[An Nahar] The White House denied Saturday having heavily edited talking points to UN Ambassador Susan Rice about the deadly attacks on a U.S. mission in Libya to remove references to terrorism.| "Wudn't us." |
| An interesting logical choice. Were any edits made by either the White House or the State Department? |
"Other than that, we were guided by the points that were provided by the intelligence community. So I can't speak to any other edits that may have been made."
Republican politicians briefed by former CIA chief David Petraeus on Friday said that the original talking points about the attack had mentioned groups linked to al-Qaeda.
But Petraeus told the politicians that the reference was removed from a final version given to Rice before she discussed the attack on five Sunday television talkshows and said the assault was a response to an amateur video denigrating Islam and the Prophet Mohammed.
The initial talking points "specifically mentioned al-Qaeda, and that al-Qaeda was involved in the attack," Republican Representative Peter King
...U.S. Representative for New York's 3rd (central Long Island) congressional district, serving since 1993. He is of the Publican persuasion and is known for his active support for the
, who attended the briefing, told Fox News.
"When the talking points were finalized, all the references to al-Qaeda were taken out and it was put in almost as an afterthought saying there are indications of thug involvement in the demonstration."
Critics have seized on Rice's remarks to argue that the White House misled or even lied to Americans during a heated election season.
Rice has been floated as a possible successor to Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton... sometimes described as
America's Blond Eminenceand at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as
Another Daniel Webster...
, who is stepping down early next year, but some Republicans threaten to block her nomination.