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“Clinton seeks broader ties with Muslim world in Indonesia”

By SusanUnPC on February 19, 2009 at 6:10 AM in Current Affairs

Via WorldFocus.org, the new PBS international news program:

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was greeted at the airport in Jakarta by 44 children from President Barack Obama’s former elementary school. The children sang traditional folk songs and waved Indonesian and American flags.

Afterwards, Clinton met with her Indonesian counterpart, Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda. Wirajuda said he expected their talks to focus on Indonesia’s strategic importance in the region, the Iranian nuclear dispute and the war in Afghanistan.

At a news conference, Clinton praised Indonesia for its efforts in fighting Islamic militancy. Despite being the world’s most populous Muslim country with some 230 million people, Indonesia maintains a secular government.

Salman Al Farisi, the deputy chief of mission at the Indonesian embassy, joins Martin Savidge to discuss the message that Clinton’s trip sends to the rest of the Muslim world and Indonesia’s role in the U.S. war on terror.

  • basil

    While I adore and admire HRC it really bothers me to see and hear her out on the world stage promoting ‘That One.’

    I know it’s her job (which personally I never thought she should take) and many say she has put country ahead of self but , , , , She’s got to be thoroughly aware of the dangers he represents, not only to the world but especially to the US.

    I dunno . . . .

  • Joy

    Hilary has sold her sold for this position. While she kisses up to the musliums, wonder if shes been notified that a musilum beheaded his wife in the state she calls home? Has she checked the home grown terriost camps that are here in the United States? Check the map and video out at Christian Action Network, titled homegrown terriost. All servalance has been dropped on them. You might want to check the map out while you are visiting their site. Never know just how close one of the camps are to you!!

    • elise

      Joy, did you know over four thousand women were killed last year in the US at the hands of their husbands or boyfriends? Fourteen percent of women in this country report they have been physically abused by their husbands. American women receive $.87 for every $1 men make for the same work. Women are passed over for promotions and sexually harassed in their jobs and in politics. Stop using Women’s issues to justify your hatred of Muslims. If you want to do something to help, volunteer your services to a women’s shelter in this country. Confront sexism at home, school and businesses. Cutting a woman’s head off doesn’t make her more dead than a woman beaten to death, shot or stabbed. Indonesia is a country which has been friendly and helpful to the US in identifying and capturing terrorists. George Bush liked to use threats against other countries and the result has been a lowering of the esteem of the US which makes it more difficult to work in cooperation with other countries to prevent terror attacks worldwide. If the Christian Action Committee has information about terror training camps, perhaps they should contact the FBI, CIA or local authorities? Otherwise it might lead some to believe this is bulls##t. BTW this isn’t Obama’s policy. SoS Clinton spoke frequently in her campaign of using diplomacy along with military when necessary. Religious hatred isn’t any prettier when practiced by a so-called Christian.

      • bill

        Its sexism here and we work for the equality of all genders and ages. In Muslim cultures, like Pakistan where our house guests lived, brutality towards women and other religions is totally acceptable. Beating, killing, beheading is built into the culture if not the religion. Our house guests ran a Christian school for 40 years in Lahore but fled when they were falsely accused by a Muslim student of blaspheming the prophet. They left everything behind to save their lives. Their daughter’s school in the Swat Valley was attacked two years ago and the women teachers tortured and executed for teaching women to read and write.

        My house guests would disagree w/ you.

        • elise

          bill, do your house guests hate Muslims? Some Muslims? All Muslims? Pakistan has had a woman president and I’m not sure how that lines up with what your guests have told you, but I suspect the generalization is no more valid there than in other parts of the world. Indonesia:

          Megawati Sukarnoputri (born 1947) became vice president of Indonesia, the world’s fourth-most-populous nation. This occurred in 1999, after a tumultuous time in her country’s political affairs.

          India:
          Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi was the Prime Minister of the Republic of India for three consecutive terms from 1966 to 1977 and for a fourth term from 1980 until her assassination in 1984, a total of fifteen years. She was India’s first and, to date, only female Prime Minister.

          There is no justification for the treatment of women in some Muslim countries, but to ascribe the brutality of those backward countries only to the religious beliefs of Islam is an over simplification. Women have been enslaved, denied rights and abused in many places and under many religions throughout history. I don’t know how this particular story is being covered by CNN and MSNBC since I have watched neither for a year or more due to their civilized(?) sexism and verbal abuse of Hillary Clinton. This is one thing I do know. When a particular race or religion is demonized by any other group of people, it is the wrong road to travel. The msn likes to sensationalize some stories (ie Scott Peterson, OJ Simpson, Drew Peterson), but these stories did not incite hatred of a race, even in the case of Simpson, or a religion. Jim Jones, a Christian, was responsible for the deaths of more than nine hundred people including women and children. David Koresh, a Christian, was responsible for the deaths of close to one hundred people including women and children. The Taliban is responsible for countless deaths. Fanatics of any religious persuasion are dangerous, hate of any kind is dangerous. A majority of Americans accepted the sexism in the past election directed at both Hillary and Gov Palin. We need to take the mote from our own eyes and set an example for the world. The hate and disrespect toward Hillary and Sarah Palin make it more difficult for us to confront abuse in other countries.

  • Lisa-NY

    Yes Joy…I live in New York State , so I know all about this.
    You lost me Hillary on this and if you don’t bail from Obama’s sinking ship, your political future is at serious risk.

  • http://www.sonicninjakitty.wordpress.com Sonic Ninja Kitty

    That Hillary! She’s just so incredibly smart! This is the only branch of our current government I have any confidence in. She will deftly reestablish our relationships in the world while Obama is busy destroying our domestic economy. Fantastic–I hope she does the same thing in Turkey soon, as they’ve been experiencing bumps in the road with their secular government.

    Encouragement like that will help further the efforts of people like this:
    http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1028/p01s06-woap.html

    Great all around. Way to go, Hillary!

  • DAB

    The following is from Salon.com’s Joan Walsh who was real fair to Hillary during the campaign even though she supported BO after HRC was sidelined. Joan is generally a voice of reason whenever she appears as a TV talking head.

    “I enjoyed watching Chris Matthews give Hillary Clinton his “Hardball Award” today. Just a few days late for Valentine’s Day! She deserves it, he said, for her “moxie, savvy, basic street smarts” and for her fast start picking a stellar State Department team, “no more letting the world drift toward division.” Matthews confessed the award was “long overdue,” adding, “I never gave Hillary Clinton the credit she deserved to run for the Senate.” He finished, “I salute you!” I wonder if that will get Clinton in the hot seat on “Hardball” any time soon?”

    Gee whiz — Go figure! I distinctly recall Matthews decrying the choice of Hillary as SOS by continually moaning “Why did HE DO IT?” What an idiot!

  • DAB

    From Joan Walsh, Salon.com who was scrupulously fair to Hillary during the primaries.

    “I enjoyed watching Chris Matthews give Hillary Clinton his “Hardball Award” today. Just a few days late for Valentine’s Day! She deserves it, he said, for her “moxie, savvy, basic street smarts” and for her fast start picking a stellar State Department team, “no more letting the world drift toward division.” Matthews confessed the award was “long overdue,” adding, “I never gave Hillary Clinton the credit she deserved to run for the Senate.” He finished, “I salute you!” I wonder if that will get Clinton in the hot seat on “Hardball” any time soon?

    As far as I’m concerned, it’s all too little to late, Mr. Tweets!