Partisan split over UN Ambassador Rice widens

December 3, 2012 @ 12:48 am


UN Ambassador Susan Rice leaves a meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012, with Sen. Susan Collins, R- Maine, and Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., about the Benghazi terrorist attack. Rice continued her fight Wednesday to win over skeptics in the Senate who could block her chances at becoming the next U.S. secretary of state. Republican lawmakers said they were even more troubled after face-to-face meetings with her over the handling of the Sept. 11 deadly attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci) | Zoom
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) - Republicans continue to argue that U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice is unfit to be secretary of state. Democrats say the criticism is unfair.

Republican senators say they remain deeply concerned over Rice's statements about the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, and suggested her motive was to help President Barack Obama's re-election chances. Democrats, meanwhile, said they saw no reason the statements should disqualify her if she's nominated.

At issue is the explanation Rice offered in a series of talk show appearances five days after the attack that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

Rice has conceded in private meetings with lawmakers that her initial account _ that a spontaneous demonstration over an anti-Muslim video produced in the U.S. triggered the attack _ was wrong, but she has insisted she was not trying to mislead the American people. That account was provided by intelligence officials who have since said their understanding of the attack evolved as more information came to light.

Appearing on Sunday talk shows, two of Rice's fiercest critics, Sens. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Rice's account went beyond talking points that the intelligence agencies gave her. For one, they noted she had said that security at the Benghazi mission was "strong, substantial and significant."

That statement "was not supported by the talking points," Ayotte said, noting that Rice was privy to more than just the unclassified material she discussed on television, including secret intelligence briefings that pointed to al-Qaida involvement in the attack.

"I think her story on 16th of September was a political story designed to help the president three weeks before the election, and she should be held accountable for that," Graham said. He added that Rice's comments were "a treasure trove of misleading statements that have the effect of helping the president."

Rice met with both Graham and Ayotte last week to explain the situation, but Graham said Rice "didn't do herself much good" in the encounter.

Democrats, though, said Rice is being unfairly victimized for repeating erroneous talking points circulated by the intelligence community.

"Nothing that I have heard, in my mind, would disqualify her" from being secretary of state, said Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va.

Missouri Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill said what's happening to Rice is "terribly unfair" and a brighter light should be shone on the role of former CIA chief David Petraeus and his agency.

"The talking points came from the intelligence community, yet you don't hear one criticism of David Petraeus. It was his shop that produced the talking points that Susan Rice talked about. ... Is there a double standard here? It appears to most of us that there is. A very unfair one," she said.

Petraeus quit the CIA after acknowledging an adulterous affair with his biographer.

Ayotte and Warner were on CNN's "State of the Union." McCaskill spoke on NBC's "Meet the Press" and Graham appeared on CBS' "Face the Nation."


(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Comments (4)


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  • HPD 5-0 wrote...
    Just another lying Dimocrat who "can't remember" facts.
    November 26, 2012 3:27 pm
    ...
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • longwayhome wrote...
    hpd
    November 26, 2012 6:47 pm
    Just another poster who can't accept the fact that Obama will be HIS boss for the next 4 years, and then, another Democrat will take his place! Life is good! Life sucks to be a sore loser, doesn't it? Even when your income goes up (assuming you have a job) in the next four years, you probably will still be posting your nonsense along with its the moron and the cop guy and all the other regulars who come here every day to depress themselves and others.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • It's me! Ha ha! wrote...
    LEFT WING PARROTS!
    November 27, 2012 9:37 am
    Do not forget about Benghazi ObamaGate! This is what you useful idiots voted for. TWICE!

    And don't forget Bush is not in office. Your Dear Leader inherited this mess from himself. Not President Bush!

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • longwayhome wrote...
    The keyboard
    November 27, 2012 6:47 pm
    On the stupidest poster of all time must be worn out on the words "parrots, dear leader, obamagate bengazi, I hope this person has a caregiver, he certainly isn't employed and is eventually in danger of injuring himself. Does someone change his attends regularly?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }