Rice calls Huckabee comment 'ludicrous'
Rice had some sharp words for Mike Huckabee Friday.
WASHINGTON (CNN) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters Friday that Mike Huckabee’s recent comments criticizing some aspects of Bush administration foreign policy were “ludicrous.”
“The idea that somehow this is a ‘go it alone’ policy is just simply ludicrous. And one would only have to be not observing the facts, let me say that, to say that this is now a ‘go it alone foreign policy,” said Rice.
In an article in the January/February issue of Foreign Affairs, released last week, the Republican presidential candidate characterized the Bush administration’s foreign policy as an “arrogant, bunker mentality.”
Many of Huckabee's GOP presidential rivals have attacked him for that description. Mitt Romney, who now trails Huckabee in the key early-voting state of Iowa, has kept up a steady stream of criticism over the Foreign Affairs piece – at a campaign event Wednesday, he again said the former Arkansas governor had made a "significant error in insulting the president."
President Bush himself declined to comment on Huckabee’s piece when asked about it during a press conference yesterday.
UPDATE: Speaking to CNN's John King Friday, Huckabee said he has "great respect" for Rice, but questioned whether she had read the article.
"I'm not sure if she's actually read the article, or maybe she's reacting to the headlines, because I think some of the people who have spoken about it when asked have admitted they have not actually read the article and what I was specifically referencing."
"I wasn't criticizing the president, who I'm very fond and think has handled the overall situation of protecting America quite well," Huckabee continued. "I've been very complimentary of him, particularly the surge, but if we are so unable to point out policy differences and how things would change under a new administration, then maybe we shouldn't run for president, we'll just keep the current one in office."
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While I would never vote for Huckleberry, kudos to him for nailing it.
Condee Rice is a penultimate lackey and a disgrace to this country.
She has no credibility whatsoever anymore.
Don't forget about Poland!
Go back to where you just came from!
Rice is so right. I would vote her is as the first black person and first female president any day.
She's still around?
"And one would only have to be not observing the facts, let me say that, to say that this is not a ‘go it alone foreign policy,” said Rice
Um, she does realize that the use of the double negative there means she just said the opposite of what she seemed to be intending to say, doesn't she...?
I agree with Romney when he said that there is a difference between saying that there have been mistakes in the war, and blaming the war on a person's arrogance and "Bunker mentality".
Huckabee is not very smart. He proves that time and time again.
I have mixed emotions about Huckabee but seems to me he nailed it on the head.
Sour grapes for Rice. Thank God these people are leaving in a year, Huckabee's right - worst administration I've seen in my lifetime. And yes, I'm a Republican, but I'm an American first and need to tell the truth
I agree, Huck's policies are virtually NON-EXISTENT, and to attack the character of those with certain policies is insane. I really don't like this guy, he's not what the Nation needs after all.
Negative comments in a national forum regarding the conduct of war or foreign affairs in regard to that very war on a sitting President encourage action by combatants on the other side and cost American lives. If this type of action is legal it certainly should not be legal.
Mr. Huckabee's comments were spot on. Ms. Rice has had years in which to develop a coherent explanation for this administration's foreign policy. She has failed to provide an explanation that matches the tactics her boss has actually employed/
Of course it's a "go it alone foreign policy".
Rice herself is ludicrous with her preposterous adherence to the Bush Doctrine of preemptive war against a country that did not attack us and was not a threat to us. We were monitoring Iraq with fly-overs and could easily have attacked if their military posed any real threat to us.
She herself missed the boat signing on with Bush and the neoCons. Most of America no longer has much faith in Bush or Rice.
Not a "go it alone" strategy? Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the US pretty much conducting the vague War on Terror without the assistance from our allies (UK, Australia, etc.)?
We have dug in our heels and are determine to win a war against a tactic, with no clearly defined enemy or objective.
And one would only have to be not observing the facts, let me say that, to say that this is not a ‘go it alone foreign policy,” said Rice.
Look carefully at what she just said: one would have to be not observing the facts to believe, as she does, that this is not a go-it-alone policy. At least she admits that she's not observing the facts.
Yep a big KUDOS to Huck for calling it what it is.
I think "ludicrous" is a good word for this entire administration.
Quite the opposite to me. It seems that Condi suffers from the same lack of self-examination her boss does. Not a go-it-alone mentality? Why did we blow off the UN? Why did we invade Iraq sans 90% of our usual allies? No Germany, Spain, France, etc.(The tokens offered by England and Australia were small enough not to matter in all honesty, and they're already gone!) Since when do the former Eastern Bloc countries matter much in the world of alliances?
Condi, have YOU been paying attention?
Sure it wasn't a go-it-alone foreign policy. Your sidekicks are all third world countries that most of us didn't even know existed. And this is a fact.
I think Mike Huckabee has the courage to say what other Republican candidates won't say. (Even though many of them criticized the Bush Admin. policy previously.) It's not politically expedient to say those things now.
Gov. Huckabee continues to demonstrate how he moves based on policy, not politics.
http://thecookaccount.blogspot.com/
Huckabee hit the nail on the head.
Going into Afghanistan the "World" was with us. Going into Iraq, only the British and what Bush's wordsmiths called the "Coalition of the Willing".
They should have been called the "Coalition of those Bought and Paid For".
Now even the British are pulling out of
Iraq.
We should believe Shrub boys pet poodle for what reason? Oh, yes, they all have been so up front and honest with the nation and the people they "claim" to represent. Listening to this administration has been like a slap to people. At least, Huckabee said out loud what most people just think.
And what else would she say, she's nothing but a Bush puppet.
That's right girl... stand up for your man! Please, no more of this presidents friday night girl routine. It has gotten really old don't you think? This administration has been such a failure. Remember when Bush kept lauding the fact that more americans now own homes then ever before? How much did his administration have to do with this mess? Need I say more?
The performance of the George W. Bush administration over 7 long years has been patently uninspiring. The decision to invade Iraq on the unproven and now proven false assertion that Saddam Hussein possessed and intended to use WMDs was met with near universal disagreement among our European allies of World War II and The Cold War. It turns out, the Europeans, excluding the U.K., were correct in not joining The Coalition of the Willing. Iraq is a tar pit and a money pit. It makes no sense. Bush and his cronies sit in their White House offices and stew about how nobody understands the wisdom of perpetual war in Iraq. That sounds pretty much like bunker mentality to me. The whole slew of religious bigots that is the Republican Party should take some pills to help them behave intelligently and not lash out at people who see what they see and give it its proper name. A mistake is a mistake. Goodbye Bush & Co. Your departure cannot come soon enough.