Rice: 'I relied solely' on intel for Libya comments

Allison Joyce / REUTERSU.N. Ambassador Susan Rice.By NBC News staff and wire servicesUNITED NATIONS – U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice on Wednesday defended her remarks on a September attack in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador to the North African nation.

Follow @NBCNewsUSRepublicans have criticized Rice, seen as a possible nominee to replace Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, for appearing on several TV talk shows five days after the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi and saying that preliminary information suggested the assault was the result of protests over an anti-Muslim film, rather than a premeditated strike.

“I relied solely and squarely on the information provided to me by the intelligence community. I made clear that the information was preliminary and that our investigations would give us the definitive answers," Rice told reporters at the United Nations in her first comments on the controversy.




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