* Tough spot for Obama, but chance to show strength
* Rice was state’s Africa point when embassies bombed
* Corker urges Obama to “take breath” before nomination
* Playing politics with Kerry’s seat?
By Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON, Nov 28 (Reuters) – Susan Rice’s attempts to ease
the concerns of her Republican critics seemed to have little
effect on Wednesday, as more U.S. senators – including a
moderate one-time supporter – raised new questions about her
despite two days of meetings at the Capitol.
U.S. Senator Susan Collins met with the U.S. Ambassador to
the United Nations for over an hour, over the Sept. 11 attacks
on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya. Collins said afterward
she could not back Rice for secretary of state, if she is
nominated by President Barack Obama, without more information.
The moderate Republican even brought up a new concern, about
Rice’s record in the State Department 14 years ago in connection
with the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Africa.
Other Republicans have threatened to block Rice’s nomination
if Obama picks her to replace Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton, which would require Senate confirmation.
Obama, who has strongly supported his embattled ambassador,
gave a show of moral support on Wednesday, prompting applause
from his Cabinet – including Clinton – during their first
meeting at the White House since Obama’s re-election on Nov. 6.
“Susan Rice is extraordinary,” Obama said, adding that he
“couldn’t be prouder of the job she’s done.”
Votes from moderates like Collins, who introduced Rice to
the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when Obama nominated her
to the U.N. post three years ago, would be needed to overcome
procedural obstacles and win confirmation.
“I still have many questions that remain unanswered,”
Collins told reporters after a 75-minute meeting with Rice.
The top Republican on the Homeland Security Committee,
Collins said she still wanted more information about the Sept.
11 attack on the U.S. mission and a nearby CIA annex in
Benghazi, Libya, in which the U.S. ambassador and three other
Americans were killed.
The controversy raises the unpleasant specter of Obama
starting his second term with a nasty confirmation fight. But he
also risks looking weak if he seems to give in to criticism from
the party he just defeated to win re-election.
Obama should nominate Rice if he feels she is the best
choice, said Lawrence Korb, a former assistant secretary of
defense now at the liberal Center for American Progress.
He predicted that she would win confirmation, given that the
main objection to her was over a political point that defeated
Republican candidate Mitt Romney tried to feature in his failed
presidential campaign this year.
“The Republicans are desperate for an issue,” Korb said.
“She’s not the issue. The issue is that they want to undermine
his (foreign policy) narrative.”
Sticking with Rice could also be a potent demonstration of
strength for Obama, Korb said, reminiscent of Republican
President Ronald Reagan. Reagan, who is revered by his party,
won points for winning the confirmation of Al Haig as Secretary
of State in 1981, despite objections over Haig’s ties to the
Watergate scandal, he noted.
Some observers have speculated that the Republicans would
prefer Obama nominate Senator John Kerry, leaving the door open
for a Republican to win his vacated Massachusetts seat and
narrowing the Democratic majority in the Senate.
Collins said she would support Kerry. “I think John Kerry
would be an excellent appointment and will be easily confirmed
by his colleagues,” she told reporters.
NEW OBJECTIONS
Collins stressed at length that the United States seems not
to have learned lessons from the bombings of the embassies in
Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, when Rice was the State Department’s
Africa region head.
Collins said this year’s attack in Benghazi “echoed” those
attacks. “In both cases, the ambassador begged for additional
security,” and State turned down both requests, she said.
“I asked Ambassador Rice what her role was. She said that
she would have to refresh her memory but that she was not
involved directly in turning down the request. But surely, given
her position as assistant secretary for African Affairs, she had
to have been aware,” Collins said.
Republicans have openly criticized Rice for initial comments
after the Benghazi attack that suggested it was a spontaneous
event arising from protests of an anti-Islam film rather than a
planned terrorist strike.
Intelligence officials later said the attack was possibly
tied to al Qaeda affiliates.
Republicans have argued that the Obama administration tried
to play down the terrorist angle in its initial comments to
avoid undermining the president’s claims of success in fighting
al Qaeda in the run-up to the Nov. 6 election.
Rice, accompanied by acting CIA Director Michael Morell,
also met with Senator Bob Corker, who is line to be the top
Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
After his meeting, Corker had tough words for the Benghazi
attack and the aftermath, which he termed a “tawdry affair,”
that would add to Americans’ distrust of the government.
He declined to discuss whether he would support Rice, but
urged Obama to “step back” from the controversy and “take a deep
breath” as he decided whom to nominate.
Rice also met for about an hour behind closed doors on
Tuesday with Republican Senators John McCain, Lindsey Graham and
Kelly Ayotte, who have been among her most vocal critics.
