UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice Wednesday lashed out at criticism over her role in explaining what caused the Sept. 11 Beghazi attacks which led to the death of the U.S. ambassador to Libya.
In her first public defense against fierce assaults from U.S. Senator John McCain and other Republican lawmakers over the issue, Rice said that she relied "solely" on intelligence reports when she appeared on Sunday news programs on Sept. 16 to discuss the death of the U.S. ambassador, Chris Stevens, and three other Americans.
"When discussing the attacks against our facilities in Benghazi, I relied solely and squarely on the information provided to me by the intelligence community," she told reporters outside the UN Security Council chamber.
"As a senior U.S. diplomat, I agreed to a White House request to appear on the Sunday shows to talk about the full range of national security issues of the day which at that time were primarily, particularly, the protests that were threatening many American diplomatic facilities," Rice said.
After the Benghazi attacks, Rice told U.S. public that the incidents
The attacks, which occurred on the anniversary of 9/11 terror attacks, were triggered by a wave of anti-U.S. protests in the Middle East but the Obama administration later changed the line and said it was a terrorist attack.
It stirred up an uproar among the ranks of top Republicans, who said the administration was misleading the Americans over the issue and blamed Rice, who is a leading candidate to succeed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
McCain and other Republic senators threatened they would block her nomination.
The Benghazi attacks raised questions about the security provided for U.S. missions and diplomats overseas, the intelligence on possible threats and the administration's response.
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