Clinton: US using "smart power" for Libya, Syria

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrives at an event at the National Defense University in Washington Aug. 16, 2011. / AFP/Getty Images

WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton defended the U.S. response to crises in Libya and Syria on Tuesday, saying the Obama administration is projecting "smart power" by refusing to act alone or with brute force to stop autocratic repression in the two countries.

Clinton said the United States remains the world's strongest leader but is wisely building coalitions to respond more effectively and better promote universal values of human rights and democracy.

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"The United States stands for our values, our interests and our security, but we have a very clear view that others need to be taking the same steps to enforce a universal set of values and interests," she told an audience in a joint appearance at the National Defense University with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

"We are by all measurements the strongest leader in the world and we are leading, but part of leading is making sure that you get other people on the field. And that's what I think we are doing," she said.

Clinton has been a champion of the administration's "smart power" policy, which aims to combine defense, diplomacy and development to advance U.S. foreign policy goals. The term is most commonly used to describe the strategies President Obama has employed in Iraq and Afghanistan, where the U.S. has placed heavy emphasis on civilian projects designed to eliminate the roots of extremism. But Clinton said other elements of smart power are also at work in Libya and Syria.

She and Panetta both noted that Libyan rebels had scored recent significant military gains in their struggle to oust Muammar Qaddafi after months of stalemate.

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Clinton said Libya was a study in the use of "strategic patience," whereby the United States resisted the impulse for immediate intervention and instead helped to build support for the country's nascent opposition, which the U.S. now recognizes as Libya's legitimate government. She said the unprecedented NATO-Arab alliance protecting civilians on the ground was a key result of the tactics of smart power.

"This is exactly the kind of world that I want to see, where it's not just the United States and everybody is standing on the sidelines while we bear the costs," she said.

In Syria, Clinton said Washington had adopted a similar stance. The administration has imposed sanctions to protest a ruthless crackdown on reformers but has thus far resisted calls to make an explicit demand for President Bashar Assad to step down, something it did with Qaddafi.

Clinton said it would be a mistake for the administration to demand Assad's ouster on its own because it wouldn't be effective given Washington's long-strained ties with Damascus and limited U.S. influence and trade with Syria.

"It is not going to be any news if the United States says Assad needs to go," she said. "Okay, fine, what's next? If other people say it, if Turkey says it, if (Saudi) King Abdullah says it, there is no way the Assad regime can ignore it."

"I think this is smart power, where it is not just brute force, it is not just unilateralism," she said. "It is being smart enough to say you know what we want a bunch of people signing out of the same hymn book and we want them singing a song of universal freedom, human rights, democracy, everything that we have stood for and pioneered over 235 years."

[samXXkiley]

coucou,
smart power or not, currently the world, the United States in particular, as a world influential leader , are complicit in crimes against humanity perpetrated by the madman named Bashar,
not to mention Ban Ki-moon, he took refuge behind the "new", yet eternal issue of famine in Africa,
in order to distract world opinion and especially the media on the heinous crimes committed in full sight of all
in the absence of the media it is a total blackout
it is shameful
not to mention that Israel take this "cacophony" to build and killed in Palestine
The Syrian people will have the last word
"au revoir"

[kaylag04]

"Smart Power", eh? A little Steely Dan line immediately came to mind when I read this, "The things that pass for knowledge I can't understand"

[lucifersshadow]

"Just because they have the same last 3 letters doesn't make them any less serious a threat, and doesn't make you any smarter for noticing it." Funny, it just went right over your head, didn't it? Same with the thing about Costa Rica. You do not even try to understand what you read, you just read into it what you want and then regurgitate your same old out-of-date thinking. Your paranoia is pretty bad, you seem to think that all other nations have a goal of invading America . . . it is so extreme, it is almost funny!

[hadrake]

Cant we just stay totally out of this one?

[jgg000101]

and hillary also said "egypt is stable" and "sanctions in iran" would work. Meanwhile, egypt is now under the control of the muslim brotherhood, and iran's nuclear weapons program goes unchecked. And in other sterling examples of "smart power", iraq and afganistan are the worst they have been in 3 years. And that russia "reset" button was one big joke.

[fedup12]

Yes, he hasnt completely Bushed up Libya.

[jms133]

But for a few exceptions,the posts here reflect exactly whats wrong with this country.

[Anotheryahoo]

There should be a way for all the republican chickenhawks who allways seem to be shouting for war but never have served a quick way into the military so they can go to war. I urge folks to look up Chickenhaks and you will find most of the flag waiving republicans there who couldnt or wouldnt when it was their time. We should have a easy draft for those yelling for war so they can go fight one.

[prof_robinson]

Please; people serving in the govt have a much higher percentage of service in the armed forces, both in self and family members. I don't see many "flag waving republicans" here - I see republicans quietly supporting the President who promised not to get involved in these sorts of things in the first place. We have not heard one clear reason why we are there, why it is taking so long, what his plan for exit is... nothing. And while Bush took 14 months to decide to attack Iraq, Obama decided to invade Libya on a weekend between his March Madness picks and his trip to Rio. So if you want to find a perfect example of a chickenhawk, look no further than our chicken-in-chief. Watch him strut... that Osama death victory lap was absolutely shameful.

[lucifersshadow]

The "smart" thing to do would be to get the h*** out of other nation's buisiness and let the UN take care of it all . . . we can not afford it, while our infrastructure is becoming that of a third-world country and our citizens are jobless. That would be the "smart" thing to do. Ron Paul is the smarted politician I have seen to date, he asks "Why do we still have troops in Germany?" America has participated in more wars than any other nation on the planet, that has got to tell you something, the problem is here, not over there . . . and the politicians keep lying to the public to keep the wars going. I am sick of hearing about all the BS we do in other countries, which for the most part is illegal, because this type of thing should be handled by the UN.

[prof_robinson]

We still have troops in Germany to counter the threat of Iran and Russia. Duh. You people on the Left always have a negative view of American power. You always keep referring to our "bases" all over the world with a tone of disgust, but you never think about what would happen if the base wasn't there. Putting an American military base anywhere in the world is like putting a local police substation in a high crime neighborhood... in tends to have a "calming and stabilizing" effect. Our Germany bases kept the Soviets from taking all of Europe, and now keeps the Russians and Iranians in check. What do you think China would've done with Japan or Taiwan if our bases in Japan or the Phillipines weren't there? Don't always assume that we are the problem.

[lucifersshadow]

And this "threat" that you see, does this "threat" also apply to any other countries, for example, Costa Rica, which has no standing army to speak of, are they also "threatened" by China and Russia? In your line of "reasoning" they should be, given that they are weaker than the USA. You are only regurgitating the propaganda you hear. How do you explain the fact that America has been in more wars than all other countries combined? What you are actually doing, without realizing it, is projecting your own thoughts and ideas onto the Chinese and Russians . . . you base your conclusions on what you **think** they are thinking, which is in truth only what **you** are thinking.
Also, can you tell me, what positive thing has come out of the Vietnam war, and what exactly did we accomplish over there?
Back then, it was framed as a war against "communism". Now it is framed as a war against "terrorism". Are you catching the "isms" here . . . . . None of these wars were in defense of the homeland, they were invasions of other nations, and there end result was and will be, that when our soldiers leave, the countries will revert back to their former ways.

[longtree-2009]

the USA is no longer a world economic power and not much of a military power since it hasn't won the wars in afghanistan, iraq or for that matter any war since WW2. the USA should not be involved in libya's civil war nor syria nor any other country. we have high unemployment, millions of homeless children along with their parents but obama and clinton care more for people in countries who have hated us for years.