WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday defended U.S. policy in Iraq amid criticism from lawmakers demanding a plan to bring troops home.In her first appearance before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee since February, Rice said the U.S. goals in Iraq are to break the back of the insurgency, keep Iraq from becoming a safe haven for Islamic extremism, turn the corner economically and become a democratic example for the entire Middle East.She outlined a strategy to clear the toughest areas of insurgents, secure them as a sanctuary from violence and "build durable national Iraqi institutions," which she insisted would "assure victory.""Our strategy is to clear, hold and build," she told senators. "The enemy's strategy is to infect, terrorize and pull down."The Afghanistan modelRice said the Bush administration would "restructure" part of its mission on a model the United States found successful in Afghanistan, where diplomats and reconstruction workers are embedded with the military."Provincial reconstruction teams" made up of civilian and military personnel will work together to clear out insurgents, train police, set up courts and help the government establish basic services, Rice said. The first of these new teams will begin work next month.But the hearing often turned contentious, with Rice facing tough questioning from senators on both sides of the aisle, looking for a timetable to win the peace and begin withdrawal of U.S. troops.Timetables debatedRice refused to give a timeline for U.S. withdrawal but called Iraqi forces' assumption of responsibility for some of the toughest areas in Iraq "good benchmarks"But the Republican committee chair, Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, countered that "the American people need to more fully understand the basis upon which our troops are likely to come home.""We are engaged in a difficult mission in Iraq and the president and Congress must be clear with the American people about the stakes involved and the difficulties yet to come," he said.Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, the ranking Democrat on the committee, said that nobody was suggesting an immediate pullout of U.S. troops, but more details on the Bush administration's plan to win the peace and begin withdrawing troops were needed."What's the plan, Stan? Tell us," Biden said. "We are not setting timetables and saying cut and run. We are saying give us a plan."Asked pointedly whether the United States would still have troops in Iraq five or 10 years from now, Rice said, "I think that even to try and speculate on how many years from now there will be a certain number of American forces is not appropriate."I don't know how to speculate about what will happen 10 years from now, but I do believe that we are moving on a course on which Iraqi security forces are rather rapidly able to take care of their own security concerns."Syria and IranShe reiterated U.S. criticism of Iraq's neighbors Syria and Iran, who she said need to take steps to stop fighters from entering Iraq."Syria and, indeed, Iran must decide whether they wish to side with the cause of war or with the cause of peace," she said.While Rice said the United States is continuing to put diplomatic pressure on Syria to stem the flow of insurgents, the military option remains on the table. The United States also wants Syria to stop supporting Palestinian extremist groups and end its presence in Lebanon.Rice said the United States is examining whether its ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, should hold diplomatic talks with Iranian officials about the situation in Iraq, just as he did during the U.S. war in Afghanistan.'Spin of false expectations'In response to her comments that a free Iraq would "be at the heart of a different kind of Middle East" and allow the United States to defeat the ideology of hatred and extremism threatening it, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-California, accused Rice of "rewriting history."Boxer said the Bush administration's war on terror was supposed to be about going after the terrorists that threatened the United States after the September 11 attacks, not "rebuilding the Middle East.""Our country is sick at heart with the spin of false expectations," she told Rice.The secretary also faced criticism from senators for failing to appear before the committee for so many months. Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Connecticut, pointed out that if Rice made time to appear on Sunday morning talk shows, she could make herself available to address Congress about a policy that is costing the lives of U.S. soldiers and Iraqis and "draining our treasury substantially.""This is just unacceptable we go this length of time without discussing this in full and in the public," Dodd said.