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Hillary on Center Stage
But Jakarta shows how persistent al Qaeda-style terrorism remains—coordinated suicide attacks on American or Western targets—even after the home government has taken significant steps to disrupt terrorist networks and their leaders.
Clinton ends her foreign trip on the island resort of Phuket, Thailand, for an ASEAN meeting of Southeast Asian leaders. The setting and the news will inevitably stir up memories of the most shocking terrorist attacks in Indonesia—the Bali bombings of 2002, and then 2005, which killed more than 200.
On Friday, Obama officials were deeply reluctant to stray beyond the limited condemnations of the terrorists, at a time when Indonesian officials were still trying to piece together the facts of the attacks.
The result: You couldn’t tell that Obama had any kind of personal relationship to Indonesia based on his statement from the White House on Friday. Indeed, the official wording could have come from President George W. Bush.
“Indonesia has been steadfast in combating violent extremism, and has successfully curbed terrorist activity within its borders,” the president said. “However, these attacks make it clear that extremists remain committed to murdering innocent men, women, and children of any faith in all countries. We will continue to partner with Indonesia to eliminate the threat from these violent extremists, and we will be unwavering in supporting a future of security and opportunity for the Indonesian people.”
But for Clinton, the crisis is something of an opportunity.
Compared to a so-called big speech at the Council on Foreign Relations, this is the real deal: an international stage at a time of crisis when top-flight diplomacy counts. It’s great to be in the room for a presidential meeting with foreign leaders. But it’s far more meaningful for any secretary of State to be the biggest U.S. official in another room, with pressing work to be done.
What Clinton leaves behind are the petty disputes of a Washington still engrossed in the psychodrama of the Democratic primaries of 18 months ago. Who cares about the personal loyalties of an assistant secretary or an obscure ambassador—or even the timings of competing press statements—when there are complex international challenges to confront?
Her immediate challenge is to take a sleepy ASEAN meeting, normally focused on dry but worthy questions about economic growth and civil society, and turn it into a robust response to terrorist attacks on foreign targets. That means going beyond pure counterterrorism to include development assistance in Indonesia, where poverty remains rampant.
If Clinton can show that the United States cares more about the Indonesian people than its terrorist cells—even at a time when Americans have been seriously wounded by Indonesian terrorists—there is likely to be less room for America’s enemies to find a base for their operations.
That’s a role that anyone inside the Obama administration should find worthy of Clinton’s status and talents.
Xtra Insight: Read more analysis plus eyewitness accounts of the Jakarta bombing
Xtra Insight: The Daily Beast's Bruce Riedel: The Jihadists Strike Back
Richard Wolffe is a Daily Beast columnist and an award-winning journalist, political analyst for MSNBC, and senior strategist at Public Strategies. He covered the entire length of Barack Obama's presidential campaign for Newsweek magazine. His book, Renegade: The Making of a President, will be published by Crown in June.
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Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
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Martin Jacques is the cofounder of the UK think tank Demos, writes a regular column for The Guardian, and is a visiting research fellow at the London School of Economics Asia Research Centre. His new book, When China Rules the World, is available now.
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Christopher Buckley's books include Supreme Courtship, The White House Mess, Thank You for Smoking, Little Green Men, and Florence of Arabia. He was chief speechwriter for Vice President George H.W. Bush, and is editor-at-large of ForbesLife magazine. His new book is Losing Mum and Pup, a memoir. Buckley's Daily Beast column is the winner of an Online Journalism Award in the category of Online Commentary.
Obama's Bad Trip
Richard Wolffe is Daily Beast columnist and an award-winning journalist, and senior strategist at Public Strategies. He covered the entire length of Barack Obama's presidential campaign for Newsweek magazine. His book, Renegade: The Making of a President, was published by Crown in June.
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Richard Wolffe is Daily Beast columnist and an award-winning journalist, and senior strategist at Public Strategies. He covered the entire length of Barack Obama's presidential campaign for Newsweek magazine. His book, Renegade: The Making of a President, was published by Crown in June.
Getting Obama Back in the Game
Richard Wolffe is Daily Beast columnist and an award-winning journalist, and senior strategist at Public Strategies. He covered the entire length of Barack Obama's presidential campaign for Newsweek magazine. His book, Renegade: The Making of a President, was published by Crown in June.
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this is a totally inappropriate remark. it should really be deleted. I have said much less on HP and had it censored. Not five minutes ago..
