Was Susan Rice thrown under the bus?

Republican senators are now more concerned than ever following comments from U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice in which revealed she may have misled policymakers as well as the public when she claimed the Sept 11 attacks in Benghazi were spontaneous demonstrations rather than terrorist attacks.

WASHINGTON, DC (Catholic Online) -Senators john McCain, Kelly Ayotte and Linsdey Graham interviewed Rice on Tuesday and say they are "significantly troubled" by the answers she gave.

McCain told reporters, "It was clear that the information that she gave the American people was incorrect when she said that it was a spontaneous demonstration triggered by a hateful video. There was compelling evidence at the time that was certainly not the case, including statements by Libyans as well as other Americans who are fully aware that people don't bring mortars and rocket propelled grenades to a spontaneous demonstration."

This remark is consistent with a story Catholic Online published on Sept. 20, which reinforced the belief that the attacks were staged by terrorists. At that time, the true nature of the attacks remained in official doubt, although common sense indicated they were nothing less than coordinated terror assaults.

Senator Graham said he was "more disturbed now than I was before that 16 September explanation about how four Americans died in Benghazi, Libya, by Ambassador Rice. I think it does not do justice to the reality at the time and in hindsight was clearly completely wrong. But here's the key. In real time, it was a statement disconnected from reality."

"A statement disconnected from reality," in plain English, a lie.

As the results of the interview have become known, a number of Republican lawmakers have pledged to block any possible nomination of Rice for the job of Secretary of State. Rice has been named as a likely successor to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Despite the difference between what Rice told the public in the wake of the attacks and what was being circulated by intelligence officials, Rice has insisted that she did not lie.

".Neither I nor anyone else in the Administration intended to mislead the American people at any stage in this process, and the Administration updated Congress and the American people as our assessments evolved," Rice said in a written statement.

Rice also told reporters, "When discussing the attacks on our facilities in Benghazi, I relied solely and squarely on the information provided to me by the intelligence community. I made clear that the information was preliminary."

Meanwhile, another wrinkle has developed in the investigation. Some legislators such as Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) find it suspect that Rice may not have been given full information before she was compelled to speak. Inhofe suspects she may have been "thrown under the bus" by the administration.

"I assumed she had full knowledge of everything that went on," Inhofe said. "I'm not at all convinced of that now. I think she very well could have been thrown under the bus."

For now, the situation remains a tangled morass of lies, deception, and murky details. The issue is swiftly becoming a national embarrassment and another black mark on the Obama regime.

---

'Help Give every Student and Teacher FREE resources for a world-class Moral Catholic Education'