Former US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, addresses the Group of Friends of Afghanistan meeting at UN Headquarters.UN Photo/Manuel Elias
Mrs. Clinton delivered the keynote address at the meeting of the Group of Friends of Women in Afghanistan, held barely two weeks after the signing of a peace deal between Washington and the Taliban.Read more and hear audio clip >>>>
The agreement calls for the insurgent group to participate in intra-Afghan peace talks which were to begin that day. It also covers a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops.
“Women must be included, and women’s rights respected, as part of any peace negotiation in Afghanistan”, said Mrs. Clinton.
“Women are essential to combating corruption, building economic growth and ensuring the longevity of any agreement that is reached. If women are sidelined, the prospects for sustainable peace are slim. If society is torn apart and women pushed to the margins, it is more likely that terrorists will find a haven. There can be no sustainable peace without women’s participation and rights”.
RESIST, INSIST, PERSIST, ENLIST.” - HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON
Showing posts with label Afghanistan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Afghanistan. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 10, 2020
Hillary Clinton's Keynote to Group of Friends of Women in Afghanistan
Sunday, August 17, 2014
Hillary Clinton’s ‘Hard Choices’ Retrospective Part Three: Chapter 8 Afghanistan: To End a War
The chapter title is homage to Richard Holbrooke whose book by that
title recounted his negotiations to end hostilities in the Balkans, also
his objective in his oversight of the Af-Pak region. Explaining that
insurgencies rarely end with the surrender of a side but rather as a
result of persistent diplomacy, Hillary states that from the start she
insisted that the needs and concerns of Afghan women be taken into
account, an issue she raised at the March 2009 Conference on
Afghanistan.
A major objective in all diplomatic dealings on Afghanistan was the goal of peeling off the less ideological among the Taliban and winning them over to the mainstream government, a controversial policy that Hillary defends staunchly in this chapter. Referring to statements she made at the London Conference on Afghanistan in January 2010, she cites the conditions: abandoning violence, breaking with Al Qaeda, and supporting the constitution. The process is referred to alternately as reconciliation and reintegration. The links below provide Hillary's words on this issue as well as on issues concerning the welfare of women and girls in Afghanistan.
Richard Holbrooke reasoned that if Afghanistan and Pakistan could forge relations beneficial to both, cooperation in battling terrorist activities could be strengthened. Thus came about a trade agreement signed by both countries in Islamabad in July 2010 which was the inception of "The New Silk Road."
Hillary refers to a roundtable with TV journalists during this trip wherein she explained the necessity for Afghan-Pakistani relations to be strengthened as well as the reconciliation agenda. It was testy, yet she remained resiliently cheerful and optimistic in her signature way (another reason we love her).
She mentions that this policy was reinforced at the Lisbon NATO Conference. She did not speak there. She attended with President Obama who did the speaking that time around (but there are some amusing photos in the link below).
Early the next month, with the holiday season gearing up, Richard Holbrooke became ill during a meeting with her at the State Department. She recounts the painful hours from the time he went to the infirmary in the building through his death at George Washington University Hospital. It was a devastating blow to her, to the department, to his colleagues, and to people the world over with whom Holbrooke had worked.
The day he died, there was a holiday party at the State Department. Holbrooke's widow, Kati Marton, attended. Here are Hillary's remarks.
A negotiating office where the U.S. could talk with Taliban representatives opened and quickly closed in Yemen where the Taliban made it appear too official for Karzai's liking. By the December 2011 conference in Bonn, things had turned. Pakistan did not show up, and Karzai began to distrust U.S.-Taliban negotiations. The Taliban, in turn, pulled out distrusting Karzai.
Playing Catch-up With Mme. Secretary: The Hague Afghanistan Conference
April 6, 2009 by still4hill
A major objective in all diplomatic dealings on Afghanistan was the goal of peeling off the less ideological among the Taliban and winning them over to the mainstream government, a controversial policy that Hillary defends staunchly in this chapter. Referring to statements she made at the London Conference on Afghanistan in January 2010, she cites the conditions: abandoning violence, breaking with Al Qaeda, and supporting the constitution. The process is referred to alternately as reconciliation and reintegration. The links below provide Hillary's words on this issue as well as on issues concerning the welfare of women and girls in Afghanistan.
