CNN Washington
February 10 2009
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signaled Tuesday that the United States might rethink plans for a missile defense shield in Europe if Iran decides against pursuing nuclear weapons.
“If we are able to see a change in behavior on the part of the Iranians, then we will reconsider where we stand …
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/02/10/iran.clinton/
Speaker: Biden, Joseph R.
Vice President of the United States
February 7 2009
… we must recognize new forces shaping this young century:
In meeting these challenges, the United States will be guided by this basic principle:
There is no conflict between our security and our ideals. They are mutually reinforcing. The force of arms won our independence, and throughout our history, the force of arms has protected our freedom. That will not change. But the very moment we declared our independence, we laid before the world the values behind our revolution and the conviction that our policies must be informed by a “decent respect for the opinions of mankind.” Our Founders understood then and the United States believes now – that the example of our power must be matched by the power of our example. That is why we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. America will vigorously defend our security and our values, and in doing so we will all be more secure. As hard as we try, I know that we are likely to fall short of our ideals in the future, just as we have in the past. But I commit to you now: we will strive, every day, to honor the values that animate America’s democracy …
We will continue to develop missile defenses to counter a growing Iranian capability, provided the technology is proven to work and cost effective. …
We also support the further strengthening of European defense…
Read/hear the speech at
www.securityconference.de/konferenzen/rede.php?menu_2009=&menu_konferenzen=&sprache=en&id=238
Directive Expands Makeup and Role Of Security Body
Karen DeYoung
Washington Post
February 8, 2009
President Obama plans to order a sweeping overhaul of the National Security Council, expanding its membership and increasing its authority to set strategy across a wide spectrum of international and domestic issues. …
The new structure, to be outlined in a presidential directive and a detailed implementation document by Jones, will expand the NSC’s reach far beyond the range of traditional foreign policy issues and turn it into a much more elastic body, with Cabinet and departmental seats at the table — historically occupied only by the secretaries of defense and state — determined on an issue-by-issue basis.
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/07/AR2009020702076.html
