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SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON: Public Schedule for April 19, 2012

Posted in Foreign Policy, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State, Secretary of State Travel, state department, U.S. Department of State, tagged , , , , , , , on April 19, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Public Schedule for April 19, 2012

Public Schedule

Washington, DC
April 19, 2012

 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
PUBLIC SCHEDULE
THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2012

SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON

Secretary Clinton is on foreign travel in Brussels, Belgium to participate in a joint meeting of NATO foreign and defense ministers. Secretary Clinton will also travel to Paris, France for an ad hoc ministerial meeting on Syria. Secretary Clinton is accompanied by Assistant Secretary Feltman, Assistant Secretary Gordon, Ambassador Fred Hof, Spokesperson Nuland, Director Sullivan, VADM Harry B. Harris, Jr., JCS, NSC Senior Director for the Middle East and North Africa Steven Simon, and Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and Senior Director for European Affairs Liz Sherwood Randall. Please click here for more information.

8:30 a.m. LOCAL Secretary Clinton participates in the NATO-Russia Council for Foreign Ministers, in Brussels, Belgium.
(CAMERA SPRAY PRECEDING MEETING)

9:30 a.m. LOCAL Secretary Clinton meets with European Union High Representative Catherine Ashton, in Brussels, Belgium.
(POOLED CAMERA SPRAY PRECEDING MEETING)

10:00 a.m. LOCAL Secretary Clinton meets with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in Brussels, Belgium.
(POOLED CAMERA SPRAY PRECEDING MEETING)

10:35 a.m. LOCAL Secretary Clinton participates in a meeting of NATO and Non-NATO ISAF contributing nations, in Brussels, Belgium.
(CAMERA SPRAY PRECEDING MEETING)

11:45 a.m. LOCAL Secretary Clinton meets with Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere, in Brussels, Belgium.
(POOLED CAMERA SPRAY PRECEDING MEETING)

12:15 p.m. LOCAL Secretary Clinton meets with Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia Margallo, in Brussels, Belgium.
(POOLED CAMERA SPRAY PRECEDING MEETING)

1:45 p.m. LOCAL Secretary Clinton meets with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Secretary-General of the European External Action Committee Pierre Vimont, and Admiral James Stavridis, in Brussels, Belgium.
(POOLED CAMERA SPRAY PRECEDING MEETING)

6:00 p.m. LOCAL Secretary Clinton participates in an ad hoc ministerial meeting on Syria, in Paris, France.
(POOLED CAMERA SPRAY PRECEDING MEETING)

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Video: Secretary Clinton’s Interview With Reena Ninan of ABC

Posted in Foreign Policy, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State, state department, U.S. Department of State, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on April 3, 2012| 2 Comments »

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Interview With Reena Ninan of ABC

Interview

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Istanbul, Turkey
April 1, 2012

QUESTION: Secretary Clinton, does the U.S. approval for Kofi Annan’s plan mean that it’s okay for President Assad to remain in power?

SECRETARY CLINTON: No. Not at all. We think Assad must go, the sooner, the better for everyone concerned. But we also know that we require a multipronged approach to this problem. Kofi Annan and his efforts to try to broker some kind of ceasefire and then a political process is part of it, but there has to be a timeline. It can’t go on indefinitely. And we’re not standing still, as you saw coming out of the meeting here in Istanbul. We are moving forward on sanctions, we’re moving forward on accountability by documenting a lot of the atrocities, we’re moving forward on humanitarian aid, and we’re moving forward on direct assistance to the Syrian National Council.

QUESTION: What are the red lines when military action in Syria becomes a necessity?

SECRETARY CLINTON: I think, Reena, what we’re looking at is trying to help support both the civilian presence outside and inside Iraq – in Syria, and part of the challenge is different people have different ideas of what might work. So the United States, I can only speak for myself. Others will have to speak for them. We’re going to providing technical assistance in the form of such things as communication capacity because we heard directly from the Syrian National Council representatives today they can’t communicate inside of Syria. They certainly can’t communicate from inside to outside as well as they need. So there are certain assets we have that can be provided in the form of technical, logistical support.

QUESTION: With the talks on Iran known as the P5+1 to begin next month, what are the benchmarks for diplomacy, and when do you know if suddenly Iran starts to seem like they’re just running out the clock? When do you walk away?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, again, I think we have to make it clear from the very beginning that we’re not entering into these talks for the sake of talks. We are entering into them because we really believe in giving diplomacy a chance, perhaps a last chance to demonstrate a way forward that can satisfy the international community’s concerns and have Iran come forward and accept limitations on what they are able to do. They are entitled to civilian nuclear power. They are not entitled to a nuclear weapons program. If they will work with the international community to separate those two out and to have verifiable, enforceable inspections that really do make it clear they’re not pursuing nuclear weapons, then I think there is a path forward.

QUESTION: How successful has the U.S. been in getting and preventing Israel from taking unilateral action against Iran?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well we’ve worked very hard with Israel on all levels from the military, intelligence, strategic, diplomatic level to make sure we were sharing information, that we knew what each other was assessing. And it’s our very strong belief, as President Obama conveyed to the Israelis, that it is not in anyone’s interest for them to take unilateral action. It is in everyone’s interest for us to seriously pursue at this time the diplomatic path.

QUESTION: There were some leaked reports this week that Israel has now received approval to fly into Kazakhstan air force base if they want to take military action against Iran. Is that something that’s definite that they’ve received?

SECRETARY CLINTON: I have no direct information on that and would not comment even if I did. I think that that is something that you’d have to ask the Israelis.

QUESTION: And on the P5+1 talks, if the P5+1 talks fail, what’s plan B at that point?

SECRETARY CLINTON: I don’t want to think about it that way, because I want to give this the very best effort we can. So I don’t want to go into it with the attitude of, well, it’s going to fail, and I don’t want the Iranians to go into it with the attitude of that we can just keep it open and never have to come to any outcome. I want us to come together in Istanbul in a few weeks and really talk honestly about what we need to do to remove the cloud of the Iranian nuclear program and remove all of the suspicion that could possibly lead to confrontation from the international community.

QUESTION: You look at U.S. intervention in the Middle East just over the decades, and so much has over the years gone wrong. For people who don’t at home understand what it’s like to be involved in the diplomatic efforts, why is it so difficult when foreign intervention happens in the Middle East to try and get it right even if your intentions are so good?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I think I would take issue with the premise of the question, because certainly from the United States’ perspective, we just finished an international effort in Libya and saw the Libyan people rise up against a dictator who had taken American lives and the lives of other innocent people inside and outside of Libya. We’re working very hard to make sure that Iraq because a democratic, effective country. The Arab League just held their summit there. So it’s been a difficult 10 years, there’s no doubt about that, but we are committed to working with the Iraqis and giving them a chance at the future they deserve.

