Condoleezza Rice: Give Obama a break on terrorism

“It’s a very tough job to fight terrorism,” Rice said prior to the Bethesda Foundation’s annual fundraising dinner at the Hyatt Regency. “They have to be right just once. We have to be right 100 percent of the time.

“As I’ve said before, you give your successor a break. I know how (difficult) it is on the inside.”

Rice, who has returned to Stanford University as a political science professor, said she knows several members of the current national security team – including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton – and would pick up the phone and call them if she thought she had something to contribute.

Still, she said, “You have to be vigilant. It’s a war. It’s not just a matter of law enforcement. We should never lose sight of how serious it is.”