Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton says the United States has had an opportunity to engage in a meaningful dialogue with the Muslim world in the aftermath of 9/11, but the Bush administration has squandered precious time to do so.
Clinton, who called the administration's actions "regrettable," told the Sunday Citizen newspaper of Laconia, N.H., that "We need to get back to a much more vigorous diplomatic outreach effort. The president won't talk to countries that he doesn't agree with. We've never had a president who was so unwilling to engage in processes with people who, yes, are adversarial to our interests, but we have to figure out how to work with them, how to change them, and I certainly would begin to do that again."
She told the Citizen that "Patient diplomacy over years is sometimes the only way to bring about peaceful reconciliations. ... If you provide options for people to see the world in a broader way, you at least have a fighting chance to have your message heard."
Clinton also said:
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It's regrettable President Bush "hasn't even been willing to have an international conference" on Iraq.
She wants voters to "look at my qualifications and experience."
"One thing we've learned over the last six years is that we need a steady hand in the Oval Office. We need somebody who can chart a course for our country, that is as much as possible non-partisan, not just bipartisan, that wants to restore competence to the government, who wants to make it clear that I'm willing to work with people of different points of view — I'm not sticking to one particular version of reality, as we've seen unfortunately the last six years."
The United States needs to lead by example, including by helping key nations build schools and pay teachers.
Bush "has broken faith with so much of American history and governmental practices" by unraveling past efforts to help the environment, promote nuclear weapon nonproliferation and restore fiscal responsibility.
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