Commentary
Focus on Obama's foreign policy adviser
By Wayne Madsen
Online Journal Contributing Writer


Jun 6, 2008, 00:14

WMR -- A Barack Obama administration will likely feature another Rice in a top foreign policy position. Instead of Dr. Condoleezza Rice, it will be Dr. Susan Rice, Obama's top foreign policy adviser, who will assume critical foreign policy responsibilities. Both Rices are African Americans and both attended Stanford University. Susan Rice served as President Clinton's Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs where she earned a reputation of naivety and disregard for the democratic aspirations of African countries where one-party dictators beholden to the United States held sway.

Particularly anxious about Rice's role in an Obama administration is the government of Sudan. Rice has turned her opposition to Sudan's government into a vendetta, one that does not harbor hopes that the dire situation on Darfur and new problems between Sudan's Arab north and black African south will be solved with Rice at the helm in an Obama administration.

Similarly, Rice did not endear herself to opposition leaders in countries like Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They believed that Rice sided with U.S.-supported dictators at the expense of advancing the cause of democracy. One Ugandan opposition leader said Rice told him in 1998 that he should just accept Ugandan dictator Yoweri Museveni's one-party state and "get over" his notion of a multi-party democracy in the country. Rice's policies carried out the policies of her boss, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who also happens to be Rice's godmother.

Rice's foreign policy advisory role with Obama increased after the resignation of Samantha Power, the Illinois Democrat's other foreign policy adviser. Power was forced to step down after she referred to Obama's rival, Hillary Clinton, as a "monster" in an interview with a Scottish newspaper.

Rice is seen as someone who is willing to use military force in Africa, especially against Sudan, and is seen as a promoter of George W. Bush's widely unpopular Africa Command (AFRICOM), which places US assistance programs in Africa under a military umbrella. Rice is married to ABC News producer Ian Cameron.

Previously published in the Wayne Madsen Report.

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