Clinton Presents New National Security Strategy

By Miles Wolf Tamboli-Talk Radio News Service

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivered an address on the Obama administration's new National Security Strategy Thursday at the Brookings Institute, expounding on details inherent in the policy, which focuses on developing U.S. capacity to protect the nation without the military emphasis that has been exhibited in the past.

"We have to balance and integrate all of the elements of our power, starting with the so-called "three D's" - defense, diplomacy, and development - but also including our economic power and the power of our example; we need to have strategic patience and persistence because indirect applications of power and influence take time."

Clinton stated that the administration's strategy is to enhance international cooperation and build global alliances to dissuade attacks, and strengthen U.S. relations with other nations. This methodology parts with the Bush administration's rogue nation policy.

Central to Clinton's security strategy is the idea that the U.S. should provide incentives, "for states who are part of the solution ... enabling them and encouraging them ... and disincentives for those who [are] not." Clinton said that the U.S. also needs to focus on, "reaching beyond states to build partnerships with the private sector," including non-governmental organizations and academia.

The Obama administration refined the motives behind the "War on Terror," clarifying that the war in Afghanistan is not a war against Islamic extremists or against "terrorism," which is simply a tactic and not an entity, but against al-Qaeda, specifically, as the belligerent party.

In response to the critique that some believe the administration's plan will undercut America's power, Clinton declared that she, "could not disagree more," stating the the U.S. is simply, "trying to use every single tool in our toolkit."

In addition, the new Strategy aspires to ensure U.S. security by rebuilding and fortifying the country's economic prowess.

In light of recent changes in the global economy, Clinton asserted that the U.S. will strive to reform global institutions like the G-20 with the aim of strengthening "our engagement with regional institutions [like] NATO ... [and the Organization for American States]."

Secretary Clinton: Iran Could Become A Military Dictatorship

The apparent shift in power from Iran’s government to the country’s Revolutionary Guard signals the rise of a military dictatorship, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday.

“The Government of Iran, the supreme leader, the president, the parliament, is being supplanted,” Clinton explained during a town hall exchange at a Qatar-based university. “Iran is moving toward a military dictatorship.”

Clinton down-played the possibility of a U.S. led attack against the Islamic Republic, stating that the sanctions being pursued currently by the U.S. should offset the need for military action.

“We are planning to try to bring the world community together in applying pressure to Iran through sanctions adopted by the United Nations that will be particularly aimed at those enterprises controlled by the Revolutionary Guard,” Clinton said.

However, the Secretary did stress that the U.S. will be prepared to defend itself if the needed.

“We will always defend ourselves,” said Clinton. “We will always defend our friends and allies. And we will certainly defend countries here in the Gulf who face the greatest immediate nearby threat from Iran.”

McCain Supports Afghanistan Troop Surge, But Is Wary Of Timetable

Travis Martinez, University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) gave high praise Tuesday to President Barack Obama’s decision to send an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan, but warned that the proposed withdrawal timetable could be devastating to the mission.

“I worry about that a great deal," said McCain during a discussion at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington think tank. "General McChrystal, in questioning by the House Armed Services Committee, was asked if he made that recommendation or ever referred to a date for withdrawal. He said no."

Earlier this month President Obama announced a 30,000 troop increase in Afghanistan along with plans to begin withdrawing forces in 18 months.

McCain urged the importance of victory in Afghanistan and argued that the failure could be completely devastating to the region.

“We cannot afford to lose this conflict. The repercussions of failure will reverberate for decades,” said McCain. “I will be an ally in this effort... I will work to get this policy the votes, the resources and the time it needs to work.”

McCain urged the President to gain support not only from Congress, but from the public as well.

Members Of Congress Urge Full Implementation Of Sudan's Comprehensive Peace Agreement

Travis Martinez, University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News

Members of Congress today urged the Obama administration to fully implement the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), a 2005 peace treaty between the Sudanese government and a rebel movement aimed at easing tensions in the troubled region.

Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) suggested that the CPA is on the verge of unraveling. He noted that the Sudanese government is falling apart with corrupt elections and an ongoing genocide.

“It seems to me that the CPA is on life support. It’s in grave danger of unraveling,” said Smith. “This administration has to get much more serious than it has been or the killing field will continue. The Nobel Peace prize winner needs to use the gravitas that he has gained from that great award and say 'Sudan is my priority. I’m not going to let the CPA unravel.'”

Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) called on President Barack Obama to make good with his campaign promises to ensure tougher sanctions on Sudan “if the government didn’t shape up."

“The time is now for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Obama to personally and actively engage Sudan,” said Wolf. “During the campaign, then candidate Obama said, ‘the Bush administration should be holding Sudan accountable for failing to implement significant aspects of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, imperiling the prospects for the scheduled multiparty election in 2009.'”

Wolf pointed to recent testimony by a former top U.N. investigator Enrico Carisch at a House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee hearing on Africa, wherein Carisch testified that the U.S., along with other nations, have relaxed efforts in Sudan.

”In contrast to that leadership of 2004 and 2005, the United States appears to have now joined the group of influential states who sit by quietly and do nothing to ensure that sanctions work to protect Darfurians,” said Carisch.

Sec. of State Clinton Previews U.S. Agenda For U.N. General Assembly

By Ravi Bhatia, Talk Radio News Service

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton discussed Friday the U.S agenda for the upcoming United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), touching on issues such as the Obama administration’s missile defense strategy, the conflict in the Middle East, nuclear proliferation and the threat posed by Iran.

While she read her speech at the Brookings Institute in Washington, D.C., she discussed the “ambitious” intentions of the Obama administration at next week’s UNGA in New York, and alluded to a long term goal of a world “with no nuclear weapons.” While fielding questions, she reflected on the state of American foreign policy today.

“For many years, [the U.S] outsourced our policy and concerns about the nuclear program to others to try to intervene with and persuade Iran to change course,” she said. “So we were on the sidelines...we were just trying to figure out how to get other people to go on the field and deal with this problem and look where we are today. We’re really nowhere.”

Clinton also discussed the Obama administration’s missile defense strategy, which was retooled to focus on defending the United States and its allies in Europe from short and mid-range missile attacks. The strategy rejects the Bush administration's plan to station interceptors in the Czech Republic and Poland that were intended to stop long-range missiles that the current administration believes Iran does not have. Since Poland and the Czech Republic will no longer have land-based interceptors, the new plan eases pressure on Russia, displeasing some Republican members of Congress upon Obama’s announcement of the strategy on Thursday.

“This decision was not about Russia,” she said. “It was about Iran and the threat its ballistic missile program poses. Because of this position, we believe we will be in a far stronger position to deal with that threat and to do so with technology that works and a higher degree of confidence that what we pledge to do we can actually deliver.”

She later discussed Iran and the repercussions the country must face for not revealing its intentions to the international community for nuclear technology.

“Our concern is not Iran’s right to develop peaceful nuclear energy, but its responsibility to demonstrate that it’s program is intended exclusively for peaceful purposes,” she said. “This is not hard to do. The Iranian government seeks a sense of justice in the world, but stands in the way of the justice it seeks.”

In response to a question from Brookings Institute President Strobe Talbott, Clinton also discussed the U.S. government’s strategy for restructuring the country’s health care policy.

“It’s interesting that what we are proposing is fundamentally so conservative compared with so many of our friends and allies around the world, who do a much better job then we do in covering everybody and keeping costs down,” Clinton said. “And yet some of the political opposition is so overheated. We have to calm down here, take two aspirin, go to bed, think about it in the morning. But I’m optimistic.”