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Rice: Bush administration dismissed concerns about Iraq's security
Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that the Bush administration was dismissive toward her concerns over security in a post-war Iraq, according to excerpts from her autobiography that Rice tweeted about Sunday.
"When I finally arranged a briefing on the issue before the President in early February 2002, he started the meeting in a way that completely destroyed any chance of getting an answer," Rice wrote in an excerpt that appears in Newsweek.
Rice also butted heads with former Vice President Cheney, and tweeted about their clashes. Rice linked to a New York Times article that quotes her as threatening to resign after a perceived slight by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who authorized military commissions for detainees without informing her. The same article also chronicles clashes with former Defense Secretary Donald Rumfeld, whom Rice believes did not see her as an equal.
“I thought peace was within reach,” Rice tweeted, linking to an excerpt in the book that outlines her disappointment with negotiations but optimism for the future.
Rice's memoir, No Higher Honor, also focuses on the aftermath of 2005's Hurricane Katrina. An excerpt linked to by Rice expresses remorse for her decision to go shoe shopping and attend a Broadway play as the storm was hitting the Gulf Coast.
"I wasn't just the secretary of state with responsibility for foreign affairs; I was the highest ranking black in the administration and a key advisor to the President. What had I been thinking?" Rice wrote.
But the former Cabinet official also saw racial overtones in the handling of the storm.
"Mr. President, I'm coming back. I don't know how much I can do, but we clearly have a race problem," she reportedly told Bush after seeing coverage of the damage.
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