Video & Text: Secretary Clinton’s Remarks on Yemen with UK FM Miliband & Yemeni FM Al-Qirbi
January 27, 2010 by still4hill
Hillary Clinton at Afghanistan – The London Conference 01-28-10
January 28, 2010 by still4hill
Hillary Clinton’s Remarks at Afghanistan: The London Conference 01-28-10 Video & Text
January 28, 2010 by still4hill
Hillary Clinton, Busy in London
January 28, 2010 by still4hill
Reconciliation
of non-ideological insurgents remained a strong item on the agenda when
she and Robert Gates attended the NATO Summit in Brussels in October
2010.Secretaries Clinton and Gates in Brussels
October 15, 2010 by still4hill
Richard Holbrooke reasoned that if Afghanistan and Pakistan could forge relations beneficial to both, cooperation in battling terrorist activities could be strengthened. Thus came about a trade agreement signed by both countries in Islamabad in July 2010 which was the inception of "The New Silk Road."
Hillary Clinton: More Pics from Pakistan
July 18, 2010 by still4hill
Hillary refers to a roundtable with TV journalists during this trip wherein she explained the necessity for Afghan-Pakistani relations to be strengthened as well as the reconciliation agenda. It was testy, yet she remained resiliently cheerful and optimistic in her signature way (another reason we love her).
Hillary Clinton’s Roundtable in Pakistan with TV Journalists
July 19, 2010 by still4hill
She mentions that this policy was reinforced at the Lisbon NATO Conference. She did not speak there. She attended with President Obama who did the speaking that time around (but there are some amusing photos in the link below).
Hillary Clinton at NATO Lisbon: Saturday Wrap and Slideshow
November 20, 2010 by still4hill
Early the next month, with the holiday season gearing up, Richard Holbrooke became ill during a meeting with her at the State Department. She recounts the painful hours from the time he went to the infirmary in the building through his death at George Washington University Hospital. It was a devastating blow to her, to the department, to his colleagues, and to people the world over with whom Holbrooke had worked.
Update on Ambassador Richard Holbrooke
December 11, 2010 by still4hill
Update on Ambassador Richard Holbrooke
December 12, 2010 by still4hill
Ambassador Holbrooke Has Passed Away
December 13, 2010 by still4hillThe day he died, there was a holiday party at the State Department. Holbrooke's widow, Kati Marton, attended. Here are Hillary's remarks.
Video: Secretary Clinton’s Remarks at Holiday Reception for the Chiefs of Diplomatic Missions to the United States
December 13, 2010 by still4hill
Secretary Clinton’s Statement on the Passing of Richard Holbrooke
December 13, 2010 by still4hill
Although
she did not, in the book, include specific references to these next
two addresses, I am including them here as part of the record of the
Afghanistan and Af-Pak policy status at that time.Video – Secretary Clinton’s Remarks: Review of the War in Afghanistan
December 16, 2010 by still4hill
Video: Secretary Clinton’s Briefing on Afghanistan and Pakistan
December 16, 2010 by still4hill
The
memorial for Richard Holbrooke was held in mid-January 2011. At the
memorial, his friends remembered his great humor and huge personality.Slideshow: Secretary Clinton at the Holbrooke Inaugural Lecture and the Memorial Service
January 14, 2011 by still4hill
Video: Secretary Clinton’s Remarks at the Holbrooke Memorial
January 14, 2011 by still4hill
Secretary Clinton’s Remarks at the Launch of the Asia Society’s Series of Richard C. Holbrooke Memorial Addresses
February 18, 2011 by still4hill
A negotiating office where the U.S. could talk with Taliban representatives opened and quickly closed in Yemen where the Taliban made it appear too official for Karzai's liking. By the December 2011 conference in Bonn, things had turned. Pakistan did not show up, and Karzai began to distrust U.S.-Taliban negotiations. The Taliban, in turn, pulled out distrusting Karzai.
