In an exclusive interview last week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sat down to discuss the current situation in Iraq, what we've learned and why the ongoing effort there remains vital to American interests. It's a long interview, but one that's worth your time. Here are some highlights:

-Sec. Rice on whether we pushed too far too fast in moving Iraq to democracy: "I'd be the first to say it's more difficult than I thought it would be because I don't think we really understood how broken the fabric of Iraq was under the tyranny of Saddam Hussein. But that said, even as difficult as it is, I think putting in place or helping them to put in place democratic institutions that have the potential to be the institutions in which they can start to overcome their differences, is preferable to betting that a strong man will somehow overtime give up power."

-Sec. Rice on waning public opinion at home: "If you look at the television screen every day, what you're seeing, nobody can deny that it looks very, very hard. And so if you ask, you know, do we want to continue to be involved in this very hard thing, many people will probably say no, I would rather not be involved in that very hard thing. But if you say, if I refuse to be involved in this very hard thing now things are going to be harder, you may get a different view. And I'm quite certain that if we precipitously leave this admittedly very hard set of circumstances in Iraq, where America's sacrifices -- nobody can ever bring back an American soldier for the family or for the community. But if we leave prematurely, we're going to have harder circumstances ahead. And the idea that Iraq would be unable to secure its unity and truly break up then into warring sects would have such a devastating impact on the rest of the region, which after all has some of the same fault lines that exist in Iraq. And we cannot afford a Middle East that looks like that."

- Sec. Rice on the move toward a different Middle East: "In a sense, we were in a Middle East that was, I think, only going to get worse. And yes, now that Middle East is no more and the transition to a different Middle East which has a chance for true stability is a hard transition. Big historical transformations always are. But the opportunity for a Middle East that has reformist forces and democratizing forces that, frankly, have brought extremism out into the open rather than letting it run the street with its face covered as Hamas used to do, that's at least a Middle East that has a chance of emerging as a truly stable Middle East."

- Sec. Rice on the new Baghdad security plan: "Right now, I think we are in a situation in which all of the forces, with the exception of Muqtada al-Sadr, understand the importance of American forces as a glue to allow them breathing space to get their politics together. The region certainly understands that. There was no more popular decision by this President in the region than the decision to reinforce in Iraq."

There's much more in the full interview which can be accessed by clicking here.

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