QUESTION: All right, if we've got a Led Zeppelin lead in that could only mean one thing, that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is back with us, who listens to Led Zeppelin as she works out. How are you?
SECRETARY RICE: I'm doing great, Sean, and thanks for the Led Zeppelin.
QUESTION: Now are you going to go to the reunion tour? You know it was announced this week that they're getting back -- the band is back together.
SECRETARY RICE: I don't believe much in reunion tours. I think they're always better the first time around. (Laughter.)
QUESTION: Yeah, I think you're actually probably right about that. You know, I was sitting here in agony whether to start with a Led Zeppelin question, a football question about the Patriots taping perhaps and stealing the signals of the New York Jets, because I know that's your next profession; you're going to be the commissioner of the football league. What do you think of that?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, I think I'll let the league handle that one and see how that comes out. I have a lot of Patriots fans among my staff though, and I have asked them what's been going on.
QUESTION: We've got to be careful here, but listen there's a lot of serious things going on in the world and it's always great to have you back on the program.
We've got to start with the big news of the week. Here we have General Petraeus, a great American, comes back with terrific news from Iraq that the mission that he was set out to accomplish, that they are achieving great success, and yet we see -- basically we have the MoveOn.org ad calling him "General Betray Us" and Hillary Clinton said, well, it's a suspension of disbelief, basically calling him a liar. We'd have Chuck Schumer basically say that the warlords are responsible for the success not the troops. What are your thoughts on all this?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, first of all, General Petraeus is a -- is indeed a great American. He's somebody who served this country in uniform and in dangerous places. He's leading our men and women in a dangerous but noble task in Iraq and he came back as a professional to give his professional judgment on what we have achieved and what we still need to do. And I would say also Ambassador Crocker is a professional Foreign Service officer who served in some of the most difficult posts that we have. And so these two Americans, their integrity should never be questioned, these are people who came back and told it as they saw it.
QUESTION: Well, it shouldn't ever be questioned, but it is. And let me give you one example of this. Here is Hillary Clinton and her comments.
"It is a policy that you have been ordered to implement by the President and you have been made the de facto spokesman for what many of us believe to be a failed policy. Despite what I view as your rather extraordinary efforts in your testimony both yesterday and today, I think that the reports that you provide to us really require the willing suspension of disbelief."
I think she basically says he's a propagandist, that he has failed in spite of what he outlined before them and basically she's calling him a liar.
SECRETARY RICE: Well, I'm not going to comment on what people are saying out there. I'll just say what I think most Americans see. They see the leader in Iraq of our men and women in uniform. They see a commander who has the deepest section of his troops. I have seen General Petraeus with his troops. He's leading them because they know that they are achieving their mission. Morale is high, they believe in him, they believe in what they're doing, and I hope all Americans can focus on that. And I think he did a terrific job of laying out the case.
He was not somebody who was there with rose-colored glasses. He talked about the difficulties. He talked about the hard work still to be done. I know how deeply he feels the sacrifice of men and women in uniform every day. This is someone who's an honorable man.
QUESTION: Madame Secretary, you travel the world, you meet with world leaders. One of the concerns I often have is, as the world is watching this political conflict on the war -- you know, I worry, number one, what the troops think when they hear, "The surge has failed, the war is lost," by somebody like Harry Reid or the comments by Hillary Clinton or Chuck Schumer. But I'm also concerned about what our enemies think. I'm concerned about what our allies think. Do you think that this political battle is damaging to the effort?
SECRETARY RICE: I think the allies know about politics. And when I talk to the allies, they ask quite straightforwardly, "How are we doing in Iraq, can we make progress there, what about the success," particularly those who are fighting alongside us. We were just in Australia. I had the pleasure and the honor of having lunch with the Australian Defence Forces. They're fighting in both Afghanistan and Iraq. They know the mission and they are not put off by the politics. They know what they're there for.
When I talk to our allies, I remind them that the President is resolute and I think they are impressed that the President has done what he thinks is right, that he made this decision in January when a lot of people thought that he would not have the courage to surge American forces, that that surge is paying off; still a lot of hard work to do. You know, Sean, we saw today the assassination of Sheikh Sattar in Anbar Province. This was a very brave man who led the local leaders to rise up against al-Qaida.
But do you know what those local leaders came out and said? They said, "We're not going to be deterred. We're not going to be intimidated. We are going to build to his memory," but they are going to continue to fight this fight. And I think our brave allies like that need to hear from the American people that we too understand what a noble mission this is.
