WASHINGTON, Jan 18 (AFP) - US Secretary of State nominee Condoleezza Rice vowed Tuesday to repair damaged relations with allies and work with other world powers to combat terrorism, declaring "the time for diplomacy is now."
Testifying at her Senate confirmation hearing, Rice offered a softer image of an administration often criticized for its penchant for pre-emptive military action in its global war on terror.
"Our interaction with the rest of the world must be a conversation, not a monologue," Rice, 50, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as she made her case for moving from President George W. Bush`s national security adviser to his chief diplomat.
Rice defended the US military moves into Afghanistan and Iraq as "necessary and right" in response to the September 11, 2001 terror attacks but signaled a more conciliatory approach to countries opposing Washington`s tough line.
"Now is the time to build on these achievements to make the world safer and to make the world more free," she said. "We must use American diplomacy to help create a balance of power in the world that favors freedom. And the time for diplomacy is now."
While citing NATO, the European Union and democratic allies as "our strongest partners" in battling terrorism, Rice also made it clear the United States was ready to go it alone if US security interests were at stake.
"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 its effectiveness."
Rice, one of Bush closest aides, was expected to face little trouble getting past the committee and the full Senate later this week to win confirmation as the successor to her one-time mentor, Colin Powell.
She broke no new ground during her opening statement or hours of questioning on a range of issues including Iraq and the Middle East.
On Iraq, Rice acknowledged more work was needed to train local security forces and address "problems of leadership and morale and desertion. ... We believe we have made some progress. We have more progress to make."
She also conceded US forces were facing "big tactical challenges" in Iraq and declined to speculate on a timetable for the pullout of some 150,000 US troops trying to tame a stubborn insurgency ahead of crucial national elections.
Rice vowed to make ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict a core personal priority, but was non-committal on prospects for dispatching a special US envoy. She said peace was ultimately up to the parties in the region.
"We have reached a moment of opportunity and we must seize it," she said. "I look forward to personally working with Palestinian and Israeli leaders, and bringing American diplomacy to bear on this difficult but crucial issue."
The nominee also prodded neighboring Arab states to get more involved. "They can`t incite violence against Israel on the one hand and call for peace and the two-state solution on the other," she said.
Rice, an expert on Russian affairs, warned the Kremlin against taking steps seen as curbing democracy -- a growing concern in recent months amid Russo-US clashes on issues like Ukraine`s flawed elections.
Washington hoped to work closely with Moscow on common problems, she said. "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."
But Rice was less strident in her comments on China, once considered by the administration as a "strategic competitor." She signaled Washington`s hope of forging closer ties to the Asian giant despite criticism over Beijing`s human rights record.
"We are building a candid, cooperative and constructive relationship with China that embraces our common interests but still recognizes our considerable differences about values," Rice told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Overall, Rice said, democracy was spreading worldwide. But she named Belarus, Cuba, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea and Zimbabwe as "outposts of tyranny" to which the United States must help bring freedom.

01/18/2005 17:38 GMT - AFP