Follow Newser on Twitter   Friend Newser on Facebook
Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

NEWS ABOUT: Condoleezza Rice

Stories 161 - 180 | << Prev   Next >>

Switch to grid view »

Dems Skewer Rice Over Iraq Foul-ups

Condy accused of lax oversight of Blackwater, corruption, US embassy

(Newser) - House Democrats today grilled Condoleezza Rice over alleged State Department bungling in Iraq, from failure to supervise private security contractors like Blackwater to ignoring corruption in the new Iraqi government to sloppy oversight of the new US embassy in Baghdad. Usually composed, Rice showed signs of frustration today, as Dems... More »

Push to Put Private Guards Under Military

Congress wants military in charge, despite resistance from Condi

(Newser) - Despite reluctance from Condoleezza Rice, Congress is pushing to bring all private security guards operating in Iraq under US military control. The Senate included military oversight of private contractors in its 2008 defense bill, and the House is likely to follow, the AP reports. The bill's sponsor, Sen. Carl Levin,... More »

Rice, Paulson Roll Out New Iran Sanctions

Asset freezes will target Revolutionary Guard and Quds Force

(Newser) - Condoleezza Rice and Hank Paulson will roll out a new package of US sanctions against Iran today, targeting the Revolutionary Guard Corps and its covert foreign-operations wing, the Quds Force, which the US accuses of aiding insurgents in Iraq and elsewhere. It will be the broadest set of punitive measures... More »

Rice Sets New Rules for Guards

But Blackwater may still get the ax

(Newser) - Private security contractors in Iraq will operate under tougher controls and tighter supervision, according to new State Department rules approved by Condoleezza Rice today, but they won't be supervised by the military, as Defense's Robert Gates had proposed. Measures include investigative "go teams"' that will respond quickly to... More »

UK Secretary in DC to Mend Fences With US

Miliband eases Bush-Brown chill, backs Rice's Iran approach

(Newser) - The British foreign secretary arrived in Washington last night, and David Miliband now faces the unenviable task of mending a deepening rift between the Bush administration and Gordon Brown. The speed of the UK's pullback in Basra—not to mention the PM's coolness toward President Bush—has irked a White... More »

Audits Rip Fed Oversight of Security Firms, Costs

Lax controls, slopping accounting

(Newser) - A State Department internal review of its own security practices in Iraq is sharply critical of the lack of oversight of private contractors Blackwater, DynCorp International and Triple Canopy. A second report due today says officials can't say what the government got for $1.2B paid to DynCorp since 2004,... More »

Rice to Russia: You're No USSR

Secretary talks tough, warning Moscow about using energy supplies for political leverage

(Newser) - Condoleezza Rice said today Russia shouldn’t use its oil and gas reserves as a “political weapon,” and that the country should move away from authoritarianism and toward democracy. The secretary of state confirmed a “certain distance” between Russia and the US, Reuters reports, but the Soviet... More »

Turkish Troops Said Missing

Troops and trucks mass on northern Iraqi border after Kurdish ambush; incursion looms

(Newser) - A Turkish convoy with dozens of military vehicles joined tens of thousands of troops massed on the Iraqi border today, as the military announced that eight soldiers were missing, in addition to 12 killed, in an ambush by Kurdish militants early yesterday morning. The Turks shelled Kurdish camps over the... More »

Egypt on Board for Peace Talks

Rice restores confidence in US commitment

(Newser) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has restored Egypt's confidence in the US commitment to the Mideast peace process and won official support for peace talks this year, Reuters reports. The process is floundering for a variety of reasons, including the fact that the Bush administration has only a year left... More »

Condi to Stanford Profs: Lay Off Rummy

Secretary of state scolds faculty for doubting Rummy appointment

(Newser) - Condi wants Stanford profs to lay off Don Rumsfeld and welcome “all views” at the university, Politico reports. She stopped short of praising her old colleague—“I know Don Rumsfeld, he is going to be a challenging presence”—but scolded faculty for doubting Rummy’s appointment as... More »

