Condoleezza Rice Backs Obama On Libya Response, Says ‘We Don’t Have All The Pieces’

Condoleezza Rice has spoken out about the criticism of the White House in the response to the September 11 attack in Benghazi, the second Bush-era cabinet member to throw down for President Obama in the past few days.

Condoleezza Rice was a constant presence in the Bush administration and well-regarded by Republicans and Democrats alike when she served during Bush’s two terms.

Rice has been campaigning for Romney in recent weeks but went off-message during a recent appearance on Greta Van Susteren’s Fox News show. When the issue of the Benghazi attacks came up, Condoleezza Rice broke ranks with current Republican spin on the attacks that the White House mishandled them, suggesting the President was not too circumspect and that investigations into such events take time:

“We don’t have all the pieces and I think it’s easy to try and jump to conclusions about what might have happened here … It’s probably better to let the relevant bodies do their work.”

Rice also diverged on critique of the events leading up to the death of Ambassador Chris Stevens (known for his compassion and hands-on approach in Libya), one of four Americans killed in the Benghazi attack. She remarked:

“You can’t simply keep your diplomats in a bunker … They have to get out and do their work.”

Condi seemed to agree with many of the President’s defenders when she stated:

“The problem is when there is a fog of war like this, there are a lot of competing stories coming in, there’s a lot a competing information coming in, and it takes a little while to know precisely what has happened.”

Watch Condoleezza Rice discuss the Benghazi attack on Fox below.