Rice: Iraqis 'Have Long Way to Go'

Dec. 16, 2005 — -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice heralded Thursday's Iraqi elections as a success, but said American troops would need to remain in the country until a new government and army were firmly established.

About 11 million of the nation's 15 million registered voters went to the polls, election officials said, putting the overall turnout at more than 70 percent. Final results in Iraq's parliamentary election may not be known for two weeks.

"It [the election] certainly represents a fundamental realization that the Iraqis are going to take control of their future and going to take control of it in a way that is going to be peaceful and based on politics," Rice said in an interview today on "Good Morning America."

Rice, however, said Iraqis "still have a long way to go."

"They've got a long government formulation process ahead of them," she said. "But they also have a difficult security situation. That's why the United States and the coalition are still there. That's why we are training Iraqi security forces."

U.S. officials hope a broad-based government incorporating Iraq's three main ethnic groups -- Sunni, Shiite and Kurd -- will be able to quell the violence that's plagued the country since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003. The United States hopes it can begin to bring troops home next year.

The lack of any major reported violence during the voting was seen by U.S. officials as a positive sign.

"These people are clearly determined," Rice said. "Even some of the most radical and hard-line leaders told their people to go in and vote."