A18


Foreign Policy


EZ RE


KLMNO


THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2010


Clinton declares ‘newmoment’ inU.S. foreign policy in speech


BY GLENN KESSLER Secretary of StateHillary Rod-


ham Clinton declared Wednes- day that “a new American mo- ment” has arrived in internation- al relations, “amomentwhen our global leadership is essential, even ifwemust often lead in new ways.” In a lengthy speech at the


JESUS ALCAZAR/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES Mexico’s federal police secure a street where the body of a municipal police officer lies Tuesday. Mexico’swar compared to insurgency


Narco-violence similar to Colombia’s 20 years ago, Clinton says


BYWILLIAM BOOTH Secretary of StateHillary Rod-


ham Clinton said Wednesday that the surging drug violence in Mexico now resembles that of war-torn Colombia a generation ago, with criminal cartels look- ing like “insurgencies” battling for control of territory. “It’s looking more and more


like Colombia looked 20 years ago, where the narco-traffickers controlled certain parts of the country,” Clinton said at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington. Mexico quickly responded. In


an afternoon news conference, Mexican President Felipe Calde- ron’s national security adviser, Alejandro Poire said, “We do not share these findings, as there is a big difference between what Co- lombia faced and whatMexico is facing today.” Twenty years ago, Colombia


was battling two revolutionary guerrilla movements, which at their peak controlled about a third of the country, as well as powerful drug lords such as Pablo Escobar and his Medillin


cartel. Thousands of judges, journalists, politicians and busi- ness leaders, aswell as police and soldiers, were killed in the Co- lombian conflict. While Clinton praised Calde-


ron for his courage and commit- ment in his military-led, U.S.-backed fight against drug- smuggling mafias and organized crime rings, her comments might signal growing anxiety in the Obama administration about Mexico. Poire noted that the Colombi-


an and Mexican drug organiza- tions “are nourished by the enor- mous, gigantic demand for drugs in the United States.” Poire said Mexico was acting


with force and “in time” to save itself from Colombia’s fate. He said that during the worst years in Colombia, Escobar was elect- ed to his country’s congress. In her remarks, Clinton re-


peated that U.S. drug consump- tion was helping to feed the violence in Mexico, where more than 28,000 people have died in drug violence since Calderon sent hismilitary after the cartels in December 2006. “These drug cartels are show-


ing more and more indices of insurgencies,” Clinton said. In the past three months, four


car bombs have exploded in Mexico. The leading candidate for governor of the northern


border state of Tamaulipas was assassinated by gunmen imper- sonatingMexicanmarines. Jour- nalists in northern Mexico, fear- ing for their lives, rarely report on running gun battles in their own cities. And a recent report to the Mexican congress revealed that kidnapping have tripled. In the northern industrial and


business capital of Monterrey, which Mexicans often compare with pride to Houston or Dallas, the U.S. State Department told its consular staff that the city wasn’t safe and that their chil- dren should leave. Clinton said countries in Cen-


tral America were relatively weak and needed more help to fight the narco-traffickers. “We need a much more vigorous U.S. presence” in Central America to help countries improve their law enforcement capacity to fight drug traffickers, Clinton said. In related news, officials in


Tamaulipas have found two bod- ies that might be those of two agents investigating the massa- cre of 72migrants. DNA tests are being conducted. The Mexican government also


announced Wednesday that ma- rines have arrested seven gun- men suspected of killing the migrants fromCentral and South America.


boothb@washpost.com


Council on Foreign Relations in which she defended the Obama administration’s foreign policy approach, Clinton said that “this is a moment that must be seized — through hard work and bold decisions — to lay the founda- tions for lasting American lead- ership for decades to come.” Critics have said that the ad-


ministration’s diplomacy has yielded little on such difficult issues as Israeli-Palestinian peace and Iran’s pursuit of nucle- ar weapons, but Clinton argued the opposite, saying that sub- stantial progress has been made on those fronts through “classic shoe-leather diplomacy.” She urged patience, saying that the fruits of the administration’s la- bors will not be apparent for some time. Answering questions from the


audience after her speech, Clin- ton took a shot at the Iranian government. “I don’t think there’s any doubt that Iran is morphing into a military dicta- torship with a, you know, sort of religious ideological veneer,” she said. “And I don’t think that’s what the Iranian revolution for a republic of Iran, an Islamic re- public of Iran, was evermeant to become.” But she said that the United


