Susan Rice has found herself in a sticky situation. Or has she?

As President-elect Obama’s pick for the United States’ ambassador to the United Nations, Rice will have to convince member nations that the U.S. appreciates working with them and has nothing but respect for the international institution. Improving relations shouldn’t be too hard, especially considering that the last administration had more than its fair share of scuffles with the United Nations, most importantly during the weeks leading up to the invasion of Iraq.

Things grow a bit more complicated for Rice — and her boss — today, however, when The Nation reminds us that Rice had previously supported the controversial invasion, which Obama opposed and used as a major cornerstone of his campaign. From The Nation:

[Rice] had this to say February, 2003, after then-Secretary of State Colin Powell made a wholly absurd presentation a plenary session of the United Nations Security Council regarding the supposed threat posed by those Iraqi imaginary weapons of mass destruction. "I think he [Powell] has proved that Iraq has these weapons and is hiding them," said Rice, a former Clinton administration State Department aide, "and I don’t think many informed people doubted that."

So said Rice in an interview with National Public Radio on February 6, 2003.

For the record, that was one day after Powell made his "case" for war to the U.N.

With that cat out of the bag — or, rather, thrown back in Rice’s face — some are grumbling that Obama made the wrong decision, that he’s going back on campaign rhetoric and generally just screwing up. We would say that were true if he had nominated Dick Cheney or another key figure in the war’s foundations, but people are forgetting that almost all of Congress — and the entire nation — believed Iraq posed a threat. So, people, if you’re going to try to make a mountain out of a molehill, we suggest you look beyond Iraq’s borders. But, you know, that’s just us.