Dems Skewer Rice Over Iraq Foul-ups

House Democrats today grilled Condoleezza Rice over alleged State Department bungling in Iraq, from failure to supervise private security contractors like Blackwater to ignoring corruption in the new Iraqi government to sloppy oversight of the new US embassy in Baghdad. Usually composed, Rice showed signs of frustration today, as Dems hammered her—and by extension, the administration—with questions, the Washington Post reports.

"I think there was a huge gap between what she said and reality," said Rep. Henry Waxman, adding, however, that he would not call for Rice's resignation. Rice refused to respond to allegations that Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki is corrupt and failed to satisfy on Blackwater. "Didn't you or your subordinates ever stop to ask whether or not the legal framework was in place to hold these contractors accountable?" asked Rep. Paul Hodes. (More Condoleezza Rice stories.)