Rice: Administration needs to rethink some policies

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signaled Friday she’d like to soften the United States’ hardline stance toward other nations joining the International Criminal Court, saying Bush administration officials should not be “shooting ourselves in the foot.”

The Bush administration has long opposed participation in The Hague-based world court, as do many conservatives in Congress. Under current administration policy, nations that ratify the ICC treaty without also agreeing to an exemption for U.S. citizens can lose U.S. military aid.

Chile, where Rice is to spend the weekend for the inauguration of that nation’s first woman president, stands to lose aid this year unless it wins a waiver from President Bush.

“We are looking at the issues concerning those situations in which we may have in a sense ... (been) shooting ourselves in the foot,” Rice said.

She suggested it is self-defeating to cut off aid to nations that are cooperating with the United States to combat terrorism or drugs, or that are helping U.S. war efforts in Afghanistan or Iraq.

“I think it is important from time to time to take a look to make sure we are not having a negative effect on the relationships that are really important to us,” she told reporters aboard her plane.

She said the administration is looking at the issue and will discuss it with Congress. That implies more liberal use of presidential waivers for national security reasons, but Rice was not specific about her plans.

Rice did not suggest that the administration has had a change of heart about The Hague court itself.

The ICC was set up in 2002 to hunt down perpetrators of genocide and other crimes against humanity.

Twelve nations in Latin America have lost U.S. aid and training because of their stance on the ICC. They include Brazil, a nation that Rice cites along with Chile as an example of leftist government with which the United States can work effectively.
On Thursday, Rice said the United States has no quarrel with leftist leaders in Latin America as long as they govern well. “This is a wonderful moment, the inauguration of the Chilean president, a woman president,” Rice told a group of Latin American, Asian and Australian reporters.

She was far less enthusiastic about Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, who frequently calls President Bush a terrorist. But she said the United States wants good relations with Bolivia’s new president, a former coca-growers union boss who once vowed to be “Washington’s nightmare.”
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