Rice Takes a Licking in Congress
Typically cool as a cucumber, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice struggled to hold it together Thursday as members of the House Oversight Committee let her have it on everything from the enormous, expensive and incomplete U.S. Embassy in Baghdad to Blackwater's killing spree.Typically cool as a cucumber, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice struggled to hold it together Thursday as members of the House Oversight Committee let her have it on everything from the enormous, expensive and incomplete U.S. Embassy in Baghdad to Blackwater’s killing spree.
Committee Chairman Henry Waxman said of the secretary’s performance: “I think there was a huge gap between what she said and reality.”
Washington Post:
At a hearing by a congressional watchdog committee, Democratic lawmakers said the State Department under Rice had been too lax with armed security contractors, ignored corruption at the highest levels of the Iraqi government and was sloppy in overseeing construction of the costly new U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.
“I think there was a huge gap between what she said and reality,” said Rep. Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
Waxman, D-Calif., and other Democrats said they would not call on Rice to resign, noting that their frustration is with the Bush administration’s policies rather than Rice alone.
WAIT BEFORE YOU GO...This year, the ground feels uncertain — facts are buried and those in power are working to keep them hidden. Now more than ever, independent journalism must go beneath the surface.
At Truthdig, we don’t just report what's happening — we investigate how and why. We follow the threads others leave behind and uncover the forces shaping our future.
Your tax-deductible donation fuels journalism that asks harder questions and digs where others won’t.
Don’t settle for surface-level coverage.
Unearth what matters. Help dig deeper.
Donate now.
The president may not want war with Iran, but he does want to push the regime into submission and tout U.S. military dominance to his base.
Meanwhile, thousands of Iraqi anti-government protesters call on both Iran and America to leave the country.
There's no justification for Qassem Soleimani's assassination, and if we avoid another war in the Middle East, we'll have Tehran to thank.
As a candidate in 2016, he praised war crimes and expressed a desire to commit some of his own. No one can claim surprise or betrayal now.
However Iran chooses to respond to the assassination of Qassem Soleimani, America's influence in the region is guaranteed to deteriorate.
Rocket falls near U.S. Embassy in Iraq hours after funeral for Qassem Soleimani at which crowd chants "Death to America, death to Israel."
You need to be a supporter to comment.
There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.