Sec. Clinton grants her first interview, talks about need for envoys
In her first interview since becoming America's top diplomat Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reveals the genesis of her belief in the need for a special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, and for envoys in general.
"I do believe, in general, in the utility of special envoys. I have seen the importance of zeroing in with all tools at our disposal on problems from the Irish Troubles to the Balkans, and I knew that the use of special envoys can be very helpful," Clinton told the New York Times.
"In 2007, I went as a senator to Iraq and Kuwait, Pakistan, Afghanistan, with two of my colleagues, Senator Bayh from Indiana and Representative McHugh from New York. And we had a series of meetings in both Afghanistan and Pakistan that illustrated dramatically the breakdown in communications between President Karzai and President Musharraf, between the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan," she said.
Clinton said that when she returned from her trip she pressed then-National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley to appoint such an envoy to the region, but was rebuffed.
"That was just not an idea that the Bush Administration thought was worth pursuing," she said.
Secretary Clinton says she told President Obama she wanted to appoint special envoys in key areas during their first conversation when she interviewed for the Secretary of State job.
"So when President Obama - President-elect Obama asked me if I would be Secretary of State, I told him in the very first conversation that I can recall that I had some ideas if I were to accept the job that I thought would be important to explore, and among those were the idea of immediately moving on someone for the Middle East and someone for Afghanistan and Pakistan. He was positive about the idea. He told me to pursue it, work it up, get back to him," she said.
"I wanted to nominate our two envoys for the Middle East and Afghanistan and Pakistan as soon as possible," Clinton told the New York Times. "From the beginning, I recommended that Richard Holbrooke be the person that I and the President would send to Pakistan and Afghanistan."
Clinton was asked, delicately, about "the art of managing Richard Holbrooke," a man with a reputation for a larger than life personality.
"Gee, I’d never heard that he could be any of those things before," Clinton said sarcastically, before adding quickly: "You know, personally, because I do know him so well, I understand what drives him."
"And obviously, you know, like any, you know, really focused and passionate person, occasionally he has to be, you know, brought down to earth and reined in so that he, you know, doesn’t levitate or, you know, levitate the rest of us," she added.
The two have known each other for years when Holbrooke served in the Clinton administration. Their families are friends and frequently dined together, though Clinton provided only a few details about their get togethers over the years.
When asked about a rumor that Clinton first recommended to Obama that Holbrooke would be a better Secretary of State than she, Clinton responded flatly: "I never comment on conversations with presidents."
When asked, Clinton didn't deny that there will now be even greater collaboration between the US embassies in Kabul and Islamabad, and that Holbrooke might act as the go-between. "I expect everyone to work together. And you know, we're going to be, you know, looking to, you know, Richard to provide, you know, leadership," she said.
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