A lingering nuclear dispute between the United States and New Zealand ought to be overcome to focus on a new era of cooperation in the Pacific and elsewhere, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Saturday according to The Associated Press. Rice said joint efforts to return democracy to Fiji, stop the spread of weapons of mass destruction, and promote free trade must take precedence over New Zealand's ban on nuclear-powered vessels and those carrying atomic arms. Since 1985, U.S. warships have been denied entry into New Zealand ports because the Pentagon refuses to declare if they are carrying nuclear weapons and, as a result, New Zealand has been effectively dropped from a joint security treat with the U.S. and Australia.
