Democrats in the US House of Representatives are accusing Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice of grossly mismanaging diplomatic efforts in Iraq and concealing information from Congress.
Sharp exchanges on Thursday at a hearing by a congressional watchdog committee put a visibly frustrated Rice on the defensive.
Democratic members said that the State Department under Rice had been too lax with armed security contractors, ignored corruption at the highest levels of the Iraqi government and was sloppy in overseeing construction of the new US Embassy in Baghdad.
"I think there was a huge gap between what she said and reality," said Representative Henry Waxman, Democratic chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
Waxman and others said they would not demand Rice's resignation because their frustration was with the entire Bush administration.
"If you just change the deck chairs, it's not going to change the policy," said Democratic Representative Peter Welch, a committee member.
The hearing gave Democrats a venue to hammer the administration on the war. Thus far, they have been unable to pass legislation ordering troops home from Iraq by 67 percent margin necessary to would overturn President George W. Bush's veto.
Recent events have given them ample fodder: shootings involving private security guards hired to protect State Department diplomats; allegations that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has blocked corruption investigations; delays in construction of what will become the largest US embassy anywhere at a cost of more than US$500 million.
The Democrats' strategy did not go unnoticed by Republicans.
Democrats seemed to be trying "to drill enough small holes in the bottom of the boat to sink the entire Iraqi enterprise, while still claiming undying support for the crew about to drown," said Representative Tom Davis, the committee's top Republican.
The usually unflappable Rice became frustrated at several points, including a tense exchange with Welch on whether al-Maliki was corrupt. Since April, the prime minister has required that Cabinet-level corruption investigations first receive his approval. Such a policy, Welch and other Democrats say, is tantamount to blanket immunity for al-Maliki and his ministers.
When repeatedly pressed to say whether she thought al-Maliki was covering up fraud and abuse, Rice said she would not respond to rumors.
"To assault the prime minister of Iraq or anyone else in Iraq with here-to-date unsubstantiated allegations or lack of corroboration, in a setting that would simply fuel those allegations, I think, would be deeply damaging," she said.
After the hearing, Waxman said there was a gap between "her very smooth presentation" and the facts.
Rice said the State Department was invested in stopping corruption, but Waxman said she was unfamiliar with al-Maliki's corruption policy and that department insiders tell lawmakers its efforts are dysfunctional.
The hearing followed several weeks of wrangling between Waxman and the department.
The department says such information should be classified because it could expose sources and hurt US-Iraqi relations. Democrats counter that if Iraqi officials are stealing from their government and funding anti-US militias, the State Department should make it public.
Rice said militias are getting money in many ways, and corruption possibly could be one. But, she added, a bigger problem was financing from Iran.
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