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As I have listened to leading Republicans denigrate Ambassador Susan Rice, I am struck by how unfair this attack is, how untruthful it is, and how at odds it is with their past actions.
The truth is, when Ambassador Rice was asked on Face the Nation about the tragic deaths of four Americans in Benghazi, she shared exactly what she and the Congress had been directly told at the time by the intelligence community.
But she also said that this information was preliminary, stressing that an investigation had begun, and warning that "we'll want to see the results of that investigation to draw any definitive conclusions."
She was not spinning. She was not twisting the truth. She was simply being forthcoming with the best information available at the time. And for that, she is now being viciously attacked by Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham.
This treatment stands in stark contrast with their vocal support of Condoleezza Rice who -- unlike Susan Rice -- deliberately misrepresented intelligence.
In September 2002, then-National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice appeared on a talk show and claimed that Iraq was importing high quality aluminum tubes that "are only really suited for nuclear weapons programs, centrifuge programs."
But in 2004, shortly before she was nominated by President George W. Bush to be Secretary of State, Rice admitted "there was some debate" at the time about the intelligence behind the aluminum tubes -- information she had chosen to ignore during her 2002 appearance. In fact, both the State Department and the Department of Energy believed that the tubes were intended for conventional weapons -- not nuclear weapons.
Tragically, the false assertions made by Rice and other top officials in the Bush administration helped propel our country into a devastating and costly war in Iraq that claimed more than 4,400 American lives. But somehow, Rice's role in these profound intelligence failures did not prevent Senators McCain and Graham from championing her nomination to be Secretary of State.
In fact, Senator Graham argued that Condoleezza Rice couldn't be held responsible for misleading the American public on Iraq because "every intelligence agency in the world was misled."
That defense is stunning given his hurtful rhetoric about Susan Rice, a remarkable public servant who has served our country for 20 years with grace and strength, most recently as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.
Ambassador Rice helped enact the toughest international sanctions on Iran in history. She led efforts to secure Security Council Resolutions that helped bring down the brutal dictator Muammar Ghaddafi and put in place tough sanctions on North Korea. And she has stood up time and time against efforts to de-legitimize Israel. Those who are personally attacking her now should know well that these were not easy tasks.
Instead of vilifying Ambassador Rice, my Republican colleagues should be working with her and our president to continue building a stronger and more secure America.
Follow Sen. Barbara Boxer on Twitter: www.twitter.com/SenatorBoxer
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This comment has not yet been postedWhy? Ever think, that maybe, it's a little like WWII Germany around here?
Get mad about the next attack, and the one after that, and the one after that....because they're not going to stop. As long as we support Israel...we're going to get attacked...again, and again, and again.
Semper fi
Susan and Condoleeza are
Probably both quite smart and nice,
Now being compared insofar
As speaking in public about
Intelligence from C.I.A.,
Sort of crappy as it turned out.
But that's the game D.C. does play.
Both Rice ladies were well aware
That lies flavor the party mix.
Powers that be do only care
That what's said's best for politics.
All the chatter and all the fuss
All 'bout Rices' erroneous.
of U.N.Ambassador Susen Rice's testimony, I cannot perceive of the Senators
John McCain and Lindsey Graham "working with her and our president to continue
building a stronger and more secure America."!
John McCain, who finished third from the bottom of his Annapolis graduating class,
has the effrontery to call Susan Rice, who was a Rhodes Scholar and has a PhD
from Oxford, "not very bright" and "not qualified"!
Lindsey Graham, who was caught lying when he claimed that he was
"an Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm veteran", now claims
Susan Rice is "disconnected to reality" and "doesn't deserve promotion"!
The motives of these two very fine gentlemen are none other than vengeful spite
and revenge for the devastating defeat of their party in our recent election.
They will not relent until they fully experience the absolute completeness
of their vanquishment, and slink off with their tails between their legs...
There was an attack on our consulate and four Americans killed.
How many possible factors contributed to their deaths?
Did provocative hate from extremists in the US offend religious people?
Is there instability in Libya due to the recent revolution?
Are there groups around the world ready to take advantage of an opportunity to gain infamy?
--Is the hysteria in US media and political opportunists what the attackers might wished to have achieved?
What angry member of a mob qualifies as a "terrorist" for the distinctions of the armchair pundits?
Which, if any of these issues are mutually exclusive?
These questions don't sell advertising on the $$$media.
These questions won't reach low information people.
Instead, the guardians of liberty gossip about a person not directly related to the funding of US foreign service security, not directly responsible for arranging for security, and not in Benghazi might have said on the gossip shows? Especially if she is attractive and may be nominated as Secretary of State.
Persona is something $$$media, McCain and Grahm can relate to.
We can't change that soon enough.
Semper fi
1. Today Americans live in too separate bubbles, each having it's own definition of true information:
General's testimony today contradicts the White House story in one bubble and support it in another
2. The Ambassador have been assassinated and three other Americans killed in the same attack and it's become a partisan issue
2. Self-respected country would unite around the leadership, which will increase the desert area of Libya three-fold for any jihadi savage to stay in underground cave 24/7, like brave Nasralla from Hizbolla lives for last ten years
3. But people, living in bubbles, only watch their fearless leaders, like Senator Boxer, are barking on each other with not only any action taken, but mastering the cover-up, for those in bubbles never even to find out, what really happened
4. As to great achievements of also Ambassador, but alive and well, Rice, the United Nations with her anticipation, became even more anti-American, than ever