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As DNC delegates, we urge presumptive presidential nominee Joe Biden to reject Susan Rice as a Vice Presidential candidate or member of his Cabinet. The hawkish former Assistant Secretary of State and UN Ambassador is the wrong choice based on her failure to embrace diplomatic solutions to global challenges, as well as her patronage of the Israel lobby.
Rice’s tenure in government has spelled disaster for the Middle East, as she pushed for the U.S. invasion of Iraq, military intervention in Libya and U.S. weapons sales to Saudi Arabia for its barbaric assault on Yemen, a country now in the grips of a humanitarian crisis with millions facing famine and death from cholera.
“As a child of war, and a bear witness to the casualties of conflict, I envision a Middle East free from occupation. Our children deserve peace and security. We owe this to them.” Hanieh Jodat Barnes, Muslim coalition organizer and California delegate quotes.
In 2002, when hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets in the U.S. and abroad to protest a threatened U.S. invasion, Rice told National Public Radio: "It's clear that Iraq poses a major threat. It's clear that its weapons of mass destruction need to be dealt with forcefully, and that's the path we're on. I think the question becomes whether we can keep the diplomatic balls in the air and not drop any, even as we move forward, as we must, on the military side.”
While other lawmakers and politicians have apologized for backing the Iraq invasion, Rice has remained unrepentant about her support for the US invasion that resulted in an estimated one million deaths, five million refugees, 5,000 U.S. dead, immense suffering for soldiers returning home with missing limbs, broken hearts and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Faraz Rizvi, member of Muslim coalition and California delegate said, "Susan Rice's track record here is deeply concerning. We need leadership that departs from the Washington consensus that's created endless wars."
One would have thought that following the carnage in Iraq, Rice would have learned the high cost of war required she choose another path with Libya. However, along with National Security Council appointee Samantha Power and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Rice persuaded then President Obama to endorse a UN proposal to impose a no-fly zone over Libya and green light other military actions “as necessary” — this despite strong opposition from Defense Secretary Robert Gates and counterterrorism advisor John Brennan.
In addition to promoting destabilizing regime-change policies, as UN ambassador, Rice said her unwavering allegiance to Israel, even as led by right-wing extremist Benjamin Netanyahu, was her imperative as a representative of the U.S. Rice has ignored its human rights violations of Palestinians suffering under Israeli occupation, including home demolitions, family separations caused by an apartheid wall, and the imprisonment of children.
Nadia Ahmad, Muslim coalition organizer and Florida delegate adds, “We need a Vice President who will not rush to war and seek out corporatist solutions to global conflicts. We need someone who is rooted in the community and not corporations.”
As DNC Muslim delegates and allies who supported the California delegation’s open letter to Joe Biden urging him to consider progressive congresswomen Karen Bass, Barbara Lee, and former State Senator Nina Turner as candidates for Vice-President, we also call on him to reject former UN ambassador Susan Rice for the same position and as a member of his administration.
Daily Kos: Susan Rice Vocally Supported the Iraq War, and Every Mid-East War Since
The Guardian: Susan Rice: the liberal case against her being secretary of state