States is trying to strike a balance — being publicly supportive of efforts in Iran to promote democ- racy without doing anything to “either endanger or undermine those very same people.” The speech in many ways


marks Clinton’s emergence as a foreign policy leader at a time when President Obama is con- sumedwith the lagging domestic economy and November’s mid- term elections. Clinton will trav-


el to theMiddleEast nextweek to foster direct talks between Israe- lis and Palestinians, and in Wednesday’s speech she spoke confidently about the adminis- tration’s agenda and the United States’ role in the world. On the upcoming negotiations


between the Israelis and Pales- tinians, Clinton said she senses a “certain momentum” because “both sides and both leaders recognize that theremay not ever be another chance.” She said that Israel has “threats it faces demo- graphically,


technologically,


ideologically,” so “the idea of striking a peace deal with a secular Palestinian Authority that is committed to its own people’s economic future makes a lot of sense if it can be worked out.” She added that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas considers a deal “the cul- mination of a life commitment.” Clinton’s speech offered few


specifics about new policy initia- tives. But after more than 18 months on the job, she appears to have gained a renewed apprecia- tion for the role theUnited States plays in the world. More than a year ago, in the


same venue, Clinton spoke of “tilting the balance away from a multi-polar world and toward a multi-partner world” and em- phasized the administration’s willingness to engage with its adversaries. On Wednesday, her tone was subtly different, fo- cused much more on the impor- tance of the nation’s role in managing problems. “This is no argument for


America to go it alone—far from it,”Clinton said. “Theworld looks to us because America has the reach and resolve tomobilize the shared effort needed to solve problems on a global scale — in defense of our own interests, but also as a force for progress. In this we have no rival.” Clinton said the administra-


tion has put into practice the ideas she laid out a year ago and has begun to build what she called “a new global architec- ture” of alliances and interests. As a prime example, she pointed


to the administration’s success- ful drive to win U.N. Security Council sanctions against Iran, which have been further strengthened by individual ac- tions of major powers. She said the administration won over skeptics of new sanctions by emphasizing its interest in dia- logue with Iran and renewing its own nuclear disarmament ef- forts. She also lauded the adminis-


tration’s push to improve rela- tions with Russia. She said the cooling ties at the end of the George W. Bush administration “may have invigorated spy novel- ists and armchair strategists, but anyone serious about solving global problems such as nuclear proliferation knew that without Russia and the United States working together, little would be achieved.” After ticking off what she list-


ed as advancements in U.S.-Rus- sian relations, Clinton quipped to laughter about the recent ouster of Russian agents operat- ing in the United States: “Of course, aswewere reminded this past summer, the spy novelists still have plenty towrite about, so it’s kind of a win-win.” She conceded that the admin-


istration is still seeking solutions for some intractable problems. In response to a question, she described the looming referen- dum in Sudan, in which the oil-rich southmay vote to secede fromthe rest of the country, as “a ticking time bomb of enormous consequence.” Clinton said that the south


does not have the resources to conduct the referendumand that the north is not inclined to do it unless it is certain of the out- come. The administration is up- ping its diplomatic efforts, she said, but “the real problem is, what happens when the inevita- ble happens and the referendum is passed and the south declares independence?” Clinton said she does not


know the answer, adding that she would welcome ideas from the questioner. kesslerg@washpost.com


Agourmet kitchenat ablueplate price.


Buy three ormore Bosch kitchen appliances and receive a 10%rebate. Rebates of


$400, $600, $900 or more.


via a Bosch VISA® prepaid card.*


Thepossibilitiesare endless. Do youwantthe quietest dishwasherinits classwithabuilt-inrange and microwave? Or maybeastand-alone, efficient refrigerator, induction cooktop and ventilation hood? Or a mix of any and all? Whatever you choose, you’ll get a great deal on your world-classkitchen, getting hundreds of dollars in rebateswhenyou purchase quality,efficient Bosch products.www.bosch-home.com/us


FromSeptember 1 through November 30, 2010. Maryland Locations


Bethesda 6801 Wisconsin Ave.


*Cards are issued by Citibank N.A. pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. and managed by Ecount, a Citibank company. Card can be used anywhere Visa Debit Cards are accepted. ©2010Bosch Home Appliances. BO472-24-94666-1


Bowie 3801 EvergreenPkwy.


Columbia 6435 Dobbin Rd.


Rockville 831 Rockville Pike


Timonium 10015 York Rd.


Arlington 5715 Lee Hwy.


Fairfax 11015 Lee Hwy.


Virginia Locations


Alexandria 6733 Richmond Hwy.


Sterling 46262 Cranston St., Ste. 102


Tyson’s 8486-D Tyco Rd.

Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98