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'Big leaguer Clinton' charms Senate chums
Washington (AFP) Jan 13, 2009 If Hillary Clinton can charm the world's rogue leaders and estranged US allies as well as her easily wooed Senate colleagues, her success as secretary of state is a given. A year ago, the former first lady was waging a vituperative and ultimately futile Democratic nomination battle with now president-elect Barack Obama. On Tuesday, she said repeatedly she was on the same page as her new boss, and her claim then that he was not ready for a 3:00 am national security alarm call in the White House was but a memory. Clinton's appearance before the Senate Foreign Relations committee was less a confirmation, more an acclamation. Senator John Kerry, taking up the gavel of the committee for the first time, nearly 38 years after delivering famous testimony as a Vietnam war veteran, set the tone early. "I think every member of the committee believes very strongly that in Senator Clinton we have a nominee who is extraordinarily capable and smart, an individual with the global stature and influence to help shape events," he said. Kerry, like Clinton no stranger to political reinvention after his failed 2004 presidential campaign, remembered a trip to Vietnam with Clinton and her husband former president Bill Clinton in 2000. "I've seen Senator Clinton's diplomatic acumen up close. "I saw her immense curiosity, her quick and impressive grasp of detail, and her authoritative approach." Democratic Senator Chris Dodd also chimed in "I'm excited about your leadership." California Senator Barbara Boxer praised Clinton for swallowing her damaged pride, and signing up to be Obama's top diplomat. "You have set your ego aside for world peace, stability and the good of your country, I mean that, you know I do." Chuck Schumer, introduced his fellow New York senator to the committee. "Now, colleagues, I've known Hillary a long time and I'm confident that there is no one -- no one -- who would better serve our country and the world as the next secretary of state," he said. For Schumer, Clinton who as first lady was once seen as the most divisive figure in US politics, was "the right person at the right time," a "historic" political figure and a font of "equanimity," "prudence," and fortitude. Republicans were also straining to get in on the act. "I truly appreciate all that you are poised to do and what you have done in the past," said Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowsi Murkowski's question, on the little voiced plight of the Alaskan Arctic gave Clinton a chance to show of her renowned knowledge of nuts and bolts policy. "People have not kept up with what has happened in the Arctic," she said, referring to the perils posed to the region by global warming and receding sea ice. It fell to one of the most gentlemanly characters in the Senate, Indiana veteran Richard Lugar to raise the most controversial aspect of Clinton's nomination -- former president Clinton's global business ties. He said Clinton's qualifications for secretary of state were "remarkable" and she was "the epitome of a big leaguer." But he collegially asked if she could consider several additional methods to ensure transparency and head off fears of a conflict of interest between her duties and the Clinton Foundation. Throughout her hearing, Clinton sketched broad pictures of the world and the future "smart power" Obama foreign policy, but deftly dodged making commitments on big issues like Iran and the future approach on the Middle East. She was well briefed, flattering senators by mentioning their favorite causes, and work on specific global issues. There were signs she had laid the groundwork in meetings with senators before the hearings began and she even quoted one of Lugar's well known remarks back to him. But her policy evasions disappointed around 100 reporters crammed into the Senate hearing room at narrow tables, hoping for details of the jealously guarded Obama foreign policy. Clinton also mostly silenced a group of "Code Pink" anti-war demonstrators, who often disrupted hearings by Bush administration officials like Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice with screeching protests. The demonstrators confined themselves to holding a protest when the committee broke up for lunch, chanting "what about the people of Gaza Hillary!" "When are we going to talk about Gaza?" Related Links Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com
US military chief urges shift to civilian instruments of power
Washington (AFP) Jan 13, 2009The top US military officer cautioned against ever growing militarization of US foreign policy, urging greater support for civilian approaches to the world's problems. |
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