What happened today, he said, was that Susan Rice showed "an admirable commitment to rise above the politics of the moment to put our national interests first".
But their accounts have been appropriated; by and large, the source of their commitment to rise above vengeance is not discussed on camera.
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.
"While I deeply regret the unfair and misleading attacks on Susan Rice in recent weeks," he said, "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".
9.11pm GMT Obama 'deeply regrets the unfair and misleading attack' on Rice CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller gets the response from President Obama, who says he "deeply regrets the unfair and misleading attack" on Rice, but her decision "demonstrates the strength of her character & an admirable commitment to rise above politics".
The town's fate is an early test of the newly formed government's commitment to rise above the violent sectarian politics that opened the door for the Islamic State to consolidate its hold on the country's Sunni Arab-dominated regions.
"I deeply regret the unfair and misleading attacks on Susan Rice in recent weeks [but] 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," said President Obama in a statement released moments after the news was broken by NBC.
"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," the president said in a statement shortly thereafter.
"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," he wrote.
The justice secretary, Kenneth Clarke, may have stated, "It is just very, very bad value for taxpayers' money to keep warehousing them in overcrowded prisons where most of them get toughened up", but his early commitment to tackling rising prison numbers was not well-received.
