However, I'd prefer not to do the guilt by association route -- mentored by someone I disapprove of, protege of another suspect person -- even if that has some basis in policy and general ideological orientation.

There are those who manage to rise above their backgrounds. In my view, however, Susan Rice has not and remains a proven ME hawk, and to me that's disqualifying. Please, see, http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021890629

Consider.

It's almost incredible how quickly these conservatives find friends among the president's critics here.

A quote from Ms. Rice during the 2008 campaign: "Senators Clinton and McCain failed the judgment test when they voted for George Bush's Iraq war -- a war which has made America less safe and is the greatest strategic blunder of our generation -- without even bothering to read the full National Intelligence Estimate."

I'll look further on that.

Whatever Clinton could read, Rice was probably aware of, as well.

From WaPo transcript (response to last question): http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/liveonline/03/special/world/sp_iraq-brookings041103.htm

Susan Rice: To maximize our likelihood of success, the US is going to have to remain committed to and focused on reconstruction and rehabilitation of Iraq for many years to come. This administration and future ones will need to demonstrate a longer attention span than we have in Afghanistan, and we will have to embrace rather than evade the essential tasks of peacekeeping and nation building. We would be wise to involve as early as is feasible the UN and key allies in the complex tasks of democracy building and reconstruction, and we would be wise to help foster organic internal processes for selecting a new national leadership in Iraq, as the international community did in supporting the loya jirga process in Afghanistan. We can not be seen to select or anoint new Iraqi leaders. We need also to be to be exceedingly careful with the Americans coming in under General Garner to assume governance roles in Iraq.

UN Pick Rice: Another Wrong-on-Iraq Nominee
By John Nichols | The Nation |

On the outside chance that anyone thought that Dr. Susan Rice might be the exception to the rule of wrong-thinking that characterizes Barack Obama's foreign-policy team, well, think again.

Obama's nominee to serve as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, had this to say February, 2003, after then-Secretary of State Colin Powell made a wholly absurd presentation a plenary session of the United Nations Security Council regarding the supposed threat posed by those Iraqi imaginary weapons of mass destruction.

"I think he [Powell] has proved that Iraq has these weapons and is hiding them," said Rice, a former Clinton administration State Department aide, "and I don't think many informed people doubted that."

So said Rice in an interview with National Public Radio on February 6, 2003.

For the record, that was one day after Powell made his "case" for war to the U.N.

On that day, major newspapers in Europe had already debunked Powell's key arguments.

"Informed people" -- i.e., those who read credible media -- knew that. And they were struggling to avert an unnecessary war.

Unfortunately for the world, Susan Rice was not among them.

Ms Rice: “I think he has proved that Iraq has these weapons and is hiding them, and I don't think many informed people doubted that. ...The Iraqis have threatened to unleash a rein of suicide bombers on US and allied targets around the world. And I think that's one of the real risks, as well as the use of chemical and biological weapons, that we face. (NPR, February 6, 2003)

Ms. RICE: “ 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." December 20, 2002 NPR

- http://www.rigorousintuition.ca/board2/viewtopic.php?t=19368&p=202133

What an asshat.

We tried that already with the other Rice, Condosleeza.

Or has she devoted her career to climbing up the ranks of the imperialist nomenklatura in the national security apparatus?