IRAQ - Rice In Baghdad.

US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice on Feb. 17 made a surprise visit to Baghdad to meet with PM Nuri al-Maliki and other Iraqi officials about the new security plan and how the Shi'ite-led government could take advantage of a lull in violence to encourage reconciliation, reconstruction and economic progress. Appearing at the American Embassy with US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, she emphasised that making Iraq stable was vital not just for Iraqis but also for the security of the US.

She said after 9/11, the US realised "we couldn't play defence because the terrorists only have to be right once". Addressing about 250 US soldiers and civilian State Department employees, she said: "We have to be right 100% of the time".

Ms Rice arrived in Baghdad only hours after the House of Representatives passed a non-binding measure repudiating President Bush's decision to send 21,500 new combat troops into Iraq. She said the debate about the troop increase in Congress was inevitable, given the amount of criticism over "how the war was fought". But she said both Democrats and Republicans appreciated the US effort and wanted to see Iraq grow and improve.

Ms Rice added: "Some do not think this war was the right war to fight. Some believe we in the administration haven't fought it quite right. But Americans want to win this war. They want to leave an Iraq better than how it was found. You're in a noble cause. And we're going to succeed".

She said Iraq's struggles for stability were not dissimilar from what the US experienced at its start. She said she had been reading about the US founding fathers and was reminded of the difficulties they faced in trying to build a nation - that the US's "perfect union was imperfect at its start". She said Iraq's situation was similar, and cautioned against viewing Iraqis as somehow different or less competent at building a democracy, adding: "They just want the same liberty and freedom that we have been so fortunate to enjoy".