Looking scrumptious, she touched down in DC for a meager 36 hours to host her traditional Kennedy Center Honors Gala Dinner, and was off again. This time for Europe - a Rainbow Tour beginning in Bonn for an Afghanistan Conference. After Bonn, it was Vilnius, Lithuania for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) conference followed immediately by a visit to Geneva, Switzerland, There she met with the Syrian National Council, delivered a Human Rights Day speech that electrified as well as an address at the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention. In Brussels she spoke at the NATO Conference, and then moved on to The Hague where she attended a Conference on Internet Freedom.
She returned to DC to a series of bilaterals and holiday events, participated in a PBS event with Jim Lehrer, signed an MOU with President Jahjaga of Kosovo, participated in the Women in Public Service event co-sponsored by DOS and the Seven Sisters colleges. In New York she delivered a major address at the International Crisis Group’s “In Pursuit of Peace” Award Dinner. In DC she delivered an address on landmines and weaponry, "To Walk the Earth Safely."
The earth lost a dictator and a hero when North Korea's Kim Jong-Il and former Czech president Vaclav Havel died. Mme. Secretary led the US delegation, including former President Clinton and former Secretary of State Albright to Havel's funeral in Prague.
As the year drew to a close, the calls for Secretary Clinton to run for POTUS in 2012 escalated into a write-in campaign for primary states, NH first, complete with robocalls. As of two nights ago, HRC was on Americans Elect.
As my friend Rumana told both President and Secretary Clinton, we are very serious about this and will continue to pursue this effort into the new year. We hope our encouragement touches Mme. Secretary.
Speeches: Remarks at the Afghanistan Conference, Remarks at Breakfast with Afghan Civil Society Representatives, Afghan Women's Event, Afghanistan Conference First Working Session, Belarus Civil Society Roundtable, Civil Society Meet and Greet, OSCE First Plenary Session, Human Rights Day speech, Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention, Conference on Internet Freedom, Women in Public Service, ICG Dinner: “In Pursuit of Peace,” To Walk the Earth Safely.
Travel: Burma, Germany, Lithuania, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic.
