Rice admits 'mistakes' in Iraq
Rice also clashed with Democratic senator Kent Conrad, who took issue with her assessment that the Americans had boosted the capacity for clean water for seven million Iraqis and four million had better sewage operations.
Conrad cited media reports and official figures showing the percentage of Iraqis with clean drinking water had declined from 50% before the war to 32% now.
Those with decent sewage were down from 24% to 20%.
"Who are we to believe?" he asked.
When Rice countered that it might be the difference between delivery or capacity, Conrad shot back: "We can improve capacity, that's great. But at the end of the day, what matters to people is to get it!"
Rice, visibly uneasy, backed off and recognised that US forces had shifted the focus from large-scale reconstruction projects to more local efforts "to make certain that there is also better delivery for Iraqis"
(AFP via News24)
"Who are we to believe?" Senator? Not Condi anyway.
The inimitable Princess Sparklepony has her own take on the subject:
"Here's Condi begging for mad money at Capitol Hill today" |
