraq's neighbors sat with the members of the permanent five of the Security Council, I think demonstrates that the international community really wants Iraq to succeed.

QUESTION: And let me just end on this plan -- this surge plan for Baghdad. You know, there have been so many plans it seems that have gone wrong over these past four years, Madame Secretary, so why should Americans believe this plan will be any different and how much patience should they have? When should they expect to see results of this current surge in Baghdad?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, this is a plan born of experience, tough experience that says that when you go into the circumstances, in a counter-insurgency circumstance, you have to have enough forces -- reliable forces -- to clear an area, then to hold it, and then to bring in governance and economic development. And so this plan developed by General Petraeus and counter-insurgency specialists is different than what we have pursued before.

QUESTION: Are we talking six months, a year, when will we see results?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, I think -- we will start to know relatively soon whether all of the inputs are in place and whether the Iraqis are living up to their obligations. So far, so good but it's going to take some time for the situation in violence to change. I would ask the American people, though to be patient. We've invested a lot. It's worth the sacrifice and ultimately I believe that we and the Iraqis together will prevail.

QUESTION: All right, Condoleezza Rice. Madame Secretary, thanks very much for your time this morning.

SECRETARY RICE: Thank you.

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