Rice: Iraq transition to take "couple years"

SYDNEY, Australia — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said today that Iraq's political transition will take a "couple years," acknowledging the process that is currently stalled will not move swiftly.

"I think that there is a very good chance that the Iraqi people, with the support of their coalition partners, will build a good foundation, a political foundation, for a stable and secure Iraq over the next couple years," Rice said. "This is a difficult task."

She added, "We should express confidence in them because every time they have been confronted with a challenge," Iraqis have risen to the occasion.

On Wednesday, the Pentagon announced it was sending up to 800 more troops to Iraq and repositioning thousands of others in response to increased violence in the country and fears of more fighting prompted by a Shiite holiday.

Rice spoke after meeting with Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer for talks that also covered Iran's nuclear program, Indonesia's development and the recent nuclear deal between Washington and India.

A day before Rice arrived, Australia said it will keep troops in Iraq at least well into next year and announced a larger mission for about 450 troops now stationed in southern Iraq.

Rice also will join three-way security talks with Japanese and Australian officials. Those sessions will include discussions about China's growing military might and its influence in the Asia-Pacific region, said Downer.

"The challenge is to make sure that the growing power of China — its economic power in particular — is harnessed to the advantage of the region," Downer told Sky News.

Saturday's meeting comes against a backdrop of heightened tensions between China and Japan after Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso described Taiwan as a country.

Although Taiwan has been self-ruled since splitting with the mainland amid civil war in 1949, China claims the island as a province.

Earlier Wednesday, before leaving Jakarta, Indonesia, Rice also sharply criticized the military government of Myanmar, the nation also known as Burma, describing it as an oppressive holdout in a region moving increasingly toward democracy.

U.S. envoy chosen

WASHINGTON — President Bush has tapped Atlanta lawyer Robert McCallum Jr., now an associate attorney general and before that head of the Justice Department's Civil Division, as the new U.S. ambassador to Australia. The appointment came on the eve of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit this week.

Rice's remarks on Myanmar were reported by The Washington Post.