"The avoidance of war is not in itself a final goal," Rice

LONDON, June 27 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – U.S. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice has threatened that Washington was ready to act alone against Iran and North Korea if European countries did not cooperate in stopping them from allegedly developing nuclear weapons, the Daily Telegraph reported Friday, June 27.

"If we do not want a 'Made in America' solution, let's find out how to resolve the issues of North Korea and Iran," Rice was quoted as saying while on a visit to London Thursday, June 26.

Rice sought to play down the prospect of a military confrontation, saying: "We do not ever want to have to deal with the proliferation issue as we did in Iraq."

However, her comments echoed the blunt talking that surrounded the debate before the Iraq war, the Telegraph remarked.

Rice accused Iran of seeking secretly to develop nuclear weapons, and vowed that North Korea would not be allowed to "blackmail" the world with threats to resume its nuclear program, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

But she said the U.S. sought international cooperation and that Iran's program was best dealt with by convincing Tehran to agree to intrusive inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Addressing the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, Rice said North Korea was best addressed by regional powers exerting pressure.

But she did not rule out military action, the Telegraph reported.

"The avoidance of war is not in itself a final goal," she said. "Sometimes one has to fight wars to deal with tyrants."

Later she added: "We want a multilateral solution. But we do want a solution.

"Post 9/11, the sense of urgency to have solutions to these problems has grown," said the American national security advisor, in reference to the September 11 attacks on the U.S.

"The absence of action is not a solution. Sometimes multilateralism is code for not acting."

No Multipolarity

Rice also attacked French President Jacques Chirac's concept of a multipolar world, dismissing it as a "theory of rivalry" that had never promoted peace.

"Multipolarity was never a unifying idea or vision... it was a necessary evil that sustained the essence of war but did not promote peace," she said, addressing the IISS.

"Multipolarity is a theory of rivalry, of competing interests and, at its very worst, of competing values," Rice told the assembly of experts on international and security affairs.

"We tried it before... it led to the Great War, to the Second World War and to the Cold War," she said.

Rice questioned the motives of those who "nostalgically" sought to defend this concept of international relations.

"Why should we try to divide ourselves?" Rice asked. "Only the enemies of freedom would cheer these divisions."

Although she did not refer specifically to France, her remarks represented veiled criticism of Paris' stance.

Throughout the Iraq crisis, France defended its vision of a world of various power centers, including the United States and Europe, highlighting its right to express different views from those sponsored by Washington.

At the G8 summit of the world's leading industrial nations in the French resort of Evian this month, Chirac -- determined to promote his vision of a multipolar world -- invited leaders from a dozen emerging and developing states to join in the talks.

Rice was meeting British leaders in London Friday before traveling to the Middle East over the weekend for talks with Israeli and Palestinian officials as part Washington's efforts to rekindle peace negotiation.

Mideast-bound

A senior Palestinian source told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity, that Rice is to meet with senior Palestinian security officials in the West Bank city of Jericho on Friday evening.

No other details about the meeting were available and there was no official confirmation from U.S. or Israeli officials that Rice would be arriving in the region Friday.

Palestinian officials said earlier in the week that Rice would be meeting on Saturday, June 28, with Palestinian Premier Mahmud Abbas in Jericho.

Israeli public radio said Rice was slated to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Foreign Minister Sylvan Shalom on Sunday.

Her trip is aimed at pushing for the implementation of the U.S.-backed roadmap, a blueprint for peace aimed at stopping 33 months of bloodshed and paving the way for the creation of a Palestinian state by 2005.

However, en route to the Middle East, Rice called for the total outlawing of Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

She urged both Arab and European countries to assist the peace process by freezing assistance to Hamas' political wing.

"We are pressing the Arab states to cut off support for Hamas, whatever Hamas wants to say it's being used for... The E.U. had listed the armed wing, but social organizations of Hamas have also got to be listed," Rice said.

"The notion that on the one hand Hamas is peaceful and on the other hand is trying to blow up the peace process is just illogical and, we're saying, will not work."

Other groups like Hizbullah, Islamic Jihad and "all of the other rejectionists" should also be targeted, she said.

The United States has long listed Hamas as a "foreign terrorist organization," and Bush has singled out the group as the biggest obstacle to the peace process.