Secretary Clinton’s Remarks in Bonn on Afghanistan
December 5, 2011 by still4hill
Her
last official meeting with Karzai as secretary of state was in January
2013 shortly after she returned to D.C. following her illness and
concussion. (Not to be nitpicky, but she worked from home and even from
the hospital while she was ill, so I did not want to say she returned
"to work," She had been working all along.) She hosted Karzai at a
private dinner in the James Monroe Room and states that she appealed to
his sense of his own legacy at this meeting.Hillary Clinton with Hamid Karzai
January 10, 2013 by still4hill
She ends the chapter with a quote from Holbrooke: "The only way to start ending a war is to begin talking."
Friday, August 15, 2014
Hillary Clinton’s ‘Hard Choices’ Retrospective Part Three: War and Peace Chapter 7 Af-Pak Surge
When I posted this in November 2009 at the tail end of Hillary's busy
tour of Asia that month everyone was surprised. Security was so high
that the visit was not announced until she was safely on the ground.
There was this 4-column spread photo on the front page of the New York Times.
In chapter 7 Hillary refers to a day at the White House that month when there were three important meetings the last of which, in the Situation Room, yielded our military roadmap out of Afghanistan.
Sometimes during her State Department tenure, the public schedule would state that she had "No Public Appointments." Often I would clarify here that those words did not indicate that she was not working. They meant that her work that day was not for publication. She places these meetings three days before Thanksgiving, 2009. That puts it here, and we knew something big was up.
We learn some of what went into her thinking as these deliberations proceeded. Hillary is a Methodist, and very methodical, but she goes through something of a Catholic examination of conscience in this chapter seeking to discover what has worked and what lessons might be found in past miscalculations.
She revisits her past trips to Afghanistan as well as her Iraq War vote and the rationale behind that. She flat out calls that vote a mistake. I still think she provided very rigid parameters for the president in her remarks before casting that vote, but this is her call, not mine. Here are those remarks, and I believe she explained her position very clearly and did not provide the president an open playing field.
We
also hear who the players in the Situation Room were and their
positions and roles in the deliberations. No one will be surprised that
a great deal of the action centers around Stanley McChrystal and David
Petraeus. Once a surge had been agreed upon it was, according to her
account, their calculation of the 'Goldilocks' number of troops
necessary on which the effectiveness of the surge would rest.
As in real life, Richard Holbrooke looms large in this chapter and has enormous impact on policy in the Af-Pak region he accepted to oversee. It is not only Hillary in Hard Choices who speaks of hostility from the White House staff toward Holbrooke. Vali Nasr, a member of Holbrooke's team, and now Dean of Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies recounts White House offensives against Holbrooke in his 2013 book, The Dispensable Nation. Hillary's account is briefer with less detail, but it does lead to attempts by his adversaries to have Holbrooke fired. Hillary defends him, and President Obama accepts the defense.
Also looming large in this chapter, of course, is Hamid Karzai with whom Hillary met on many occasions. One of these that she singles out as particularly productive occurred during his May 2010 visit to the U.S.
All of this is background to her visit to Afghanistan in November 2009 where she smashed on the tarmac, with all the style, grace, and panache of Helen Mirren smashing on a red carpet, and attended Karzai's inauguration.
The truth is that in the book she does not even talk about most of the following events.. She was there for the inauguration. There simply was no way that I could look back on that visit without including these events and photos.
This is the real Hillary!
The
upshot of all of this was, of course, the Afghanistan surge. She
closes the chapter with a summary of Afghanistan's progress since 2010
on crucial issues, a hat tip to much-maligned General Eric Shinseki for
his (rejected) 2003 recommendations to the Bush administration, and her
account of the trip from the White House to West Point where President
Obama unrolled the blueprint for departure from Afghanistan before an
auditorium packed with cadets who soon would inherit the fight.
Breaking News…Hillary Wheels Down in Afghanistan
November 18, 2009 by still4hill
In chapter 7 Hillary refers to a day at the White House that month when there were three important meetings the last of which, in the Situation Room, yielded our military roadmap out of Afghanistan.
Sometimes during her State Department tenure, the public schedule would state that she had "No Public Appointments." Often I would clarify here that those words did not indicate that she was not working. They meant that her work that day was not for publication. She places these meetings three days before Thanksgiving, 2009. That puts it here, and we knew something big was up.
The Busy Monday Continues
November 23, 2009 by still4hill
We learn some of what went into her thinking as these deliberations proceeded. Hillary is a Methodist, and very methodical, but she goes through something of a Catholic examination of conscience in this chapter seeking to discover what has worked and what lessons might be found in past miscalculations.
