Middle East

While speaking today at a news conference in Singapore (where, as seen above, she's attending the APEC summit), Secretary Clinton urged Burma to plan for "free, fair, and credible" elections in 2010. She also pointed out that it's in other countries' interests to have a stable Burma, saying, "Any country that does business in Burma wants to be sure that their investments and their business are safe, and the best way to ensure that is to move toward democracy and the kind of stability that democracy creates."

At a news conference today, Clinton also said yesterday's naval skirmish between North and South Korea will not not affect U.S. plans to send an envoy to North Korea to try to restart nuclear talks. Clinton said, "This does not in any way affect the decision to send Ambassador [Stephen] Bosworth. We think that this is an important step that stands on its own."

A couple of other Clinton tidbits:

•Clinton has been urging Iran to accept a U.N. proposal that lets the country ship low-enriched uranium abroad (to Russia and France) to be further enriched for a Tehran reactor that makes medical isotopes. She also stated on The Charlie Rose Show that, "It is not in Iran's interest to have a nuclear arms race in the Gulf, where they would be less secure than they are today. It is not in Iran's interest, to the Iranian people's interest, to be subjected to very onerous sanctions."

•Clinton was a star guest at Starbucks today, though she didn't order anything to drink. She sat for about 30 minutes at a table outside the Starbucks in Singapore's Suntec convention center. She was joined by U.S. Congressman Sander Levin (D-Mich.) while four diplomatic security agents monitored from a distance. Three of the four ordered lattes and cappuccinos. The manager said, "They came by very quietly. … Suddenly, this branch has become historic, an icon. I feel lucky."

Photo: ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP/Getty Images

Secretary Clinton talked with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo today to help smooth out the controversy she sparked this weekend when she made comments that suggested the United States might be backpedaling from its earlier call for a settlement freeze in the West Bank.

After meeting with Mubarak, which appeared to go well based on the smiles in the photo above, Clinton clarified herself on the settlements issue by saying of U.S. policy:

Our policy on settlements has not changed. We do not accept the legitimacy of settlement activity, and we have a very firm belief that ending all settlement activity, current and future, would be preferable."

Referring to Israel's offer to restrain, but not halt, settlement construction, she said:

It is not what we would prefer, because we would like to see everything ended forever. … But it is something that I think shows at least a positive movement toward the final status issues being addressed."

Whether her efforts will get Israeli-Palestinian peace talks going anytime soon remains to be seen. Arabs and Palestinians have demanded a complete settlement freeze as a precondition for talks.

Photo: KHALED DESOUKI/AFP/Getty Images

In an interview with Al Jazeera today, reports the Politico's Laura Rozen, Secretary Clinton said she was the first American associated with any U.S. administration to call for the creation of a Palestinian state. She said,  "I was the first American associated with any admin to call for the establishment of a Palestinian state when I first did it 10 years ago. A lot of people thought that was very radical, now there is consensus we must get to a Palestinian state."

Clinton, seen above today in Marrakech, Morocco, at the Forum for the Future conference, is clearly trying to get back on track after her controversial remarks this weekend about West Bank settlements. The New America Foundation's Daniel Levy dissects the controversy in today's FP piece, "Unsettling Questions."

A few other tidbits of Clinton news:

•After attending the conference in Morocco, Clinton flew to Cairo today, and on the plane she served Lenôtre chocolate to the press. See the photo here.

•Japan apparently scheduled and then canceled a Friday meeting between Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and Clinton. The reason: infighting within the Democratic Party of Japan.

•Over at the AfPak Channel, a contributor states that Clinton was insensitive when, two days after a terrible terrorist attack in Pakistan, she told a group of Pakistanis, "Al Qaeda has had safe haven in Pakistan since 2002. I find it hard to believe that nobody in your government knows where they are and couldn't get them if they really wanted to." As the New York Times put it, "The remarks upset her hosts, who have seen hundreds of soldiers and civilians killed as Pakistan has taken on a widening campaign against militant groups that have threatened the country from its tribal areas." Well, it certainly isn't the first time Clinton has been hard on Pakistan.

Photo: ABDELHAK SENNA/AFP/Getty Images

Over the weekend at a news conference, seen above, Clinton hailed Israel's "unprecedented" concessions on settlement construction in the West Bank. That didn't go over well with Palestinian and Arab leaders because Clinton had previously called for a total settlement freeze. Today, Clinton appeared to downplay her previous remarks, reports Laura Rozen over at Politico, who's in Morocco, Clinton's location for the day. As usual, anything related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict stirs mass controversy.

Photo: DAN BALILTY/AFP/Getty Images

Secretary Clinton was supposed to just witness the signing of a Turkish-Armenian accord in Switzerland this weekend, but she ended up having to do frantic, high-level diplomacy to save the day when the agreement appeared on the verge of unraveling at the last minute.

The Turkish and Armenian foreign ministers --whose countries have a long history of enmity for reasons described in this recent FP article -- got in a dispute over the final statements they would make after the signing. That's where Clinton stepped in to save the day. In frantic, last-minute diplomacy, she spoke by phone from her sedan in the hotel parking lot, talking with the Armenian side three times and the Turkish side four times. After two hours of phone calls, she met with the Armenian foreign minister in the hotel. She also contacted President Obama several times from the hotel and the University of Zurich, the venue for the signing ceremony. [Update, Oct. 13: For a photo of Clinton working the photos in the back of the vehicle, click here.]