QUESTION: One of the more alarming things that General Petraeus said this week is that Iran is fighting this war by proxy. We have been watching Iranian soldiers help implement the sectarian violence. We know that they have been supplying the weaponry, the IEDs that are being used to kill American soldiers. We know that they continue their nuclear ambitions and their threats against countries like Israel and Iraq as well. When a country is fighting a war by proxy, doesn't that require some military reaction, ultimately, by the country that they're fighting?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, our military and people are going after their agents. We're going after those who they are training and supporting and equipping. We've told the Iranians in no uncertain terms that we are not going to spare their operatives in Iraq if they're engaged in these kinds of activities. And so I think you will see that the United States is, by no means, going to pull its punches about Iranian activities in Iraq. They're doing a lot of harm to Iraqis as well and the Iraqi security forces and the coalition forces are finding great support from the Iraqi Government to root out these dangerous militias and these extremists, particularly in some of the Baghdad neighborhoods.
QUESTION: What are we to make of the reports this week that in fact, Syria is building nuclear facilities?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, first of all, our -- we have long been concerned about the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. I think the President put it at one time that -- you know, we have to have policies that prevent the world's most dangerous people from having the world's most dangerous weapons. And that's what we do and that's what we do every day. And we are working with our allies and working directly to try to shut down activities. We had a big success, for instance, when we shut down the A.Q. Khan network, which was a source of proliferation to all kinds of rogue states and so this is a constant activity. That's why we have a Proliferation Security Initiative that tries to intercept dangerous cargos. So this is something that's been at the highest point of the President's agenda since he came into power and we work every day and we watch it every day and we're vigilant about it and we're determined.
QUESTION: What are we to make of Russia and the situation with Vladimir Putin dissolving the Government, the bragging that they have developed this new super bomb of theirs, their close allegiance, alliance with China -- China's military build up which has been going on for a number of years now?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, you know, we raised with the Chinese, in particular, their military modernization, which does frankly seem outsized for China's own regional security concerns. And of course the Russians are restarting really their military modernization which grounded to a halt for a while. But we have nothing to fear. The American armed forces are second to none, the President of the United States is going to keep them second to none, and we're going to keep the highest levels of technology, we're going to keep our technological edge.
You know, Sean, this President was courageous enough and brave enough to say in our national security strategy that we were going to keep our technological edge. And so, yes, we watch these developments and, of course, we tell the Chinese they need to be more transparent about what they're doing in terms of military modernization. But the United States has nothing to fear as long as we keep our technological edge and keep our military forces strong.
QUESTION: All right, now I've asked you the tough questions about Led Zeppelin and about your desire to still be the NFL Commissioner. Now I have the toughest question. You know, I know you don't to talk about the political side of things, but you do know and you are aware and you read everything I'm sure you can get your hands on, that your name often comes up as somebody that -- at the top Republican candidates for president next year would consider as a vice presidential running mate. Would you ever consider that if asked by any of those candidates?
SECRETARY RICE: Sean, I think we've had this conversation a few times. I'm going to do everything --
QUESTION: That's why I saved the question for last.
SECRETARY RICE: I'm going to do everything I can to help carry out the President's agenda and to press forward on issues like the Middle East peace and disarming some of these more dangerous states and worrying about -- making sure that we fulfill our commitments to our Iraqi allies and our Afghanistan allies. And then I'm going to happily go back to Stanford.
QUESTION: Would you rule it out completely if asked?
SECRETARY RICE: Sean, it's really not for me.
QUESTION: It's not -- being vice president?
SECRETARY RICE: It's not for me.
QUESTION: Well, that means under no circumstances?
SECRETARY RICE: Sean, we've had this conversation before. It's not for me. (Laughter.)
QUESTION: You can't blame me for trying. I mean that's my --
SECRETARY RICE: I know. I always expect you to try.
QUESTION: Well, anyway, who's going to win the Super Bowl this year?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, it's a little early to tell. You know, after that first week, I thought, well, the Patriots look awfully good, the Colts look awfully good. The only prediction, I think, that is safe is I do think that the champion is likely to come from the AFC.
QUESTION: Okay. Well, that's an interesting observation. We'll be watching by January of next year.
SECRETARY RICE: All right.
QUESTION: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, it's great to talk with you as always. Thank you for being with us.
SECRETARY RICE: Good to be with you, Sean. Take care.
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