It is a complicated area. There’s no doubt about that. But I think most people really want the U.S. involved. We have to be careful about how we define that involvement. We don’t want to raise expectations that would be unmet. On the other hand, we don’t want to walk away from opportunities and responsibilities. We believe in freedom. We believe in democracy. Therefore, we are looked to by people all over the world to give them not only encouragement but tangible support. And certainly when it comes to Syria, what we’re trying to do is very carefully calibrate what the U.S. role would be. Others have different roles to play, and we are certainly supportive of that. But what can the U.S. bring that is unique in terms of the assets that we have.

But it would be quite hard for us to say, well, the Syrian people are fighting against a dictator who has had a lot to do with the deaths of Americans in Iraq, who’s had a lot to do with destabilizing Lebanon and causing other problems in the region, who’s becoming more and more of a proxy for Iran. So we do have a stake in what happens in Syria. We just have to be thoughtful about how we pursue our role.

QUESTION: You see intelligence reports. You talk to these diplomats and foreign ministers behind closed doors. Of all the situations throughout the world, what worries you the most?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I worry about weapons of mass destruction. I worry about nuclear weapons in the hands of rogue states or terrorists, because then we’re not talking about a hundred people dying a day in Syria, which is the case now; we’re talking about possibly tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people dying. So we are very focused on that. President Obama just attended the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul, Korea, which is aimed at securing nuclear material. That’s why this Iranian challenge is so important. It is not just about Iran. It is about the suspicions and the concerns that Iran or any country defying the international community, defying Security Council resolutions, defying the obligations they undertook under the Nuclear Proliferation – Nonproliferation Treaty. So it raises suspicions, and then it gets us back into the terrible dilemma of trying to keep the world safe from nuclear weapons.

QUESTION: There has been talk within Syria about the growing reach of al-Qaida. President Obama has worked very hard to stamp that out with the killing of Osama bin Ladin. Can you tell us about what we’re seeing as far as rogue elements, terrorism within Syria that doesn’t come from Assad’s forces?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I think we have start from the premise that Assad is the one who turned peaceful protests into instances of armed resistance. And that’s deeply unfortunate. He likes to blame everything on terrorists and foreigners, but in fact, these are Syrians trying to exercise the rights that others in the Arab Spring are exercising. So the vast majority of the people who are standing up against the horrific assaults of the military machine in Syria are ordinary citizens defending themselves and their homes.

Now, are there opportunists? Well, there are in any conflict. We know that. There are people who see, oh, there’s a conflict; what can I get out of it? Or maybe I can try to convince people to come over to my point of view. But that is such a minority. We don’t want it to grow. One of the reasons why we want to send a very clear message to the people inside Syria, particularly those who are fighting to protect themselves and their families, is that the international community stands with you, and we want to see an inclusive, democratic Syria where members of every ethnic group, every religion, are given a chance to be full citizens.

QUESTION: What are the chances in 2013 we see Hillary Clinton go from Secretary of State to grandma?

SECRETARY CLINTON: (Laughter.) Well, that’s really not up to me, but I would like to have that title. I will certainly tell you that’s a title I would be proud to have.

QUESTION: I think this might be your best role yet. (Laughter.)

SECRETARY CLINTON: I think I’d be pretty good, but I won’t know till I try.

QUESTION: From chasing after world leaders, getting them all on the same page, to diaper duty? Is that —

SECRETARY CLINTON: Oh, my goodness. Well, you’re making it seem like there are certain characteristics – (laughter) – in common with both enterprises, but I am looking forward to a return to private life.

QUESTION: Thank you so much.

SECRETARY CLINTON: And good luck to you.

QUESTION: Thank you. I’ll need it. Two in 18 months. I don’t know what I’m doing. (Laughter.)

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, it looks like you can handle it.

QUESTION: Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

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Secretary Clinton’s Interview With Wendell Goler of FOX News

Posted in Foreign Policy, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State, state department, U.S. Department of State, tagged , , , , , , , , , on April 2, 2012| 8 Comments »

FOX News being typically uncooperative, does not seem to have this video posted which may be moot since when they are posted, if memory serves me well,  I find it impossible to embed them.  So here’s a pretty picture instead.

 

Interview With Wendell Goler of FOX News

Interview

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Istanbul Congress Center
Istanbul, Turkey
April 1, 2012

 

QUESTION: Thank you for talking with us, Madam Secretary.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Always a pleasure.

QUESTION: The U.S. is apparently going beyond providing just humanitarian aid, strictly humanitarian aid, for the Syrian opposition forces. Tell me what we’re providing and why.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, we are going to be providing what you might call technical or logistical equipment – not arms, not military equipment, but communications equipment. We’ve learned that there’s a great deal of difficulty for the opposition to communicate with one another inside Syria, and from inside to outside to their counterparts who are along the border of Turkey or elsewhere. That will facilitate the safety as well as the movements of the people who are on the inside.

We have some intelligence capacity that we might be able to usefully offer. Now other countries are going to choose to provide different kinds of aid. Today, a group of countries announced that they were going to be funding some of the Free Syrian Army. That’s their choice, but what we think is appropriate for us is to try to facilitate the ability to communicate and to be protected and to know what is happening inside Syria to minimize civilian casualties.

QUESTION: On providing money to basically try and encourage members of the Syrian army to defect, that seems very close to arming the opposition, something the United States didn’t want to do for fear of raising the number of civilian casualties.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Right.

QUESTION: Why is it better to encourage defection? It seems like it’s another increase in violence.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I think what you’ll find is that many thousands – the numbers vary, some it’s from, like, 10,000 to 40,000 of the soldiers have defected. If you really study the Syrian military movements, they have five brigades. They use two of them because they can’t trust the other three of them. And there have been a number of defections at senior officer levels, generals and colonels, many of whom are now across the border in Turkey kind of setting up headquarters.

So clearly, there needs to be a greater reassurance to those soldiers who defect that if they take their weapons and turn them against the military that continues to ruthlessly assault civilian targets, they’re going to – their family is going to be provided for, there is some safety net for them. I think that’s a sensible approach for those countries that are willing to do that.

QUESTION: Syria’s government says with recent gains by the Syrian army that the battle to overthrow Bashar al-Assad is done and that now it’s a battle to regain stability. Tell me why you think they’re wrong.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I think they’re wrong because what they have done is to create enemies of the regime. Where before, they had peaceful protestors and demonstrators who, inspired by the Arab Spring, wanted the chance to choose their own leaders and participate in their society. The resistance that has been put up by poorly armed fighters who often ran out of ammunition, who had nothing but a AK-47 or some other automatic weapon against tanks and mortars, demonstrates that this is a very long-term conflict.

