President Obama defends U.N. ambassador Susan Rice against criticism from Sen. John McCain and Sen. Lindsey Graham over the Benghazi attacks in Libya.By James Eng, NBC NewsUpdated at 4:44 p.m. ET: President Barack Obama on Wednesday spiritedly defended U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice over her response to the September attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, that left four Americans dead, assailing Republican criticism of her as "outrageous."(http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/12114-susan-rice-kb-1150a.380;380;7;70;0.jpg)Bebeto Matthews / AP fileU.S. Ambassador Susan Rice speaks during a meeting on Syria in the United Nations Security Council, Aug. 30.At his first news conference since winning re-election, the president said Rice has done “exemplary work” and accused GOP critics of trying to “besmirch” her reputation.
“I don’t think there’s any debate in this country that when you have four Americans killed, that’s a problem, and we’ve got to get to the bottom of it and there needs to be accountability. We’ve got to bring those who carried it out to justice. They won’t get any debate from me on that,” Obama said sternly.
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