Clinton Says She Would Stress Diplomacy Over Military Might
WASHINGTON _ Describing her vision of foreign policy under a Hillary Rodham Clinton presidency, the Democratic presidential hopeful said she would stress diplomacy over military might to restore the world’s trust in America, but would spare no option in preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
In an article posted Monday on the Foreign Affairs journal Web site, Clinton wrote that the next president “will have a moment of opportunity to restore America’s global standing and convince the world that America can lead once again.”
The senator added that President Bush’s handling of Iraq has squandered the respect and trust of even America’s closest allies, and that ending the U.S. war there would allow the next president to foster peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
“Our nation has paid a heavy price for rejecting a long-standing bipartisan tradition of global leadership rooted in a preference for cooperating over acting unilaterally, for exhausting diplomacy before making war, and for converting old adversaries into allies rather than making new enemies,” Clinton wrote.
Clinton said she would focus on rebuilding frayed relations with a new generation of European leaders, while seeking diplomatic engagement with some of America’s most problematic adversaries, including Iran.
Clinton said she would use unspecified incentives to encourage Iran to renounce sponsorship of terrorism and its desire for nuclear weapons, and to play a constructive role in stabilizing Iraq.
But she made clear she would use military action as a last resort to prevent Iran from obtaining atomic weapons.
Clinton said although she would withdraw most troops from Iraq, she would order a residual force of “specialized units to engage in targeted operations against al-Qaida in Iraq and other terrorist organizations in the region.”
Critics have said that position could bring the U.S. closer to a war with Iran. Last month, Clinton voted for a Senate resolution branding Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard as a terror group.
Clinton’s national security director, Lee Feinstein, rejected that assertion, saying Clinton voted for the resolution to strengthen diplomatic pressure on Iran’s political leaders.
Clinton appeared to again criticize Bush for invading Iraq in 2003 before United Nations inspectors could determine whether that country possessed weapons of mass destruction.
Her criticism came even though she voted for a 2002 Senate resolution authorizing the president to go to war, a decision for which she has repeatedly rebuffed demands for an apology from some of her Democratic Party rivals.
“We had a historic opportunity to build a broad global coalition to combat terror, increase the impact of our diplomacy, and create a world with more partners and fewer adversaries,” Clinton wrote. “But we lost that opportunity by refusing to let the UN inspectors finish their work in Iraq and rushing to war instead.”
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