And I also think that from within, the effect of the sanctions – the travel bans, the other kind of pressure that we’re putting on members of the regime, the accountability project that the United States has begun to catalog the atrocities so that people on the inside can look around and think, “Man, I better get out of here before I end up at the International Criminal Court,” because remember, it sometimes takes years. It takes years. But we do end up with a lot of the criminals who committed crimes against humanity or even war crimes eventually having to face justice.

So our reading is that this is not the end of anything. It may not even be the beginning of the end. It’s just the very start of a long-term process that will lead eventually to the removal of Assad.

QUESTION: Thank you, Madam Prime Minister.

SECRETARY CLINTON: (Laughter.)

QUESTION: Let me ask you a couple questions about another subject. On Iran, the President says all options are on the table to keep Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. Do you feel like it’s your job to make sure it doesn’t come to having to use military action?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I’m a diplomat. My job is to try to see if there are peaceful ways to resolve difficult problems, and this is a really difficult problem. When the President says all options are on the table, he means it. When he says that our policy is prevention, not containment, he means it. But there are a number of different paths that can get us to the outcome we’re seeking, which is a peaceful resolution of this very difficult challenge. And we appreciate the fact that Iran will return to negotiations with what’s called the P5+1, the five permanent members of the Security Council, plus the European Union and Germany. And we will enter into those negotiations with the hope that there can be a positive resolution, but without any illusions and without any patience for talk without progress.

So there has to be a plan going forward, and we think that we could arrive at an acceptable resolution that would give the Iranians the right to peaceful nuclear power under verifiable certain conditions, but remove the threat that they are developing nuclear weapons. But we’ll see. The proof is in the pudding, as they say, and we’ll start cooking that pudding in a few weeks.

QUESTION: The U.S. and Israel clearly disagree how much time is left before military force would be necessary to keep the Iranians from developing a bomb, but they also disagree on what the effects of using military force would be.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I don’t want to get into the kind of very analytical expert discussions that we’ve been having at the highest levels with the Israelis. I will say this – that I think there is agreement about the status of the Iranian program. I think that, as Prime Minister Netanyahu has said on numerous occasions, Israel reserves the right to defend itself. So they have a view that they have to have great certainty as soon as possible that they will not be threatened. Our position is that we have increased sanctions and pressure on the regime. We’ve kept together the international community. It’s quite remarkable that people are reducing their crude oil imports and going to great lengths to try to comply with American and European sanctions because they want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

So we think that the array of evidence points to the importance of pursuing the diplomatic path at this time.

QUESTION: Did you force Iran’s hand yesterday when you announced that the talks would be held in a couple – few weeks in Istanbul? It’s my understanding they hadn’t actually committed to the talks yet, at least publicly.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, we’ve gotten lots of private messages from a number of different sources that they were going to go to the talks, and I think we need to start planning for them. I certainly hope that they will follow through on what they’ve told a number of people about their intentions to be serious participants.

QUESTION: I think that’s a yes. Thank you, Madam Secretary.

SECRETARY CLINTON: (Laughter.) Thanks. Good to see you.

QUESTION: And you.

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Video: Secretary Clinton’s Interview With Jill Dougherty of CNN

Posted in Foreign Policy, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State, state department, U.S. Department of State, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on April 2, 2012| 1 Comment »

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Interview With Jill Dougherty of CNN

Interview

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Istanbul Congress Center
Istanbul, Turkey
April 1, 2012

QUESTION: Madam Secretary, thank you very much for doing this. I want to start with the sanctions, with the pressure. If you look at all of this pressure, something doesn’t seem to be working because Assad is still there, and notably, you don’t have any major defections from the key top leadership, the people who are close to him. Why is that? Could one of the factors be that the United States and others are saying “we don’t want military action, and that could be emboldening him?”

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, Jill, I think the sanctions are beginning to have an effect, but we have to do more to implement them, and that’s why we formed a sanctions committee today. And the United States will be working with the Arab countries, the European countries, North African, and others to have them understand the most effective way to implement sanctions. Because, as one of them said to me, “The Americans have a lot of experience in doing sanctions. We don’t.” So we’re making progress.

Also the individual sanctions – the travel bans, the visa bans, the kinds of direct personal sanctions – are beginning to really wake people up. They’re looking around thinking for the rest of my life, I’m only going to be able maybe to go to Iran; that doesn’t sound like a great idea. So we hear a lot from the inside that these sanctions are happening in a timely way. Also, the reserves of the country are being drawn down, marketplaces are not as full of goods as they once were. So this does take time. We’re well aware that time is going by, people are being killed, it just is absolutely horrific what’s happening. But the Istanbul meeting today was quite consequential in terms of the outcomes, and really increasing the enforcement of sanctions was one of the best.

QUESTION: Let’s look at the opposition. A number of them are expats, people who have lived out of the country for years and years. Why should anybody who’s inside Syria right now trust them? And do they actually know the real situation on the ground?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, what’s happening is that the Syrian National Council is expanding. I just met with four representatives, including a young woman who just escaped from Homs. I mean, she is someone who is bearing witness to the horrors of what the Assad regime did to the neighborhoods of her city. And she had very poignant stories of close friends who were tortured and are in hospital, and if they’re discovered as having been in the opposition, will be killed. I mean, it’s a terrible human tragedy, but she is a witness.

So I think, along with the people who started the Syrian National Council, who are in a position to do so – because they had been driven out by the Assads, father and son, over the course of many years – they’re now being joined and, frankly, their credibility is being enhanced by both civilian and military defections. And we think that’s significant.

QUESTION: If you stand back and look at this, you have right now – you talked about those broken promises, the broken promises – if you stand back and look at it, there’s kind of a pattern emerging. And you could say Syria, broken promises by President Assad, you would assert. You have broken promises, you also would assert, from Iran on the nuclear program. And you have North Korea, which also has broken promises.

So in this pattern, what explains that pattern? It’s similar to what I was asking first off, which is: Is there something that this Administration is doing, which is kind of standing back, not being as aggressive as some people might want you to be, that is emboldening them, allowing them to say we’ll just play out the clock?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I don’t think so. I think if you look at what this Administration did, we put together an international coalition – a consensus, really, against both Iran and North Korea that had not existed before with UN Security Council resolutions, very tough sanctions enforcements. But you’re dealing with two regimes that are very difficult to reign in because they have no regard for even their own promises and obligations. With North Korea, that goes back decades. It’s been a constant challenge, and it’s been a process of really trying to prevent them from going too far with their provocative actions that could cause another war in the Korean Peninsula, which – you go to the memorial in Washington and you know what that cost the United States and our allies.