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I met Hillary Clinton last year. She is undeniably beautiful in person, which, believe me was a shock. It is clear to me that she doesn't photograph well, and that's unfortunate.
Are you sure you're not confusing her with Sarah Palin, soon to be US President? George Patton
The idiot comment below, "are you sure your not confusing Hillary for Palin" made me laugh so hard. Palin and her incoherency should not be spoken in the same breath as Hillary. Palin incited violence during the campaign and chose to allow it. Most of McCain/Palin followers are uneducated, sort of like Palin.
I agree with you. I was a volunteer for Hillary during her presidential run. What gratitude we received. She is a wonderful woman and a great example of what is really right with Washington. I am in awe of her, Bill whom I met and their lovely daughter Chelsea. I wish Chelsea would run for her Mother's vacated senate seat. She certainly knows how to campaign.
Hillary seems cool, but the media and some of her "super-fans" are being a bit paranoid, without reason.
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The previous cowboy leader of the "strongest nation on earth" got us into two wars we cannot win and has cost us the lives of over 4,000 American soldiers, with an eventual price tag of four trillion dollars (if not more). GWB was perhaps no wimp, but he was a fool.
I will take a cautions, intelligent president any day, toodogs.
Really? Bush was no wimp? Why, because he could get SOMEBODY ELSE to go and fight his wars for him? Since when is hiding behind your daddy's money, or hanging out at the golf course why someone's 18, 19, 20 year old kid goes to war a sign of strength?
Cheney tough? Since when is deferring from the war FIVE times a sign of maleness and strength?
Bush and Cheney are chickenhawks, people who "talk the talk" but would pee in their pants if ever sent to the war front.
I don't understand when Bush and Cheney became the new poster-boys for "toughness".
The neocon right has revealed it self to be full of chicken hawks, chicken littles and gross stupidities...Notice that when prompted last week to chant "Death to America" by Amahdi clerics, Iranian crowds protested by yelling "Death to Russia" and "Death to China" but not "Death to America"...This never happened and never could have happened during the last eight incompetent Bush years.
@toomanydogs
Obama is not a wimp.
and
You need to practice posting and how to support your opinions with facts.
This fascination with a campaign that is now ancient history makes one wonder just how disfunctional DC currently is.
This very Fine Lady has pulled her weight magnificently and just like her boss, is still finding her "feet" so to speak.
How long has it been? five month. Tell the naysayers to be nosayers for awhile. tsk. and thanks, Richard. Nice piece
Do I smell another Book Deal for Mr. Wolffe,
an "OBJECTIVE " look at Hillary,'
after she hand picks Mr. Wolffe to write the book ?
Similar to his UNBIASED, OBJECTIVE Obama book after
the President hand picked the columnist ?
Oh,
Unbiased,
Objective Journalism . . . where hath thou gone ?
When did journalism become Public Relations, Cheerleading ?
Please note, she's being kept out of the country until Obamacare is on track for passage. George Patton
Wolffe seems to be a nice interesting guy but on Olbermann he comes across as a sort of left wing lapdog for Olbermann.
But in this case he seems to have a surprising lack of understanding of the role of diplomacy in general and Clinton in particular.
Not since Kissinger has a Sec. of State really made a big diffference, though Schultz had power because of his experience and independent personal experience in international business. The so-called status of Clinton though is very limited. Countries don't do things they wouldn't do otherwise because of status of a diplomat. Clinton has no real experience in the area and her principal, Obama, doesn't really scare anyone, so they will do whatever they find to be in their itnerest.
Status as a former short-term pol in the US isn't going to get Clinton very far anywhere. From two decades working in int'l diplomacy and negotiation, the real issue is Obama, and so far he is doing quite poorly and perhaps beginning to understand that being "nice" and "feeling" for other people isnt going to make anyone change much.
Clinton herself has no real international clout. She just has clout with American journalists, and Wolffe's naivete reflects that.
A journalist who doesn't know what he's writing about? No!
Don't know him, but if he's a regular on Olbermann he is so deeply compromised you might as well get the news from the organ grinder's monkey.
Beats getting the news from Faux Noise and Limbaugh.
Getting your news from any one source is just being willfully ignorant. News from multiply sources is the only way to go. See the story from different sides before you take your stance. Just make sure you atke any news with a heaping of salt
Are you saying that you worked for two decades in international diplomacy and negotiation? And your opinion is that Hillary Clinton does not have international "clout"?
