Showing posts with label Secretary of State. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Secretary of State. Show all posts

Sunday, December 11, 2016

Monday, December 05, 2016

Donald Trump's Call With Taiwan 'A Big Mistake' | Morning Joe | MSNBC


Amb. Nicholas Burns discusses Donald Trump's now-controversial phone call with Taiwan and the importance of the Secretary of State pick.

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Washington Gasps at Hillary Charm-el-shake Offensive that Leaves Islamabad Stunned

THE TIMES OF INDIA: WASHINGTON: It was supposed to be a charm offensive, but as the day wore on she put away her charm and went on the offensive. Secretary of State

Hillary Clinton’s public dressing down of Pakistan during a three-day visit there, including virtually accusing the country of complicity with al-Qaida, has shaken Washington as much as it stunned her hosts.

"Her inner voice became her outer voice," Martha Raddatz, a veteran NBC correspondent said on the network, explaining that while many in the administration believed what she said to be true (that Pakistan is coddling terrorists), it was rare for America's top diplomat to say it publicly. Officials in Washington were trying to keep a straight face, but there were a few gasps, she added.

Clinton's blunt remarks came during a pow-wow with half-dozen combative senior Pakistani journalists who harried her about US policy in the region.

"Al-Qaida has had safe haven in Pakistan since 2002," she finally asserted when challenged about Washington’s tough prescriptions for Islamabad. "I find it hard to believe that nobody in your government knows where they are and couldn't get them if they really wanted to."

After having publicly doubted the bona fides of her hosts, she added, as an afterthought: "Maybe that's the case; maybe they're not gettable...I don't know. As far as we know, they are in Pakistan." At one point during the exchanges, when a journalist spoke about all the services rendered by Pakistan for the US, Mrs Clinton snapped, "We have also given you billions."

The US Secretary of State also took a swipe at the Pakistani military and intelligence agencies, telling the senior journalists, "If we are going to have a mature partnership where we work together" then "there are issues that not just the United States but others have with your government and with your military security establishment." She said she was "more than willing to hear every complaint about the United States'' but the relationship had to be a "two-way street." >>> Chidanand Rajghatta, TNN | Friday, October 30, 2009

Friday, November 21, 2008

Hillary Clinton Accepts Barack Obama's Offer to Be Secretary of State

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Photo of Hillary Rodham Clinton courtesy of The Times

THE TELEGRAPH: Senator Hillary Clinton has accepted President-Elect Barack Obama's offer to become Secretary of State, the second most prestigious job in the country, according to friends.

She will give up her seat as a senator for New York and become the international face of the administration of the man who defeated her in a long and sometimes bitter battle for the Democratic Party's nomination.

With other reports saying Mr Obama will name his economic team on Monday, he could have completed much of his most important recruitment at an unprecedented early stage, just three weeks after his momentous victory on Nov 4.

NBC News reported that he will nominate Timothy Geithner, 47, as treasury secretary. As head of the New York federal reserve bank he has been involved with $700 billion bailout of Wall Street, which he will take charge of if he is confirmed.

After days of deliberation, friends of Mrs Clinton told the New York Times that she had put aside her doubts about yielding her senate seat after consulting Mr Obama again on what her role would be.

Friends were earlier quoted as saying that the 61-year-old former First Lady is concerned about what would come after her four years - the usual term - as the nation's top diplomat. As a representative of liberal New York state, she probably had a safe Senate seat for life.

However she is the junior of two senators from the state, and even after eight years in the Senate remains a long way down the pecking order of Democratic senators. She is several years away from one of the coveted committee chairmanships, such as foreign affairs, health or the environment, and the party's leadership in the Senate is unwilling to break precedent by letting her jump the queue.

As Secretary of State she would be arguably the second most powerful person in the country, and would be serving at a particularly critical time in US history.

"She will be aware that the influence of secretary of state on foreign policy is comparable to the whole of the senate," said Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow at the liberal Brookings Institution think tank.

The only doubts about her appointment within the Obama camp were removed after the vetting team pronounced themselves satisfied after examining his extensive overseas financial connections. >>> By Alex Spillius in Washington | November 21, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – USA)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardcover – USA)