With Iran, we are very carefully building on and then acting on the pressure that we have put in place. We will begin to know, with the resumption of the P-5+1 talks, whether or not there is a deal to be had here. This is something that has to be explored. I think one of the reasons that the Iranians are even coming back to talk is because of the sanctions. But as President Obama has said, all options are on the table. Our policy is not containment with Iran. It is prevention of their getting a nuclear weapon.

QUESTION: But there is that “All options are on the table” that continues to be the mantra, but nothing happens.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, but Jill, I don’t think you want to rush to some of the options that are on the table. I think it’s very important and it’s a requirement of responsible leadership that you exhaust every diplomatic pathway. That is what we are doing. We are very clear about that. We want to have a peaceful resolution. We want Iran to begin to reenter the international community, to stop threatening their neighbors. As you know, I was in Riyadh yesterday. They’re not only worried about the nuclear program; they’re worried about Iran destabilizing countries, they’re worried about it exporting terrorism. And we’re going to test all of that just as hard as we can. I can’t, sitting here today, exactly predict to you what the outcome will be, except I know that we have to keep trying the diplomatic route, knowing that our policy is clear about no nuclear weapons.

QUESTION: And speaking of Iran, are you nervous that Israel will, on its own, take some action, but leave it to the United States to finish that action?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I think Israel understands why we think it’s important to pursue the diplomatic route as far as we possibly can in a timely way. We’re not going to enter into endless talks that never see any kind of outcome. But we do want, with the full backing of the international community – because remember the P-5+1 include China and Russia. And they are on record publicly as saying they don’t want to see Iran with a nuclear weapon. So I think Israel understands that there is a necessity for us to pursue the P-5+1, and we have certainly made it clear that – to them that all options are on the table, and we would be pursuing the diplomatic option.

QUESTION: I want to turn the corner to Russia. I was just there covering the election, in fact. And you have these interesting comments coming out from a candidate for president, Mr. Romney, who says that Russia is the biggest – the worst geopolitical foe the United States has. I don’t – let’s – I know you don’t like to talk politics.

SECRETARY CLINTON: (Laughter.)

QUESTION: But what do you think of that?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, without getting into the political campaign, because that’s for others to comment on, I think if you take a look at the world today, we have a lot of problems that are not leftovers from the past, but are of the moment. We’ve just been talking about one, namely Iran. And in many of the areas where we are working to solve problems, Russia has been an ally. They’re in the P-5+1 talks with us, they have worked with us in Afghanistan and have been very helpful in the Northern Distribution Network and in other ways. So I think it’s somewhat dated to be looking backwards instead of being realistic about where we agree, where we don’t agree, but looking for ways to bridge the disagreements and then to maximize the cooperation.

QUESTION: Mr. Putin, soon to be President Putin again, accused you personally of sending some type of signal to the Russians to bring them out onto the streets.

SECRETARY CLINTON: (Laughter.)

QUESTION: And now, you have the United States – this Administration – pushing to release, I think, it is $50 million in democracy support funds, which is guaranteed, of course, not to go over well in Moscow. Why shouldn’t they look at this money and say that the United States – that maybe Hillary Clinton wants to send another signal? In other words, you’re stirring up trouble.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I have to say I was a little perplexed that I would be imputed such power that a mere signal, a mere word, would cause thousands of people to turn out. In fact, I think the demonstrators in the street got it right. They laughed at that. I mean, they knew why there were there. They want democracy, they want freedom, they want a voice in their affairs, and we all support that. And we hope that in the years to come, there will be greater openness in Russia. The Russian people are so smart. You lived there. You know what incredibly talented people, well educated, the ability to really help shape the 21st century – stop the brain drain. Create an environment in which Russians are made to feel that they can build their own country, make a real stake in the future there. And that has nothing to do with us. It has to do everything with the Russian people themselves.

And we in the United States believe that every country would be better off if there were greater freedom of expression, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, because I think we represent that. We have had a great run, and I want it always to continue. I want the United States always to represent these values and to live them. And therefore, we’re going to continue to promote them around the world.

QUESTION: Quick question on Pakistan. The United States apparently is agreeing to a different way of using drones, a very controversial issue. When that happens, could that be to the detriment of the national security of the United States?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, Jill, I’m not going to comment on any intelligence matter. That would not be appropriate. But I can assure you that the Obama Administration will not enter into any agreement that would be to the detriment of the national security of our country. I think this President has demonstrated conclusively that he’s ready to take the tough decisions when America’s security is at stake.

QUESTION: One last question. You were just in Burma not too long ago, historic elections. What are your thoughts as you look at that?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I’m very hopeful for the people. The early reports are mostly positive. We want to see these elections conducted in a free, fair manner that is validated by the international community, and we want to see continuing progress. I was very touched by the visit that I made and the commitments that I received from members of the government who were quite sincere in their desire to move their country forward.

I know how difficult it is. I know that there are some who don’t agree with it, who will try to undermine it. That seems to be human nature everywhere in the world. But if this election goes as well as it is reported to have from the early reports, that will be a significant step. And I promised, when I was there meeting with leaders in Nay Pyi Taw, that the United States would match action for action. And we will do that.

QUESTION: Well, thank you very much Madam Secretary.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you.

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Video: Secretary Clinton’s Interview With Clarissa Ward of CBS News

Posted in Foreign Policy, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State, state department, U.S. Department of State, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , on April 2, 2012| Leave a Comment »

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Interview With Clarissa Ward of CBS News

Interview

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Istanbul Congress Center
Istanbul, Turkey
April 1, 2012

QUESTION: Madam Secretary, thank you so much for —

SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you.

QUESTION: — taking the time to talk with us. I wanted to begin by talking about former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan’s six-point plan. During the week since Bashar al-Assad claimed to accept the plan, there’s been no let-up in the violence, and I just wanted to ask you, at what point do we say that this plan has been a failure? What is the deadline?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, Clarissa – excuse me, let me start over again – Clarissa, let me say that the plan is a good plan. It’s getting it implemented, as you point out, which is the real challenge. And we’re going to hear from Kofi Annan to the Security Council tomorrow, so we’ll get a firsthand report. But as you saw coming out of this conference, there does need to be a timeline. We cannot permit Assad and his regime and his allies to allow what is a good faith negotiating process by a very expert, experienced negotiator to be used as an excuse for continuing the killing. We think Assad must go. The killing must stop. The sooner we get into a process that ends up there, the better. And I think former Secretary General Annan understands that.

QUESTION: But how do you enforce that timeline?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I think it’s self-enforced. I think he has to be the one who says, within a relatively short period of time, we’re not getting any results, I was given promises, they’re not kept. Because then we would go back to the Security Council. Now, what will Russia and China say? Kofi Annan has gone to Moscow, he’s gone to Beijing, he’s met with them. They support his plan. They have urged publicly that Assad follow the plan. So if we have to go back to the Security Council to get authority that would enable us to do more to help the Syrians really withstand this kind of terrible assault and get the aid that they need to get the humanitarian assistance they require, I think we’ll be in a stronger position than we would if he hadn’t had a chance to go and try to negotiate.

