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Clinton decries foreign policy inexperience by Bush, Obama

Other News Materials 26 February 2008 06:27 (UTC +04:00)

( dpa ) - Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton rejected US President George W Bush's "cowboy diplomacy" and painted herself Monday as the most experienced candidate on foreign policy issues in the Democratic nomination battle.

The 60-year-old former first lady has increasingly struggled against senator and intra-party rival Barack Obama, 46, who has won 11 consecutive state contests since February 9.

"We've seen the tragic result of having a president who had neither the experience nor the wisdom to manage our foreign policy and safeguard our national security. We can't let that happen again," she said in a foreign policy speech to military veterans. " America has already taken that chance one time too many."

Clinton, a US senator from New York for seven years since the end of her husband's 1993-2001 presidency, was targeting the inexperience of Obama, who was a state legislator in Illinois before entering the Senate in 2005.

She said that as president she would meet with the United States' adversaries, but only with clear conditions - a swipe at Obama's statements that he would be willing to meet with such leaders.

After the change of leadership Sunday in Cuba, she stressed the need to "engage with our allies in Latin America and Europe to encourage Cuba onto the right path, but we simply cannot legitimize rogue regimes or weaken American prestige by impulsively agreeing to presidential-level talks that have no preconditions."

Clinton said she would work toward greater diplomacy with Pakistan, focussing on the volatile border area with Afghanistan that is a hotbed for terrorists.

She emphasized trade relations with China and the need to reverse the US trade deficit with the Asian exporting giant and to raise safety standards on imports after a series of high-profile recalls of tainted Chinese goods.

Clinton connected the dots from foreign policy to fiscal and energy policies, saying she would meet with countries that are fellow large emitters of greenhouse gases would pursue an agreement to include China and India.

On Iraq, Clinton stuck to her position of beginning troop withdrawals within 60 days of taking office, but also said she would ensure that the US had a comprehensive plan for dealing with the fallout and does not leave Iraqi allies in the lurch.

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