Rice Calls for Palestinian State

(Newser) - It is time for the establishment of a Palestinian state, Condoleezza Rice said today in Ramallah. A two-state solution is "absolutely essential for the future, not just of Palestinians and Israelis but also for the Middle East and indeed to American interests," she said after meeting with Mahmoud... More »

Rice Struggling to Make Headway on Mideast Trip

Israeli-Palestinian peace talks may have to be postponed

(Newser) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas reiterated his position on the upcoming peace conference in talks with Condoleeza Rice today, asserting that Palestinians and Israelis must agree on a joint document outlining the steps to peace before the conference, the AP reports. This differs sharply from the Israeli position Rice heard yesterday... More »

US Envoys Try to Soothe Angry Turks

Upset over rebel strikes, Turkey may attack Kurdish Iraq

(Newser) - Two US envoys flew to Ankara today to urge Turkey not to strike back against Kurdish militants, the BBC reports. Relations between the NATO allies remain strained after US lawmakers accused Turkey this week of waging a WWI-era genocide campaign against Armenians. Turkey reacted by recalling its ambassador from Washington. More »

Rice Criticizes Putin's Iron Fist

She meets with human rights activists in Russia, offers support

(Newser) - Condoleezza Rice criticized the "concentration of power" in the Kremlin today and pledged support to human rights activists, the BBC reported.  In Russia for already-tense talks on a proposed missile defense shield, Rice also questioned the independence of the judiciary. One rights leader, however, said the stain of... More »

Putin Threatens to Pull Out of Nuke Treaty

Confronts Rice, Gates over missile shield in Eastern Europe

(Newser) - Vladimir Putin kicked off a meeting with Condoleezza Rice and Robert Gates today in Moscow by threatening to withdraw from a treaty governing intermediate-range nuclear missiles unless it was expanded to include other countries. The pugnacious Russian president also warned his American visitors not to push ahead with the missile... More »

US Targets Afghan Opium Crop

Karzai reluctant to allow spraying of heroin producing crop

(Newser) - The US is pressing the Afghan government to stem its booming poppy crop with mass spraying following the biggest opium harvests in its history—which accounts for 91% of the world's production. Therein lies much of the resurgent Taliban's revenue, the New York Times reports, but Karzai fears a Taliban-inspired... More »

Iraqis Vow to Prosecute Blackwater

Blackwater deaths called 'deliberate killings'

(Newser) - A spokesman for the Iraqi government continued to escalate the rhetoric on the Blackwater shootings yesterday, charging that security guards "deliberately killed" 17 Iraqi civilians in last month's massacre in Baghdad. Ali al-Dabbagh said the Iraqis intend to take legal action, despite a US ruling in 2004 that the... More »

US Ignored Blackwater Warnings

Immunity for guards was 'a bomb that could go off at any time'

(Newser) - The White House ignored signals about Blackwater and other private mercs for years, rejecting the idea that they were "a bomb that could go off at any time," the Los Angeles Times reports. One official says that contract guards blatantly smashed property and scared Iraqis, then argued that... More »

Rice Orders Blackwater Chaperones

Convoys will also be monitored with video cameras, radio logs

(Newser) - Condoleezza Rice has ordered all private security convoys in Iraq to be accompanied by at least one US diplomatic security agent. The Secretary of State acted on an internal review sparked by the recent Blackwater shooting incident that left 17 civilians dead. Contractors will also be monitored by video cameras... More »

Maliki Again Takes Aim at Blackwater

Security firm no longer ‘valid’ in Iraq in wake of incidents, PM says

(Newser) - Iraqi PM Nuri al-Maliki has stepped back into the Blackwater fray today, saying the influx of accusations against the security contractor “do not make it valid to stay in Iraq.” One day after Blackwater's CEO appeared before a Congressional committee, Maliki signaled he wouldn't sitting on his hands... More »

Stories 161 - 180 | << Prev   Next >>
NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS
Other Sites We Like:   24/7 Wall St.   |   Betty Confidential   |   BuzzFeed   |   Cracked   |   Fark   |   Timelines   |   The Frisky   |   Geek Sugar   |   NewsOne