QUESTION: So one of the primary functions of the Friends of Syria is to provide support for the opposition, but up to this point, we still don’t see any real coordination and communication among the different both armed and political opposition groups inside Syria. How much of a frustration is that for you as you go through this process?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I’m encouraged by what we heard today, and I met privately with representatives of the Syrian National Council. They are making progress. They have unified around a compact, a national pact, about what they want to see in a new Syria, which is important, because then that sets the parameters for the kind of opposition that will be under their umbrella. They have reached out and included a much more diverse group of Syrians than when I met with them in Tunis or the first time in Geneva. They’re making progress. This is quite difficult, but I am encouraged.

What they need is what we are now offering. We are offering assistance to them, and it’s a variety of different sorts of assistance. The United States will be offering – in addition to significant humanitarian aid – will be offering technical and logistical support. You mentioned communications. They have a great deal of difficulty communicating inside Syria. You were there. You know how hard it is. We think we have some assets that we can get in there which we would try to do that will enable them to have better communication. So everyone’s looking to see what they can provide that is value-added for the opposition.

QUESTION: But no clear leader has emerged who can articulate what the opposition’s political vision for their country is.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I think that leaders have emerged who have played a very important role, and I thought the presentation by Professor Ghalioun was good today in how he set forth what their objectives were. But in this kind of fast-moving event, more people will come to the forefront. I met a very impressive young woman who just left Homs who is now active in the Syrian National Council. She looks to me to be an up-and-coming leader.

So I don’t think we can sit here today and say who is the leader, but by assisting the Syrian National Council, we are assisting the leadership, and there will be leaders within the civilian side of that, and there will be leaders within the military side.

QUESTION: We were recently inside Syria in the north in the city of Idlib, and the rebels who we were staying with now tell us that they have no ammunition left, they have no money left, and that their only recourse for self defense is to build IEDs or bombs. Obviously, there is a host of very complex issues associated with arming the opposition, or rebel groups specifically, but are you not concerned that if no support comes from the outside, that this could really devolve into a very bloody, ugly insurgency, and that if we aren’t the ones to provide that help, other non-state actors like extremist groups such as al-Qaida might be the ones to fill that void?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I think that’s why you heard today that a group of nations will be providing assistance for the fighters, and that is a decision that is being welcomed by the Syrian National Council. The United States will be doing other kinds of assistance. Other countries will as well. So we have evolved from trying to get our arms around what is an incredibly complex issue with a just nascent opposition that has now become much more solidified with a lot of doubts inside Syria itself from people who were either afraid of the Assad regime or afraid of what might come after to a much clearer picture, where we are now, I think, proceeding on a path that is going to have some positive returns.

QUESTION: Do you see any signs that Bashar al-Assad is starting to crack, that his regime is starting to feel the pressure, that conferences like this one are really having some kind of an impact?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, today, we heard from a deputy oil minister who defected, and certainly, his presentation to the large group suggested that, because the pressure that is being put on those who are still allied with the regime from outside and inside is increasing – the sanctions, the travel bans, the kinds of reputational loss, the fears that people are having, because as you are engaged in this kind of terrible authoritarian crackdown, people get paranoid and they start worrying about the guy sitting next to them. We do see those kinds of cracks. We think that the defections from the military are in the thousands. We know that there are perhaps two dozen high officers —

QUESTION: But there haven’t been more defections in the way that we saw in Libya from Assad’s inner circle.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, partly because when there were a couple of defections, the regime has cracked down and was basically holding families hostage. In fact, the man who spoke to us today, his family had gotten out ahead in Jordan, so he was free to leave. But that is an unsustainable position. You cannot turn the whole country into a giant prison. People are not going to put up with that after a while. So we think that there are cracks. I can’t put a timeframe on it, but we think that that is beginning to happen.

QUESTION: Madam Secretary, thank you so much for your time.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you. Great to talk to you.

QUESTION: Likewise.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Be safe.

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Secretary Clinton: Intervention to the Friends of the Syrian People

Posted in Foreign Policy, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State, state department, U.S. Department of State, tagged , , , , , , , , , on April 2, 2012| 3 Comments »

U.S. Secretary of State Clinton and Turkey's FM Davutoglu shake hands before a meeting in Istanbul

Intervention to the Friends of the Syrian People

Remarks

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
As Prepared
Istanbul, Turkey
April 1, 2012

I want to thank Prime Minister Erdogan, Foreign Minister Davutoglu and the people of Turkey for hosting us today. Turkey has shown steadfast leadership throughout this crisis. I also want to recognize the continuing contributions of the Arab League and in particular the work of Secretary General Elaraby and the chair of the Syria committee, Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim. To all my colleagues, and to all our friends and partners around the world, thank you for standing by the Syrian people.

We meet at an urgent moment for Syria and the region. Faced with a united international community and persistent popular opposition, Bashar al-Assad pledged to implement Joint Special Envoy Kofi Annan’s initial six point plan. He promised to pull his regime’s forces back and silence its heavy weapons, allow peaceful demonstrations and access for humanitarian aid and journalists, and begin a political transition.

Nearly a week has gone by, and we have to conclude that the regime is adding to its long list of broken promises.

Rather than pull back, Assad’s troops have launched new assaults on Syrian cities and towns, including in the Idlib and Aleppo provinces. Rather than allowing access for humanitarian aid, security forces have tightened their siege of residential neighborhoods in Homs and elsewhere. And rather than beginning a political transition, the regime has crushed dozens of peaceful protests.

The world must judge Assad by what he does, not by what he says. And we cannot sit back and wait any longer. Yesterday in Riyadh, I joined with the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council to call for an immediate end to the killing in Syria and to urge Joint Special Envoy Annan to set a timeline for next steps. We look forward to hearing his views on the way forward when he addresses the United Nations Security Council tomorrow.

Here in Istanbul, we must take steps of our own to ratchet up pressure on the regime, provide humanitarian relief to people in need, and support the opposition as it works toward an inclusive, democratic and orderly transition that preserves the integrity and institutions of the Syrian state.

First, pressure. On Friday, the United States announced new sanctions against three more senior regime officials: Minister of Defense Rajiha, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army Adanov and Head of Presidential Security Shalish. A growing list of Syria’s worst human rights offenders are learning that they cannot escape the consequences of their actions. I am pleased that the Friends of the Syrian People have agreed to form a sanctions working group, to coordinate and expand our national sanctions and strengthen enforcement. Together we must further isolate this regime, cut off its funds, and squeeze its ability to wage war on its own people.