What were you, Ambassador to the North Pole? Perhaps you should fact check because your sources, Santa Claus and the tooth fairy were discredited decades ago.
I'm sure that since Hillary has received the official stamp of approval from the Council on Foreign Relations things are in good hands with her. But I can't help thinking that this may be a job for the O-Man himself. After all he know the country as well as Sarah Palin knows Alaska. BO should know who to apologize to there and make everything alright in that part of the world, too.
And Clintons purpose for the trip is to simply get some, any headlines as she will...maybe now her "super-fans" like Sarah Palins, can relax.
An American corporation operating in a country that hates us. Providing jobs to people who hate us. Avoiding paying taxes in the United States while paying taxes to a country that hates us. Why should be care if those people hate them too?
Richard Wolffe; I am suspecting that you are a wise blockhead. All the reportage for this piece focuses on response to terrorism as an inevitable fact--the which so far it has indeed been.
Your task is to illuminate why terrorism of this sort exists--and to delineate what the grievances are and the ways in which US policy and action can ameliorate the rage that motivates these individuals.
Unless, of course they are all mad, which makes it quite easy: bad guys do this to good guys, and all that good guys have to do is figure out how to kill bad guys.
How could it be that America and its policies are also seen by middle eastern individuals as "terrorist"--and on a much larger, death-dealing scale than the minimalist (yet tragic) bombings that make our headlines?
Terrorists are indeed mad and all acts of terrorism are acts of a particular type of insanity. Just because one set of perpetrators of violent terrorism are identified as "terrorists" does not mean that their enemies should not also be called terrorists.
Looking at the history of the world, most wars were fought by madmen against madmen. Nationalism and religion are the two greatest reasons for the insanity of war and terrorism.
It is not within the scope of Mr. Woolfe's article to illuminate "why terrorism of this sort exists." He's writing on Hilary Clinton and her visit to India in her role of Secretary of State, not on terrorists.
Obama has hillary right where he wants her.
For the life of me, I don't understand what TDB's beef is with Hillary Clinton's role. Do you want her to schedule weekly mud fights with President Obama? Do you want her to have weekly bra burning ceremonies in front of the White House? You want her in the front lines in Iraq? Afghanistan?
She is an older woman who is recovering from recent surgery. She is not not She-Ra!
She is the Secretary of State and works FOR the president, she is not the CO-PRESIDENT of the U.S.A.. She is doing the same job as Condi Rice, Powell, Jim Baker, etc. She doesn't get special privileges simply because of her last name!
Actually, Phuket, Thailand was one of the horrific scenes from the Tsunami which rocked Indonesia, resulting in the loss of at least 250,000 lives. A cause for which money was raised by both Bill Clinton and Geo. H.W. Bush. I am sure the Indonesian people remember the Clinton's and Bush's efforts in their regard. This woman is proving incredibly astute in office.
Thank you, magicman, for providing one very good example of why Clinton has clout.
"Hillary on Center Stage." Good. That's just where clowns like her belong. Maybe she can now quit State and replace Al Franken on SNL where she belongs.
I too think that Hillary's so called "political isolation" was way overblown by the media. Do you want a middle aged woman with a broken elbow to pull a John Wayne or something. I'm just glad she's recovered and is back on the job. She is a brilliant, strong woman who is proving to be a skilled diplomat and the perfect compliment to our visionary president.
What a lot of Slitherers have never grokked about Hillary is that service is her gig. She worries about making the plight of We the Sheeple at home and around the world fairer and more empowered. She is laser-focused on the epistemology -- the *how* -- of empowering especially the previously neglected in societies.
I'm sure Prez O is agog at how hard she works and how much she gets done in the real world -- as are we who follow her closely. He picked her not to trap her, but to give her a very big playing field to bring all that energy and brilliance and clear-eyed compassion to bear.
Shucks, I would take any week of hers as a life's work and preen myself. Hurray for Hillary.
Well said, wfleet. So would many of her critics.
Hillary Clinton is happier than a pig in mud. She is perfectly positioned, as never before, for her run for the presidency in 2016.
State will give her an enormous edge over any opponent in terms of international experience and our foreign policy.
She knows how to distinguish herself as Secretary of State for her future run.
Her recent campaign gave her enormous experience in handling herself. Dont lie and dont cry.
God willing, the Republicans will offer up Sarah Palin, whom Hillary will thrash.
Thank you.
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