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US would have done anything to avoid blasts in Mumbai: Rice
Washington, Sept 10: Expressing its resolve to fight global terrorism, the United States has said it would have done anything to prevent the recent blasts in Mumbai.
Washington, Sept 10: Expressing its resolve to fight global terrorism, the United States has said it would have done anything to prevent the recent blasts in Mumbai.
"The bombings in Bali or the bombings in Mumbai, we would have done anything to avoid that," US National Security Advisor, Condoleeza Rice, said yesterday.
She said a donor conference on Iraq will be held on October 23 and 24. "We need to remember what is at stake here. Yes, the price tag may be very high. However, freedom is priceless. Security is priceless. When the World Trade Centre came down, we would have paid any price to avoid that," Rice said at a press conference here.
Defending the estimated dollar 150 billion cost of the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan so far this year and next, Rice said, "A stable and prosperous Iraq is going to be the centrepiece of a more stable middle east along with hopefully, a Palestinian state that can live alongside Israel." "And then you'll have a different kind of Middle East. And there are a lot of people in the Middle East who want a different kind of Middle East than exists now," she said.
"That is why we will go to our friends and allies; we will remind everyone that we undertook a similar grand project in the rebuilding of Germany and Japan, and that it has paid hundreds of times over in prosperity -- two of the leading economies of the world," Rice said.
"Yes, these are long-term goals, but you have to have long-term goals at a time like this," she said. Bureau Report
She said a donor conference on Iraq will be held on October 23 and 24. "We need to remember what is at stake here. Yes, the price tag may be very high. However, freedom is priceless. Security is priceless. When the World Trade Centre came down, we would have paid any price to avoid that," Rice said at a press conference here.
Defending the estimated dollar 150 billion cost of the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan so far this year and next, Rice said, "A stable and prosperous Iraq is going to be the centrepiece of a more stable middle east along with hopefully, a Palestinian state that can live alongside Israel." "And then you'll have a different kind of Middle East. And there are a lot of people in the Middle East who want a different kind of Middle East than exists now," she said.
"That is why we will go to our friends and allies; we will remind everyone that we undertook a similar grand project in the rebuilding of Germany and Japan, and that it has paid hundreds of times over in prosperity -- two of the leading economies of the world," Rice said.
"Yes, these are long-term goals, but you have to have long-term goals at a time like this," she said. Bureau Report