Clinton hurls back foreign media
Published: 20 May, 2009, 05:33
The foreign media has been waiting patiently to finally get the chance to grill US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who answered questions from reporters at Washington's Foreign Press Center on May 19.
Hillary Clinton took questions about a new approach towards Pakistan, the Middle East crisis and America's commitment to defending Poland, but her opening remarks sounded a lot like a policy that’s been recycled.
“We understand that 21st century statecraft cannot just be government to government, it must be government to people, and people to people. So we want to engage civil society, women, youth, political activists, and others as we pursue our agenda,” remarked Clinton.
To observers this looks like the interventionist approach that her husband, President Bill Clinton, tried a decade before.
As Hillary Clinton announced US plans to provide Pakistan with $100 million in aid, she pointed out that “Our assistance is already arriving, but as I said earlier, one of our guiding principles is that this should be more than just the delivery of supplies. It should be an investment in the people of Pakistan.”
Despite a sea of raised hands, Clinton only briefly glossed over relations with the US’ two main partners and global players.
“We’re serious about establishing more candid, constructive relationships with both Russia and China.”
Briefly mentioning the country with which the U.S. is currently negotiating the safety of the world through the reduction of nuclear arms, the US Secretary of State took a strong stance on America’s plans for missile defense systems in Poland and the Czech Republic.
Despite a report issued today deeming the systems ineffective, the Obama administration will continue with its own review, rather than trust the experts.
“We will obviously take into account the technical aspects of this in our review”, Clinton said, “but we will also be taking into account our pre-existing and continuing responsibilities to our friends and allies.”
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