Pakistan Must Take Action on Mumbai Attacks, Rice Says
Secretary of state adds war "seemed the course" on dealing with Saddam Hussein.
Dec. 7, 2008 -- Fresh off her trip to Pakistan and India following the Mumbai terror attacks, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos this morning that she pushed the Pakistani government to find those responsible for the attacks.
"I did say to the Pakistanis that the argument that these are nonstate actors is not acceptable. In fact, nonstate actors acting from your territory is still your responsibility," Rice explained on "This Week," adding that "there may have been support elements -- not of the Pakistani government, but within Pakistan -- that were helping these terrorists."
When asked to comment on reports that Rice asked the Pakistani government to turn over and arrest the former head of the Pakistani intelligence, Rice declined to offer up specifics.
"I don't want to get too detailed about this. This is counterterrorism work. And obviously, I don't want to tip their hand or ours," she said. But she did note that "this is a time when Pakistan must act. They must act in concert with India, with the United States. Great Britain is helping."
"I was absolutely convinced that President [Asif Ali] Zardari, Prime Minister [Yousuf Raza] Gilani, the other officials with whom I spoke, understand that this is also Pakistan's fight, because Pakistan is trying to root out terrorism and terrorists within Pakistan," Rice said. I did feel that there was a good, strong commitment there. But now we have to see follow-through."
When asked if India has the right to take action if arrests are not made, Rice explained, "I said to India that the issue here is an effective response."
"I understand the frustration and the anger in India. In fact, it felt a little bit to me like the United States post-9/11. I certainly understand that. But in this case, there are actions that India could take that could make the situation worse. And we don't need...a crisis in South Asia."
In one of her final interviews, Rice also reflected on the crises she faced over the past eight years. In discussing the decision to go to war in Iraq, Rice declined to say whether she agreed with Karl Rove's comment earlier in the week that "absent weapons of mass destruction, no, I don't think there would have been an invasion [of Iraq]."
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