布什总统的国家安全顾问赖斯说，尽管在纳杰夫和其它地区继续有暴力事件发生，但伊拉克在政治领域正在取得进展。赖斯敦促人们要有耐心。

　　She says there are hopeful signs coming out of Iraq. But at the same time, she stresses Americans must remember the transition to democracy is not easy or quick."We need to be both more patient of people who are making these early steps, less critical of every twist and turn, less certain that every up and down is going to collapse the process and more humble about how long it has taken us to get to a multi-ethnic democracy that works," she said.

　　赖斯说，伊拉克正在出现希望的迹象。但是她同时强调指出，美国人不能忘记，朝民主过渡不是一朝一夕就能够完成的。赖斯说：“我们需要人们更加耐心，不要对每一次反复都提出批评，不要那么肯定地认为每次起伏都会导致这个过程失败，另外，还应当对建立一个正常运转的多元化民主制度所需要的时间估计的更充份一些。”

　　The comments came in an appearance before the U.S. Institute for Peace. During a question and answer session, Ms. Rice was asked to reflect on the differences between the United States and some of its European allies over Iraq. She said that, overall, the trans-Atlantic relationship is strong. "The trans-Atlantic relationship is actually in very good shape. And it is in very good shape because we have had to confront, once again, the fact that we are an alliance of values," she said.

　　赖斯是在一个私人政策研究机构[美国和平研究所]发表这些评论的。有人请赖斯就美国和一些欧洲盟国在伊拉克问题上的分歧发表看法。赖斯说，总的来说，大西洋两岸的关系是牢固的。赖斯说：“大西洋两岸的关系其实非常好，因为我们必须再次面对这样一个现实，也就是，我们是有着同样价值观的盟国。”

　　Ms. Rice says there is now a common interest in building a free, democratic Iraq. She also said there is a consensus growing across the Atlantic on Iran.She said, for a time, the United States was the country most concerned about Iran's nuclear ambitions. But she quickly added, others now agree the Iranians are using their civilian nuclear power program as a cover for development of nuclear arms.

　　赖斯指出，建立一个自由和民主的伊拉克符合各国的共同利益，她还谈到，大西洋两岸国家正在就伊朗问题达成共识。赖斯说，美国一度是最关注伊朗核野心的国家。但是她很快补充说，其它国家现在也认为，伊朗正在用民用核能项目掩盖核武器发展计划。

　　"That is one of the stories of the coming together of the international community around the insistence that Iran deal with its international obligations and a lot of concern about it," she said.Ms. Rice then pointed to recent action in the United Nations on the violence in Sudan's troubled Darfur region as another example of trans-Atlantic cooperation. She said the Security Council has warned of possible action, if the Sudanese government does nothing to end violence against civilians."And so, I suspect, if they do not act within the 30 days they were granted, people will be prepared to look at what those next steps ought to be, and nothing is off the table," she said.Ms. Rice says the real problem in dealing with the Darfur crisis is not the alliance, it is the leadership in Khartoum.

　　赖斯还谈到，联合国最近就苏丹动乱的达尔富尔地区采取行动，也是大西洋两岸国家合作的一个范例。不过，赖斯指出，解决达尔富尔危机的关键不是美国及其盟国，而是喀土穆政府。