Mideast Solution at Risk, Rice Says
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Rice said today that a “two-state solution” in the Middle East was in jeopardy, and described a narrow window of opportunity to push Israel and the Palestinian Arabs toward peace.
In a House hearing interrupted by anti-war protesters, Ms. Rice said an upcoming peace conference in Annapolis, Md., is needed to give hope to moderate Palestinian Arab forces. She blamed Iran for fanning flames in the region, including what she called “troubling” new support for Hamas militants.
“Our concern is growing that without a serious political prospect for the Palestinians that gives to moderate leaders a horizon that they can show to their people that indeed there is a two-state solution that is possible, we will lose the window for a two-state solution,” Ms. Rice told the Foreign Affairs Committee.
Ms. Rice’s testimony was punctuated by Iraq war protesters, including one female who rushed Ms. Rice as she entered the room and waved her hands — painted red to look like blood — in front of the secretary’s face. She shouted that Ms. Rice was a “war criminal” and should be taken to the Hague, a reference to international war tribunals.
Ms. Rice was stoic and proceeded with business as normal as the protester was immediately spirited from the room. Other protesters were likewise escorted away at the behest of Committee Chairman Tom Lantos, Democrat of Califnoria.
Despite the protesters’ effort to focus on the war, the Israeli-Palestinian Arab conflict and Iran dominated much of the hearing. Sharp questions included ones from Mr. Lantos on whether the Bush administration was doing enough to pressure Egypt to crack down on Hamas sympathizers and whether Mr. Bush was calling for the peace conference to salvage his political legacy.
Ms. Rice dismissed suggestions that the conference was a political ploy.
“There are probably easier foreign policy tasks to take on than the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” she said. “The timing comes down to what it is we need to do to give moderate forces in the region a boost and to deal a blow to forces of extremism.”
The conference has not been scheduled, but should happen by the end of the year, she said.
She also said America will ask Congress for more money to support the Palestinian Arab government. She did not disclose the amount.
On a separate issue, Ms. Rice said an emergency State Department review found serious problems with the way private security guards operate in Iraq and that more changes to government policy for contractors may be needed.
Ms. Rice said she and Defense Secretary Gates have told their no. 2 officials to study the situation further. Ms. Rice has already ordered two rounds of changes to the rules for security contractors intended to provide greater oversight from Washington.
On Iran, Ms. Rice said the administration shares Congress’s goal of imposing tougher sanctions. But, she said, a multilateral approach is necessary and urged lawmakers to work with the administration.
Last month, the House passed, by a 397-16 vote, legislation aimed at blocking foreign investment in Iran, in particular its lucrative energy sector. The bill, sponsored by Mr. Lantos, would specifically bar the president from waiving American sanctions.
When asked whether the administration is considering a military strike in Iran and if Vice President Cheney was leading the charge, Ms. Rice said the administration — including Mr. Cheney — is committed to a diplomatic approach but would not take any of its options off the table.
Ms. Rice said sanctions imposed by the international community, and companies voluntarily refusing to invest in Iran is the best bet.
“Frankly, the international community has to get a lot tougher if it’s going to get resolved diplomatically,” she said. “The Iranians are not a state, I don’t think, that will change their behavior just through talking to them.”
On Iranian ties to Hamas, Ms. Rice said it was a disturbing new trend.
“To see Iranian actual penetration now of these more radical elements of the Palestinian terrorist groups is really quite troubling,” she said.
On other issues:
— Ms. Rice said the Iraqis are taking steps to crack down on PKK fighters in Turkey, including closing PKK offices, stopping the movement of party members and dispatching a senior delegation to Turkey. America has told Turkey that retaliatory attacks would have a “destabilizing effect,” she said.
— Ms. Rice cited delicate relations with Turkey as she urged lawmakers not to pursue a resolution that would label as genocide the killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks a century ago. “This is something that was a horrible event, in the mass killings that took place, but at the time of the Ottoman Empire. These are not the Ottomans,” she said of Turkey’s current regime.
— Ms. Rice said the American embassy in Iraq will be completed within budget, at a price tag of $592 million, and that construction delays were being addressed. She declined to estimate when it would be finished.