赖斯退出美国国务卿角逐

President Barack Obama on Thursday said he accepted U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice's withdrawal from consideration as secretary of state, following heavy criticism from some Republicans.

美国总统奥巴马(Barack Obama)周四说，他已接受美国常驻联合国代表赖斯(Susan Rice)退出国务卿角逐的请求。此前一些共和党议员对赖斯提出了强烈批评。

'While I deeply regret the unfair and misleading attacks on Susan Rice in recent weeks, her decision demonstrates the strength of her character, and an admirable commitment to rise above the politics of the moment to put our national interests first,' Mr. Obama said in a written statement released by the White House.

奥巴马在白宫发布的一份书面声明中说，我对近几周赖斯遭受的不公及误导性攻击深感遗憾，她的决定显示出了她坚强的性格，她超越眼下的政治争斗、以国家利益为重，令人钦佩。

Ms. Rice, in a letter written to the president, said while she is 'fully confident' she could serve the country ably, she is 'now convinced that the confirmation process would be lengthy, disruptive and costly─to you and to our most pressing national and international priorities.' She added, 'That trade-off is simply not worth it to our country.'

赖斯在致函奥巴马时说，尽管她深信自己有能力为国家服务，但她如今认为，证明的过程将是漫长的、会带来混乱且代价高昂──对你、对我们最迫在眉睫的国内外任务来说都是如此。她还说，对我们的国家来说，这种折中不值得做出。

Ms. Rice had been seen as a front-runner for the job. But she came under pressure from Republicans for her Sept. 16 appearances on Sunday morning news shows discussing the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, in which the U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed.

赖斯此前曾一直被认为是最有希望的国务卿人选之一。9月16日，她在周日早间资讯节目中讨论了9月11日美国驻比利亚班加西领事馆遭袭一事，之后就开始面临来自共和党议员的压力。在那次袭击中，美国驻利比亚大使史蒂文斯(Christopher Stevens)和另外三名美国人遇难。

She had been asked to represent the administration by the White House and had received talking points from the Central Intelligence Agency. While the agency's initial reports from Benghazi concluded the attack was intentional and contained a reference to possible involvement by an al Qaeda affiliate and a local militant group, the talking points, developed after rounds of bureaucratic exchanges, dropped the reference to al Qaeda and instead called the attack the work of 'extremists.'

她曾受白宫之邀代表政府，并收到了中央情报局(CIA)的谈话要点。尽管中央情报局来自班加西的初步报告认为，袭击是蓄意的，并提到可能有基地组织(al Qaeda)的一个相关机构和当地一个军事组织参与，但在经过数轮的官僚沟通交流后，谈话要点放弃提及基地组织，而是称袭击是“极端分子所为。

Those talking points and Ms. Rice's TV appearances are at the center of the argument over how the White House handled the intelligence coming from Libya, and whether the White House, with an eye on the November elections, played down evidence that the attack was an act of terrorism.

这些谈话要点和赖斯在电视节目中露面成为一些共和党议员抨击的主要理由，他们质疑白宫如何处理来自利比亚的情报，以及白宫是否因考虑到11月的总统大选而淡化了袭击为恐怖组织所为的证据。

Ms. Rice's withdrawal from consideration shifts the spotlight to Sen. John Kerry (D., Mass.). He is also considered a top pick for Secretary of State when Hillary Clinton leaves next year. Ms. Rice will remain in her post as U.N. ambassador.

赖斯退出国务卿角逐，外界关注的焦点于是转向马萨诸塞州民主党参议员克里(John Kerry)。克里也被认为是明年克林顿(Hillary Clinton)离任后国务卿的最佳人选之一。赖斯将继续担任美国常驻联合国代表。