Rice has no problem with protests

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has no problem with anti-war demonstrations as long as they don't assault the character of the president.

"I think that protest is fine. But I do think that it is important for people to send a strong message, I hope, that they want to support our men and women and diplomats abroad who are taking great personal risks, she said in an interview today with the Deseret Morning News.

People can either support or not support the war, she said. There can be disagreement over policy decisions. "But I think we can do that without impugning the integrity of those who made the decision."

Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson will lead a war protest Wednesday when President Bush is in town to address the 88th annual American Legion national convention at the Salt Palace. Rice and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld are speaking to the convention today.

Rice said she does not believe the protest is personal against Bush.

State Republican leaders suggested the protests are un-American and and embarrassment to the state. They urged residents to inundate the mayor's office with complaints. Rice declined to get involved.

"I'll leave the politics of Utah to Utahns," she said.

Rice learned Tuesday morning that the second Utah soldier in two weeks died in Iraq on Sunday.

"We mourn every sacrifice, every loss of life," she said.

Rice said she would want the troops' parents to know that their lives were given for a noble cause and that they're part of a long legacy of soldiers who have died for freedom. She also said she would want them to know the decision to go war was not made lightly.

Later, at a luncheon in her honor, Rice voiced her support for a constitutional amendment barring desecration of the American Flag. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, sponsored a flag desecration bill earlier this year that fell one vote short of the necessary two thirds majority needed to pass Congress.

"Desecrating our nation's symbol of freedom and democracy should be against the law," Rice said to several hundred women auxiliary members of the American Legion.

Rice was given the American Legion Auxiliary's 2006 Woman of the Year award.

Hatch addressed American Legion members earlier in the day and received loud applause when he discussed his proposed constitutional amendment, for which the Legion has advocated for years.