AS MESSY AS POSTWAR GERMANY

Some historical perspective.

Rebuilding Iraq and the wider Middle East will require the same 'generational commitment' that went into rebuilding Germany and Europe after World War II, says US National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice.

Post-war Germany had been as 'messy' as post-war Iraq, she told journalists in Dallas on Thursday.

'The historical analogy is important,' she said, pointing out that Germany eventually became the linchpin of a democratic Europe.

'If that different future is to be realised, we and our allies must make a generational commitment to helping the people of the Middle East transform their region,' Ms Rice told the annual convention of the National Association of Black Journalists.