Fri Jul 13, 10:01 AM ET
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday shrugged off a downbeat report on progress in the Iraq war, insisting "it's a work in progress."
"I don't agree you would give it a failing grade. You would say it's a work in progress," Rice, who took the infrequent step of appearing on all major US television networks, told CBS.
"You would say they have made not inconsequential movement forward on some of the important benchmarks, particularly those concerning security," she added.
The report found satisfactory progress by the Baghdad government on only eight of 18 benchmarks set by Congress.
President George W. Bush stood firm in a press conference, invoking the Al-Qaeda terror group, and warning that the withdrawal of the 160,000 US troops in the country would mean "surrendering the future of Iraq to Al-Qaeda."
Bush also said he would send Rice and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to the Middle East in August to consult US allies on the conflict.
The House of Representatives answered Bush with a vote to withdraw most combat troops by April, as Democratic leaders said the president's strategy of deploying an additional 30,000 troops had proved a failure.
The House voted by 223 votes to 201 to pass the measure, but the Republican coalition stayed intact: only four party members voted with the Democrats.
The troop withdrawal deadlines have almost no chance of becoming law as the Democrats are well short of the two-thirds majority needed to override a Bush veto.
"It's a very difficult situation. And we have not been completely satisfied with the way the Iraqi government has performed," Rice said on NBC.
But she steered clear of any personal attack on Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki.
"This is a man I think who wants to do the right thing for his country ... (but) he is not the only factor here. He needs the help" of other Iraqi leaders, she said on NBC.
Rice also asked for more time -- at least two months -- before any assessment of Bush's policy of surging extra troops into Iraq.
"I think we will have a better assessment of where we are when General (David) Petraeus and (US Ambassador) Ryan Crocker report in September. Because, right now, we are beginning to see progress on what I would call 'inputs.' The security forces that are going into the field. The policies that are being adopted. But what we now need to see are the results of those inputs," Rice argued on CBS.