WP: Rice, Russian Foreign Minister caught on tape bickering over Iraq

[DeepModem Mom]

A Spat Over Iraq Revealed On Tape
Rice and Russian Caught Bickering At Private Lunch
By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 30, 2006; Page A20


Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov prepare for a photo at G-8 foreign ministers' meeting in Moscow. (Pool Photo/by Sergei Ilnitsky Via Associated Press)

....a recording of the ministers' private lunch, made when an audio link into the room was accidentally left on, showed that "Condi" and "Sergei" -- as they called each other -- had several long and testy exchanges over Iraq. The disputes concerned relatively minor wording changes in the five-page statement issued after the meeting, but grew out of basic differences between the two governments over how to proceed on Iraq....

***

At a time of rising tension in U.S.-Russian relations, the two diplomats sparred in sometimes tedious terms for more than 20 minutes over a handful of words in a document that is likely to be quickly forgotten.....During the meal -- the recording picks up the clinking of ice in glasses and the scratch of cutlery on plates -- Rice said she wanted to make a few "small points" about a draft statement prepared by lower-level officials. In particular, she said, she was seeking a stronger show of support for the nascent Iraqi government.

Lavrov demurred, suggesting the new leaders had not done enough to promote national reconciliation.

"I'm always a little bit sensitive about this on behalf of the Iraqis," Rice shot back. "Here we sit in Moscow or in Washington or in Paris telling them to make efforts on national accord when their brothers and sisters are being killed. I just think it's gratuitous."

Lavrov eventually gave ground, but then protested when Rice wanted to delete a sentence in a section regarding the killing of five Russian diplomats in Iraq....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/29/AR2006062902086.html

[TwentyFive]

1. Minor wording....

Like the whole country is a mess.