The United States will also work with international partners to establish an accountability clearinghouse to support and train Syrian citizens working to document atrocities, identify perpetrators, and safeguard evidence for future investigations and prosecutions.

Our message must be clear to those who give the orders and those who carry them out: Stop killing your fellow citizens or you will face serious consequences. Your countrymen will not forget, and neither will the international community.

Turning to the humanitarian effort, the United States is expanding our commitment to help the people of Syria. This week in Washington, I met with the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross and we discussed the urgent needs, especially in the communities suffering under relentless shelling.

In Tunis, I pledged $10 million to fund makeshift field hospitals, train emergency medical staff, and get clean water, food, blankets, heaters, and hygiene kits to civilians who desperately need them, including displaced people. Despite the regime’s efforts to deny access, that aid is starting to get through. So in March we added $2 million to our commitment, and today I am announcing more than $12 million for the Syrian people – for a total of nearly $25 million.

But we know that no amount of aid will be enough if the regime continues its military campaign, targets relief workers, blocks supplies, restricts freedom of movement, and disrupts medical services. So the United States fully supports the UN’s diplomatic effort to secure safe and unfettered access for humanitarian workers and supplies, including a daily, two-hour ceasefire — beginning immediately — to allow aid to get in and wounded civilians to get out. And I want to thank the governments of Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq for keeping their borders open and serving as generous hosts to Syrians in great need.

The third track is supporting the opposition as it plans for an inclusive, democratic transition.

Here in Istanbul, the Syrian National Council and a wide range of opposition groups are uniting around a common vision for a free, democratic and pluralist Syria that protects the rights of all citizens and all communities. It is a roadmap for saving the state and its institutions from Assad’s death spiral. And it is worthy of support from the international community and Syrians from every background.

Turning this vision into reality will not be easy, but it is essential. Assad must go and Syrians must choose their own path. Citizens across the country are already laying the groundwork. Peaceful protests continue to swell, with citizens marching in the streets of Syrian cities and towns, demanding dignity and freedom. The regime has done everything it can to prevent peaceful political organizing, and activists and opposition members have been jailed, tortured, and killed. And yet, local councils have emerged all across the country. They are organizing civil resistance and providing basic governance, services and humanitarian relief, even as the shells rain down around them.

To support civil opposition groups as they walk this difficult path, the United States is going beyond humanitarian aid and providing additional assistance, including communications equipment that will help activists organize, evade attacks by the regime, and connect to the outside world – and we are discussing with our international partners how best to expand this support.

In the unlikely event that the Assad regime reverses course and begins to implement the six-point plan, then Kofi Annan will work with the opposition to take steps of its own. But in the meantime, Syrians will continue to defend themselves. And they must continue building momentum toward a new Syria: free, unified, and at peace.

Now that they have a unified vision for transition, it will be crucial for the opposition to translate it into a political action plan to win support among all of Syria’s communities. We’ve seen here in Istanbul that disparate opposition factions can come together. Despite the dangers they face, the next step is to take their case across Syria, to lead a national conversation about how to achieve the future Syrians want and deserve. That’s how the opposition will demonstrate beyond any doubt that they hold the moral high ground, strip away Assad’s remaining support, and expose the regime’s hypocrisy.

So this is where we find ourselves today: Kofi Annan has given us a plan to begin resolving this crisis. Bashar al-Assad has so far refused to honor his pledge to implement it. The time for excuses is over.

President Medvedev calls this the “last chance” for Syria. I call it a moment of truth.

Together we must hasten the day that peace and freedom come to Syria. That solution cannot come fast enough, and we grieve for every lost day and every lost life.

We are committed to this effort and we are confident that the people of Syria will take control of their own destiny. Let us be worthy of this challenge and move ahead with clear eyes and firm determination.

Thank you.

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Secretary Clinton’s Remarks at Istanbul Press Availability **Video Added**

Posted in Foreign Policy, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State, Secretary of State Travel, state department, U.S. Department of State, tagged , , , , , , , , on April 1, 2012| 7 Comments »

Remarks at Press Availability

Remarks

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Istanbul, Turkey
April 1, 2012

SECRETARY CLINTON: Good afternoon, everyone. Today, the international community sent a clear and unified message that we will increase pressure on the Assad regime in Syria and assistance to the opposition. Nearly a week has gone by since the regime pledged to implement Kofi Annan’s plan. But rather than pulling back, Assad’s troops have launched new assaults. Rather than allowing access for humanitarian aid, they have tightened their siege. And rather than beginning a political transition, the regime has crushed dozens of peaceful protests. We can only conclude that Assad has decided to add to his long list of broken promises.

So today, we called for an immediate end to the killing in Syria, and we urged the Joint Special Envoy Kofi Annan to set a timetable for next steps. The world will not waiver. Assad must go. And the Syrian people must be free to choose their own path forward.

Today, I also detailed measures that the United States is taking, along with international partners, to ratchet up the pressure on the regime. We will be providing greater humanitarian relief to people in need, and we will support the opposition as it works toward an inclusive democratic transition that preserves the integrity and institutions of the Syrian state. What does that include? It includes additional sanctions on senior regime officials, a new accountability clearinghouse to train Syrian citizens to document atrocities and abuses and to identify perpetrators, and more than $12 million in new humanitarian aid, bringing our total to nearly 25 million.

But the United States is also going beyond humanitarian aid and providing support to the civilian opposition, including (inaudible) and connect to the outside world. And we are discussing with other nations how best to expand this support.

We heard today from the Syrian National Congress about their efforts to unite a wide range of opposition groups around a common vision for a free, democratic, and pluralist Syria that protects the rights and dignity of all citizens. This is a homegrown Syrian vision, and it reflects the values and priorities of the Syrian people. It is a roadmap for saving the state and its institutions from Assad’s death spiral. And it is worthy of support from the international community and from Syrians of every background.

Now, turning this vision into reality will not be easy. We know that. But despite the dangers, the next step has to be to translate it into a political action plan that will win support among all of Syria’s communities, that will help lead a national conversation about how to achieve the future that Syrians want and deserve. That’s how the opposition will build momentum, strip away Assad’s remaining support, and expose the regime’s hypocrisy. Today, the international community reaffirmed our commitment to hasten the day that peace and freedom can come to Syria. It cannot come fast enough, and we grieve for every lost life.

Kofi Annan has given us a plan to begin resolving this crisis. Bashar al-Assad has, so far, refused to honor his pledge. There is no more time for excuses or delays. This is a moment of truth. And the United States is committed to this effort. We think the communique coming out of the meeting today is a very important document, and we commend it to all of you. It represents a considerable advance forward by the international community as represented by the more than 80 nations that attended here today.