In the end, as a result of Clinton's astute diplomatic skills, the signing of the historic accord took place only three hours late (vs. not at all), and no spoken statements were made. The agreement is expected to be ratified by Turkey's and Armenia's parliaments, and the border between the two countries -- which has been closed for 16 years -- could reopen within two months.

For Clinton, it was all just part of another day's work. "It's just what you sign up for," she told reporters later in the day.

Photo: FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images

Secretary Clinton was on TV yesterday! In a Face the Nation interview that was pre-taped Friday, Clinton talked about the recent news of Iran's secret nuclear facility and the upcoming Oct. 1 meeting between representatives of Iran and the P5+1 countries -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, and the United States.

Clinton said of Iran, its nuclear facility, and the Oct. 1 meeting:

We don't believe that they can present convincing evidence that it's only for peaceful purposes, but we are going to put them to the test on October 1st."

When asked, "What can Iran say in this meeting to say we're really -- all all we're trying to do is make electricity?", Clinton bluntly replied:

Well, they can't say anything because they've said that for years, but they can open up their entire system to the kind of extensive investigation that the facts call for."

When interviewer Harry Smith asked Clinton about the "crippling sanctions" that Clinton said should be put in place if diplomacy with Iran fails, she replied:

Well, Harry, we're exploring how you broaden and deepen sanctions. Now sanctions are already in place as you know, but like many sanction regimes they're leaky. But in the last eight months since we've been dealing with North Korea on a similar set of issues we have forged an international consensus around very tough sanctions. And that's given us some additional information about how to proceed on the Iranian front."

When the interview switched to Pakistan, Clinton had complimentary words:

HARRY SMITH: Is Pakistan doing enough to clean up its own house?

HILLARY CLINTON: Well, look at, again, what has happened in the last nine months. Pakistan has increased its commitment in the fight against the Taliban and al Qaeda.

HARRY SMITH (overlapping): They were successful in Swat valley.

HILLARY CLINTON: Absolutely successful.

Clinton did add, though, that the United States is working for even more action from Pakistan.

Meanwhile, husband Bill was on Meet the Press. When asked about the presence of Hillary's famously worded "vast right-wing conspiracy," Bill said:

It's not as strong as it was, because America's changed demographically, but it's as virulent as it was."

And when asked whether Hillary will ever run for president again, Bill replied:

That's up to her. I don't -- you know, we're not getting any younger. But I'm proud of what she's doing now. I think she's doing a good job and I'm honored that -- I think it's pretty thrilling that she and the president have established the relationship they have. And it's a good argument for reconciliation and remembering the big things for all the rest of us."

I just returned from the Brookings Institution, where I heard Secretary Clinton deliver a speech previewing the United States' priorities during next week's U.N. General Assembly session.

Before diving into her speech though, Clinton remarked on President Obama's announcement yesterday of changes in the U.S. missile defense program. She said the new system stemmed from a "lengthy and in-depth assessment" of the threats posed by Iran and is based on the United States' "best understanding of Iran's capability."

The new system will "deploy sooner," be "more comprehensive," and have a "better capacity to protect." Clinton said it will "deploy technology that's actually proven" to work and "does what missile defense is actually supposed to do." She added that criticisms of the new system are "not connected to the facts."

Then Clinton delved into her official remarks. Nonproliferation of nuclear weapons will be the main topic that the United States will address next week. Clinton will lead the U.S. delegation to a conference on the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, the first time that a U.S. secretary of state has attended such a conference.

Another key topic for the United States next week will be Iran. The issue isn't Iran's right to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, she said. Rather, she firmly stressed, the problem is that for years Iran has not lived up to its responsibilities to demonstrate that its program is "exclusively for peaceful purposes."

Clinton said that the United States' past refusal to engage Iran had yielded no progress and added, "We remain ready to engage." (Whether Iran is ready to engage on talking nukes, however, is an entirely different story.)

Some other tidbits:

•Clinton said the United States and Iraq have entered a new, "more mature partnership."

•Clinton will be chairing a session on women, peace, and security at the U.N. General Assembly session. She said, "If women are free from violence and afforded their rights," they can be "change agents."

•On corruption, Clinton said it was a "security problem," not just a "good government concern."

•Finally, at the end, Brookings Institution President Strobe Talbott asked Clinton about U.S. health-care reform. Clinton said, "We're going to be successful," but went on to say it "won't be pretty."

Photo: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images

A few Clinton-related news articles:

•Secretary Clinton and the U.S. State Department are trying to find accommodations for Libyan leader Muammar el-Qaddafi, who'll be visiting New York for next month's U.N. General Assembly meeting. He prefers to erect Bedouin-style air-conditioned tents, such as this tent he set up in Paris in 2007, but his request to camp in Central Park was rejected. Now, he wants to put down stakes at a Libyan-owned estate in Englewood, N.J., but residents don't want to host the leader who just embraced the recently released Pam Am Flight 103 bomber.

•"Hillary's Right About the 'Defense Umbrella'" argues a Wall Street Journal op-ed. Referring to the "defense umbrella" that Clinton said the United States should consider extending over the Middle East to deter Iran's nuclear ambitions, the piece argues that Clinton has "the right idea," but that the Obama administration must put its money where its mouth is and support missile defense, not scale it back.

•The finance chairman of Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign has been accused of fraud for allegedly lying to Citibank to secure a $74 million loan.

Photo: GLENNA GORDON/AFP/Getty Images