She revisits her past trips to Afghanistan as well as her Iraq War vote and the rationale behind that. She flat out calls that vote a mistake. I still think she provided very rigid parameters for the president in her remarks before casting that vote, but this is her call, not mine. Here are those remarks, and I believe she explained her position very clearly and did not provide the president an open playing field.
Time to Revisit Hillary Clinton’s Iraq War Vote
June 10, 2013 by still4hill
As in real life, Richard Holbrooke looms large in this chapter and has enormous impact on policy in the Af-Pak region he accepted to oversee. It is not only Hillary in Hard Choices who speaks of hostility from the White House staff toward Holbrooke. Vali Nasr, a member of Holbrooke's team, and now Dean of Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies recounts White House offensives against Holbrooke in his 2013 book, The Dispensable Nation. Hillary's account is briefer with less detail, but it does lead to attempts by his adversaries to have Holbrooke fired. Hillary defends him, and President Obama accepts the defense.
Also looming large in this chapter, of course, is Hamid Karzai with whom Hillary met on many occasions. One of these that she singles out as particularly productive occurred during his May 2010 visit to the U.S.
At Dumbarton Oaks: Hillary Clinton & Hamid Karzai
May 14, 2010 by still4hill
All of this is background to her visit to Afghanistan in November 2009 where she smashed on the tarmac, with all the style, grace, and panache of Helen Mirren smashing on a red carpet, and attended Karzai's inauguration.
The truth is that in the book she does not even talk about most of the following events.. She was there for the inauguration. There simply was no way that I could look back on that visit without including these events and photos.
Photos of the Day: Secretary Clinton in Afghanistan
November 19, 2009 by still4hill
Secretary Clinton’s Press Conference at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul
November 20, 2009 by still4hill
Secretary Clinton’s Address to U.S. and International Troops in Afghanistan
November 20, 2009 by still4hill
Photo Gallery: Hillary with Our Troops in Afghanistan
November 20, 2009 by still4hill
Hillary at the Embassy and Foreign Ministry in Kabul
November 20, 2009 by still4hill
Afghanistan Speech: Photos and Text
December 2, 2009 by still4hill
Friday, November 15, 2013
Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, and Laura Bush at Georgetown in Support of Afghan Women
Gaston Hall at Georgetown University is a familiar environment for
Hillary. As Secretary of State, she spoke there several times. The
deep, burnished woodwork and religious murals always seem to complement her
classic beauty which was on full display today. Current Secretary of
State, John Kerry, instructed male students on how they might capture
the attention of a woman so awesome.
The program was in two parts. There were remarks by the three principals followed by a discussion led by former Ambassador for Women's Issues, Melanne Verveer wherein questions were addressed to Hillary and Mrs. Bush.
The main theme of the event was twofold: progress made over the past 10 years in including women and girls in all aspects of Afghan society and maintaining that forward motion after American and international troops pull out and leave Afghanistan to its own resources. Afghan women were assured by all speakers at this event that neither the United States nor the international community will abandon them and their aspirations.
####
Here is a real treat! Hillary tweeted, not once, but twice from this event. Obviously she thoroughly enjoyed participating in an initiative so close to her heart.
#SecStates 67 & 68 reunited @giwps today. Watching program backstage before going out to discuss #AfghanWomen. pic.twitter.com/KG05g1aAd4
The program was in two parts. There were remarks by the three principals followed by a discussion led by former Ambassador for Women's Issues, Melanne Verveer wherein questions were addressed to Hillary and Mrs. Bush.
The main theme of the event was twofold: progress made over the past 10 years in including women and girls in all aspects of Afghan society and maintaining that forward motion after American and international troops pull out and leave Afghanistan to its own resources. Afghan women were assured by all speakers at this event that neither the United States nor the international community will abandon them and their aspirations.
Here is a real treat! Hillary tweeted, not once, but twice from this event. Obviously she thoroughly enjoyed participating in an initiative so close to her heart.
After #SecState Kerry spoke, I sat down for Q&A with @laurawbush, my fellow #AfghanWomen Council co-chair. pic.twitter.com/kGbtECg2MN
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