The United States is confident that the people of Syria will take control of their own destiny. That’s where we stand. There will be more to say from Kofi Annan in New York tomorrow, but I want to thank Prime Minister Erdogan and the foreign minister, my friend, and the people of Turkey, not only for hosting us, but for being such strong stalwarts in the fight on behalf of the Syrian people.

I was pleased to have the opportunity to meet both with the prime minister and the foreign minister. We not only discussed Syria; we discussed the full range of our other shared interests. And I commended Turkey’s leadership throughout this crisis and its generosity to the Syrians who have fled across the border seeking refuge from the violence. We also discussed Iran and the threat it poses to regional and global security, and I was encouraged to hear Turkey’s announcement that it will significantly reduce crude oil imports from Iran.

Before I take your questions, I’d like to say a few words about Burma. I’ve been following today’s parliamentary bi-elections with great interest. While the results have not yet been announced, the United States congratulates the people who participated, many for the first time, in the campaign and election process. We are committed to supporting these reform efforts. Going forward, it will be critical for authorities to continue working toward an electoral system that meets international standards, that includes transparency, and expeditiously addresses concerns about intimidation and irregularities.

It is too early to know what the progress of recent months means and whether it will be sustained. There are no guarantees about what lies ahead for the people of Burma. But after a day spent responding to a brutal dictator in Syria who would rather destroy his own country than let it move toward freedom, it is heartening to be reminded that even the most repressive regimes can reform and even the most closed societies can open. Our hope for the people of Burma is the same as our hope for the people of Syria and for all people – peace, freedom, justice, and the opportunity to live up to their God-given potential.

And with that, let me thank you and open the floor for questions.

MS. NULAND: (Inaudible) Andrea Mitchell of NBC.

QUESTION: Madam Secretary, you said that there is no more time, that this is a moment of truth. How much time are you prepared to give Kofi Annan, given the fact that there seems to be a widespread belief here in Istanbul, among you and the other leaders, that Assad is playing this for time, ignoring this diplomacy, and making a mockery of it by continuing the brutality?

And what more does the Syrian National Council have to do to persuade you that they should actually be a recognized opposition group rather than just a group that is trying to reach out to others and be more inclusive?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, Andrea, first, it’s been nearly a week since Assad made his promise to Kofi Annan. We will hear firsthand from former Secretary General Annan tomorrow. I don’t want to prejudge it. I want to hear for myself. He’s not only been to Damascus but also to Moscow, Beijing, Tehran, other places, and has reached out and heard from a number of voices. But it is important – and he understands this, he’s an experienced negotiator – that there cannot be process for the sake of process. There has to be a timeline. And if Assad continues, as he has, to fail to end the violence, to institute a ceasefire, to withdraw his troops from the areas that he has been battering, to begin a political transition, to allow humanitarian aid in at least for two hours a day, then it’s unlikely he is going to ever agree, because it is a clear signal that he wants to wait to see whether he has totally suppressed the opposition.

I think he would be mistaken to believe that. My reading is that the opposition is gaining intensity, not losing it. So the timeline is not only for Kofi Annan’s negotiations, but it’s also for Assad, that eventually he has to recognize that he has lost legitimacy and he will not be able to avoid the kind of continuing efforts by the opposition to strike a blow for freedom. And he can either permit his country to descend into civil war, which would be dreadful for everyone, not only inside Syria but in the region, or he can make a different set of decisions. So we want to watch this. But with the announcements of the various actions taken today, I don’t see how those around Assad believe that they are moving away from pressure, because the pressure is actually intensifying.

MS. NULAND: Next –

SECRETARY CLINTON: Oh, quickly on the SNC, I’ve been meeting with them for several months, starting in Geneva, in Tunis, again today in Istanbul. My high-level officials have been in daily contact, meeting with the SNC. I think that they are – as we heard today in their presentation – not only becoming better focused and better organized, but more broadly based, more inclusive.

I met with a young woman who had just escaped from Homs who was bearing witness to the horrible experience that she and others had endured in the siege of Homs, and you could not listen to her without being upset by the story that she had to tell. But the fact that she is part of the Syrian National Congress speaks volumes, because clearly those who could organize it at first were those free to do so, who were on the outside. Now as more people are leaving Syria, escaping to freedom, they are joining the SNC. So the variety and the base of the SNC is broadening, which gives it added legitimacy.

And of course, as you heard today, we are going to be supporting the SNC with direct assistance in areas such as communications. Others are going to be supporting fighters associated with the SNC. So countries are making their own decisions, but the net result is that the SNC is being treated as the umbrella organization representing the opposition, and we think that demonstrates a lot of hard work, not only by the Syrians themselves but by many of us who have been working with them over the last several months.

MS. NULAND: Next question, Hurriyet, (Inaudible).

QUESTION: Secretary Clinton, we know that you had bilateral meetings with your Turkish counterpart Davutoglu and Prime Minister Erdogan today here in Istanbul. And we understand you also exchanged information on their recent visit to Tehran. Davutoglu – Foreign Minister Davutoglu in a public statement said that they take Khamenei’s statements as not developing nuclear weapons as a guarantee, this should be taken as a guarantee in Shia tradition. How do you perceive these kind of statements, and are you by any means close to taking them seriously and find them – finding them satisfactory? Thank you.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I was very interested in what both the foreign minister and the prime minister told me about their visit. They had lengthy discussions with the supreme leader, the president, and other Iranian officials. They were told, as you just repeated, that the supreme leader viewed weapons of mass destruction as religiously prohibited, against Islam, and that he asked the Turkish leaders to really take that into account, take it seriously.

We, of course, would welcome that. Yet, I think it’s important that it be operationalized. That’s what the P-5+1 talks are about. We will be meeting with the Iranians to discuss how you translate what is a stated belief into a plan of action. And if the Iranians are truly committed to that statement of belief as conveyed to the prime minister and the foreign minister, then they should be open to reassuring the international community that it’s not an abstract belief but it is a government policy. And that government policy can be demonstrated in a number of ways, by ending the enrichment of highly enriched uranium to 20 percent, by shipping out such highly enriched uranium out of the country, by opening up to constant inspections and verifications.

So we are certainly open to believing that this is the position, but of course the international community now wants to see actions associated with that statement of belief. And we would welcome that.

But I think the Iranians also have to know that this is not an open-ended discussion. This has to be a very serious action-oriented negotiation, where both sides are highly engaged on a sustainable basis to reach a decision that can be translated into policy that is verified as soon as possible. So if the statement by the supreme leader to the prime minister and the foreign minister provides the context in which the discussions occur, that would be a good starting point.

MS. NULAND: Last question, Wall Street Journal, Jay Solomon.

