Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says Congress should refrain from micromanaging Iraq war

(AP) Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday it would be a mistake for Congress to micromanage the Iraq war and she encouraged lawmakers to support President Bush's troop increase.

"I would hope that Congress would recognize that it's very important for them to have the oversight role," Rice said. "But when it comes to the execution of policy in the field, there has to be a clear relationship between the commander in chief and the commanders in the field."

Many Democrats, now the majority party on Capitol Hill, are unhappy with Bush's plan to send more U.S. troops to try to quell the violence in Baghdad. They are considering several options, including revoking Congress' 2002 vote authorizing the invasion of Iraq.

Another proposal under consideration would limit U.S. troops to fighting al-Qaida terrorists, training the Iraqi security forces, maintaining Iraq's borders and pulling out combat forces.

Rice said it would be a major mistake to disrupt the chain of command.

"Then you're going to have the worst of micromanagement of military affairs. And it's always served us badly in the past," she said.

Rice said it is impossible to distinguish what is going in Iraq from the larger fight against al-Qaida.

"Some of these car bombs may indeed be the work of an organization like al-Qaida," she said of the violence that continues to rock Baghdad.

"I think it's best to leave the flexibility of what to do on the ground to commanders on the ground who understand the situation, who understand the intricacies and the relationship among these various tasks that the American armed forces have to do," Rice said.

She appeared on "This Week" on ABC.