Rice: Don't tie U.S. hands

WASHINGTON, April 29 (UPI) -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday Congress shouldn't handcuff U.S. military and diplomatic efforts to pull Iraq back from the brink of chaos.

Rice said on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" that if Congress insists on implementing consequences for Iraq failing to reach progress benchmarks "you're tying the hands of (U.S. Commander) Gen. (David) Petraeus and the hands of Ambassador (Ryan) Crocker."

"It's quite possible to send a strong message to the Iraqis, as (Defense) Secretary (Robert) Gates did, as the Congress is doing, that the American people do not have limitless patience in this, and the president himself in every conversation with Iraqis is telling them exactly that," Rice said.

Rice said she would not rule out meeting with Iran's prime minister when she heads to the Mideast this week for an international conference.

Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., countered on CBS' "Face the Nation" that the administration has to "put some teeth into the benchmarks."

"They say 'we're willing to compromise' and then we don't get any compromise," Murtha said. "There are four ways to influence a president. One is popular opinion, the election, third is impeachment and fourth is the purse."