QUESTION: Madam Secretary, just on Iran again, did Prime Minister Erdogan provide any sort of concrete or did the Iranians through him pass on any concrete kind of agenda as for what the talks would be? And is there any thought of the talks broadening a bit to discuss – I know your concerns that the Iranians are helping the Assad regime crack down on the protestors inside Syria.

And just additionally, in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood now says it is going to seek the presidency in the upcoming elections. Is this something you welcome? Is it a concern? Because it’s something that initially they said they were not going to seek. Thank you.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, Jay, I was having a little bit of trouble hearing you, but I think your first question concerned Turkey’s actions regarding crude oil products from Iran. And we welcomed the announcement that one of the very large private refiners would be cutting their imports 20 percent. We will be consulting between Turkish and American experts as to how that can be operationalized, because it’s a complicated matter. The oil markets are complicated. Having a refinery make that change requires other supplies, and different refineries have different kinds of equipment that has to be taken into account. But we will be consulting with the – with Turkey’s ambassador to the United States, and then we will send a team of experts to follow up. But we certainly welcome that announcement.

With respect to the role that Iran is playing inside Syria, it’s deeply troubling. And I think it’s important to underscore that when I travel in the region – I was in Riyadh yesterday meeting with the Gulf countries, but it goes beyond that into a much broader regional, even global, context – there are three concerns that countries have about Iran.

The first, we’ve discussed, the pursuit of nuclear weapons, which would be incredibly destabilizing and it would intimidate and cause reactions of many kinds by countries that would feel threatened. Secondly, the interference by Iran in the internal affairs of its neighbors, and certainly the role that Iran seems to be playing inside Syria is an example of that. Sometimes it is done directly by Iran, sometimes by proxies for Iran. And thirdly, the export of terrorism. I mean, just think, in the last six, eight months we’ve had Iranian plots disrupted from Thailand to India to Georgia to Mexico and many places in between. This is a country, not a terrorist group. It’s a country, a great civilization. It’s an ancient culture. The people deserve better than to be living under a regime that exports terrorism.

So we are very conscious of the role they’re playing inside Iran; we’re conscious of the role they’re playing in other countries. And this will certainly be a matter for discussion, but our first priority is the nuclear program, because people ask me all the time what keeps me up at night. It’s nuclear weapons, it’s weapons of mass destruction that fall into the hands of irresponsible state actors or terrorist groups. So we have to deal with that, but it’s not only that which concerns the neighbors and others.

And finally, we’re going to watch what the political actors in Egypt do. We’re going to watch their commitment to the rights and the dignity of every Egyptian. We want to see Egypt move forward in a democratic transition. And what that means is that you do not and cannot discriminate against religious minorities, women, political opponents. There has to be a process, starting in an election, that lies down certain principles that will be followed by whoever wins the election. And that is what we hope for the Egyptian people. They’ve sacrificed a lot for their freedom and their democracy, so we will watch what all of the political actors do and hold them accountable for their actions. And we really hope the Egyptian people get what they demonstrated for in Tahrir Square, which is the kind of open, inclusive, pluralistic democracy that really respects the rights and dignity of every single Egyptian.

Thank you.

MS. NULAND: Thank you very much.

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Secretary Clinton’s Remarks Following Meeting with Syrian National Council

Posted in Foreign Policy, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State, state department, U.S. Department of State, tagged , , , , , , , on April 1, 2012| 3 Comments »

Remarks During Camera Spray Following Meeting with Syrian National Council

Remarks

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Istanbul, Turkey
April 1, 2012

QUESTION: (Via translator) I have three questions and three comments to make.

First of all, there is a feeling of despair, because people — Syrian people feel that they are long in this battle. And they seem as if they are the only ones who want to change the regime and no one else is — wants to change the regime. That is one point.

The second point is, is the Syrian regime that important and that — a necessity regionally, that — a necessity regionally, and the Syrian regime is more worth it than the blood of those martyrs who fell in the events in Syria?

And the third point is that we have 13 youths that were the killed and died while — 3 journalists working there, and were (inaudible) that situation. So, what is going on here?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I think what you should know is that people have been working very hard to try to figure out ways to help those inside Syria who are bearing the brunt of the brutality of the Assad regime. We are painfully aware of how brutal the actions by the regime have been. And the Syrian National Council has been working hard to organize different Syrians behind a unified approach because, until recently, it was hard to know how to help. There was not the kind of organized effort, and there was no place within Syria that the opposition controlled, which makes it very difficult to assist.

But there is a lot of progress being made in bringing the international community together. I think you will see in the communiqué today that there are concrete steps that are being taken. And it is in, really, honor and memory of the sacrifices of those who have been fighting and dying for their freedom, which is something that certainly the United States deeply honors.

There is going to be a lot of work ahead, however. And so we have to have a close coordination, which is what we have been working toward. But I really believe that, with the announcements coming from the meeting today, there will be greater pressure on the regime, there will be more assistance of all kinds for the Syrian National Council, there will be more humanitarian assistance, that the people inside Syria should know they are not alone.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

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Hillary Clinton: Wheels Down Istanbul

Posted in Foreign Policy, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Clinton Images, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State, Secretary of State Travel, state department, U.S. Department of State, tagged , , , , , , , on April 1, 2012| Leave a Comment »

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (R) arrives at Ataturk International Airport on March 31, 2012 in Istanbul. Secretary Clinton is in Turkey to attend the second meeting of the "Group of Friends of the Syrian People", a collection of 60 nations attempting to end the violence by the Assad regime towards its citizens in Syria. AFP PHOTO/ BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

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Hillary Clinton to Travel to Saudi Arabia and Turkey

Posted in Foreign Policy, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State, Secretary of State Travel, state department, U.S. Department of State, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 26, 2012| 2 Comments »

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton tours the Patriarchy in Istanbul, on July 16, 2011, following meetings with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. Clinton said Saturday that the United States was troubled by Turkey's arrests of dozens of journalists, calling the moves inconsistent with the economic and political progress the moderate Muslim nation has made. (AP Photo / Saul Loeb)

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Travel to Saudi Arabia and Turkey

Press Statement

Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
March 26, 2012

 

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will travel to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from March 30-31, 2012. While in Riyadh, she will meet King Abdullah and Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal. She will also attend the First Ministerial Meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council-U.S. Strategic Cooperation Forum. In her conversations, she will discuss the full range of bilateral and regional issues, including ongoing security cooperation in the region, as well as the international community’s continuing efforts to stop the bloodshed in Syria.

Secretary Clinton will then travel to Istanbul, Turkey from March 31-April 1 to attend the second meeting of the “Friends of the Syrian People.” This meeting will build upon steps that our friends, allies, and the Syrian opposition continue to take in an attempt to halt the slaughter of the Syrian people and pursue a transition to democracy in Syria. While in Istanbul, Secretary Clinton will also conduct bilateral meetings with Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoglu and other foreign leaders.

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