mary I think you may have misunderstood. The "five person delegation" just refers to the presidents & secretary of state. The spouses of the political invitees aren't counted in the five.

But you are correct, Dr. Rice should not have been on the delegation, and Carter certainly should have. Andrew Card reneged on the invitation to Carter, not once but twice, apparently. And that is just downright sleazy.

No surprise that Jimmy Carter is being a gracious gentleman about it though.

I also understand that Andrew Card wormed his way into the president's delegation, being a "sixth wheel". What a pig.