Is Susan Rice the right choice for US secretary of state?

The present US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has decided to step down next year, and the new incumbent is likely to be the present UN Ambassador Susan Rice, but a few GOP members are not happy with such a replacement.

The three senators are John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire.

It seems that they feel let down by the statements of Susan Rice on the Sept. 11, 2012 Benghazi affair, in which she had claimed that the sudden storming of the US Consulate was a spontaneous reaction of a section of the people who had revolted against a video of US origin which portrayed Prophet Mohammad in bad light.

However, later investigations revealed that it was a planned attack and not a spontaneous reaction – obviously, there must have been some communication gap.

Christopher Stevens, the US ambassador, and three other Americans lost their lives in the attack, and it is believed that a local Libyan extremist group that sympathizes with al-Qaida was behind the attack.

Even now, the truth has not been established, and it is also not known how much planning had gone into the attack and the extent to which the anti-Islam video was responsible.

It has been learned from McCain and Ayotte that Susan Rice had herself requested for a meeting with the three senators to clear doubts.

However, there is no guarantee that the discussions would be confined to only the attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi or whether it would encompass others topics.

The discussions are expected to help clear the air to a certain extent and allow the senators to reassess the suitability of Rice as the potential nomination as President Barack Obama's choice for US secretary of state.

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) is also making the rounds as one of the top names for this job.

Incidentally, John McCain was dead against Susan Rice becoming the next US secretary of state and had even vowed to block any attempt to appoint her – it now appears he might not insist on it, and there are indications that he might move away from his hard-line approach.

Brief profile of Susan Rice – She is 48, has a degree from Stanford University and has a sharp intellect. She is not known for diplomatic finesse, instead she is aggressive.

However, in private, she has a good sense of humor.

One of her recent diplomatic achievements was the NATO-led air campaign which toppled Libyan leader General Moammar Gadhafi and going in for tougher sanctions against Iran and North Korea to counter their nuclear programs.

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