Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice delivered a strong message of support for the war in Iraq during her less than 24 hours in Salt Lake City, telling delegates to the American Legion Convention that it can — and must — be won.
But Rice also acknowledged during her address Tuesday to thousands of veterans gathered at the Salt Palace that the fight for victory against what she described as a violent minority of extremists sometimes seems daunting.
"I know I feel it. I can see it in the challenged eyes of Americans across this great country. But I know, too, that America has a proud tradition of struggling with others and helping them to secure their freedom," she said, urging the country "to stay strong now."
Rice is one of three in the GOP administration on the agenda of the annual convention, which is being held in one of the most Republican states in the nation. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld also spoke Tuesday and President Bush is set to speak Thursday.
Their appearances are expected to be the subject of several protests Wednesday, including at a controversial anti-war rally and march organized by Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson. Pro-troop and pro-administration activities are also planned.
Rice, who arrived in Salt Lake City Monday evening, attended several other events including a private breakfast with Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. She met individually with several local reporters after her speech to the American Legion.
She told the Deseret Morning News that she has no problem with the anti-war protest organized by the Salt Lake mayor. Rice declined, however, to comment on Utah Republican Party ads calling Anderson "embarrassing" and suggesting some protesters are anti-American.
"I'll leave the politics of Utah to Utahns," the secretary said. "I think that protest is fine, but I do think it is important for people to send a strong message, I hope, that they do support our men and women in uniform and our diplomats abroad who are taking great personal risks."
Americans can disagree about the war, she said, but it should be done "without impugning the integrity of those who made the decision." The mayor is not doing that, Rice said, but anyone questioning the motivation of those behind the war should be challenged.
The secretary said while she appreciated the opportunity to speak to the American Legion Convention in Utah, the appearance wasn't put on her schedule because of the administration's popularity here.
She said she speaks all over the country "and I haven't chosen those places that the policies many be more popular than others, because we're one country. I'll go anywhere that people would want to hear and talk about what we're doing."
Rice warned the convention audience that "the security of our citizens is inextricably linked to the success of freedom and moderation and, yes, democracy in the Middle East." She said because America has gone on the offense, it "is safer, but we are not yet safe."
If Americans remain committed to the cause of establishing democracy in the Middle East, some day people will wonder why there was ever any doubt about the war, Rice said. "Then they will look back and they will say, 'Thank God America stayed the course."'
Rice said as terrorists continue to plot new attacks such as the one recently foiled in London, "we know that now and for many years to come, America and our allies will be engaged in a long war, a war that we can and must win."
Her comments seemed to resonate with the veterans and their spouses who had come from around the country to attend the convention. They burst into applause several times during her speech and gave Rice two standing ovations.
"She just made a lot of sense," Donald Meskill of Mt. Pleasant, Mich., a Vietnam veteran who served in the Air Force, said after hearing Rice's speech. "I've been there. That's the way it is."
Rice received the American Legion Auxiliary Woman of the Year Award and praised the group for continuing "to fight to protect America's flag, because desecrating our nation's symbol of freedom and democracy should be against the law."
Not everything Rice discussed in Salt Lake City dealt with such weighty subjects. Her breakfast conversation with Huntsman included such topics as the development of high-tech industries in the West, and she listened to a piano performance by the governor's daughter, Mary Anne.
Rice, an accomplished pianist, did not perform at the Governor's Mansion. But she said she did attend a music camp held at the Snowbird ski resort while she was the provost of Stanford University — and a figure skating competition in Utah as a University of Denver student.
After spending an hour with the governor, a friend from Bush's 2000 campaign, Rice met with former Clayton Middle School students Kirsten Schiel, Heather Church and Rebecca Brown.
The students, who now attend East High School, showed the secretary a violin they painted two years ago with scenes of the United States for the Utah Council for Citizen Diplomacy's "Strings of Diplomacy" collection of violins painted by artists representing 14 countries.
The secretary also spoke to members of the council, a private sector partnership with the U.S. Department of State's International Visitor Leadership Program, joking that she decided not to pursue a career that would have led to her playing the piano at Nordstrom.
A complete text of Rice's speech as well as transcripts of her interviews with local reporters is available at www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2006
Contributing: Tiffany Erickson
E-mail: lisa@desnews.com