SYDNEY - To Australian protesters' cries of "war criminal" and "murderer", U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice defended her government's role in Iraq on Thursday and said patience and sacrifice were needed to finish the job.

Protesters are blocked by police officers at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music during an address by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Sydney Thursday, March 16, 2006. Rice is in Australia to attend the Trilateral Strategies Dialogue with her Australian counterpart Alexander Downer. (AP Photo/Andrew Caballero-Reynolds)