Condoleezza Rice delivers keynote address at ASIS 2009

Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday that the United States must remain vigilant in the fight in Afghanistan and help calm the drug battles along the Mexican border to help prevent the type of failed states that lead to more terrorism.

Rice delivered the keynote address to a crowd of more than 2,500 police and security professionals gathered in Anaheim for the 55th annual American Society for Industrial Security International Seminar, billed as the largest security expo in the world.

"Nothing has ever been the same since 9/11," she said.

Unless the U.S. leads the charge to stabilize Afghanistan and other volatile regions, "you can be assured you'll have (terrorist) attacks from there again," Rice said. "This is a long war, not a short one."

She emphasized that unpopular decisions may need to be made in order to bring about lasting peace.

"If you govern for today's headlines, you will not have history's judgment on your side," she said.

Rice, the first black woman to serve as secretary of state, served in that position from 2005 to January of this year, and previously served as national security adviser.