WASHINGTON, Jan 18 (AFP) - US Secretary of State nominee Condoleezza Rice on Tuesday vowed to repair damaged relations with allies and work with other world powers to wage war on terrorism, declaring "the time from diplomacy is now."
"Our interaction with the rest of the world must be a conversation, not a monologue," Rice, 50, said in her prepared opening statement to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as her first confirmation hearing got underway.
Her comments came after US President George W. Bush drew criticism during his first four years in office for what many saw as a go-it-alone approach to critical issues, from the environment to the war in Iraq.
Rice, currently Bush's national security adviser, made no apologies for the invasion to topple Saddam Hussein, saying US policies after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks were "difficult, and necessary, and right."
She was expected to face tough questioning from the panel on issues like the deadly insurgency in Iraq and the failure to find weapons of mass destruction there, in a hearing that began just after 9:00 am (1400 GMT).
But her confirmation as successor to Colin Powell, who frequently clashed with hardliners in the Bush administration, did not seem in doubt.
In her opening statement, Rice said democracy was spreading worldwide but named Belarus, Cuba, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea and Zimbabwe as "outposts of tyranny" to which the United States must help bring freedom.
Referring to US allies in Europe and Asia, she insisted that "we must remain united in insisting that Iran and North Korea abandon their nuclear weapons ambitions, and choose instead the path of peace."
With deadly chaos threatening Iraqi elections scheduled for January 30, Rice called the ballot "the next step in (Iraq's) journey toward full, genuine democracy" and urged all Iraqis to take part.
"All Iraqis, whatever their faith or ethnicity, from Shias to Sunnis to Kurds, must build a common future together. The election later this month will be an important first step," she said.
Rice, an expert on Washington's relations with Moscow, warned Russia against taking steps seen as curbing democracy -- a growing concern in recent months amid Russo-US clashes on issues like Ukraine's flawed elections.
"In Russia, we see that the path to democracy is uneven and that its success is not yet assured. Yet recent history shows that we can work closely with Russia on common problems.
"As we do so, we will continue to press the case for democracy, and we will continue to make clear that the protection of democracy in Russia is vital to the future of US-Russia relations," she said.
Four years after Bush took office having defined China as a "strategic competitor," Rice said she sought "a candid, cooperative and constructive relationship with China that embraces our common interests but still recognizes our considerable differences about values."
On the Middle East, Rice told the panel that she saw a critical "moment of opportunity" to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and vowed to make the most of it, while stressing that it is up to the parties to forge peace.
"I look forward to personally working with the Palestinian and Israeli leaders, and bringing American diplomacy to bear on this difficult but crucial issue," she said.
Throughout her opening statement, Rice paid tribute to a multilateral approach to global policy, citing NATO and the European Union with democratic nations as "our strongest partners" in battling terrorism.
"We must use American diplomacy to help create a balance of power in the world that favors freedom," she said. "America's diplomats will need to be active in spreading democracy, fighting terror, reducing poverty and doing our part to protect the American homeland."
Rice said the United States could not succeed alone but served notice that she would not let traditional allies or multilateral institutions stand in the way of "effective" action by Washington.
"Alliances and multilateral institutions can multiply the strength of freedom-loving nations," she said. "Yet when judging a course of action, I will never forget that the true measure of its worth is whether it is effective."
Rice seemed intent on softening the image of an administration that took a with-us-or-against-us approach to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, alienating some traditional allies and global public opinion.
Rice laid out three major tasks ahead of US diplomacy: uniting democracies to build a world system "based on our shared values and the rule of law," helping democracies fend off common threats to security, and spreading freedom and democracy worldwide.
01/18/2005 14:38 GMT - AFP