Andrea Mitchell had a hell of a show today, talking to Secretary Clinton on Iran, but also Russia. One aspect of the Iran issue was the human side that could be a point of interaction where we begin to have some dialogue with the Iranians outside the geopolitics of it all, something Clinton stressed.
“… Well, I would like them to release the two women that have been held and not permitted to travel; and I would like them to respond on a human level to let Robert Levinson‘s family know what happened to him. There’s been no word… These are really humanitarian gestures. There’s no great geopolitical or strategic involvement; it’s just person to person. This young woman, Roxana Saberi from North Dakota was working in Iran… Her father is an Iranian-American. All of a sudden she gets arrested… We need to clear out those kinds of problems between us.” – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
On Russia, President Medvedev’s op-ed today is a hopeful sign for what could open out on a new opportunity after the bungling of the Bush years.
Clinton’s speech at the Hague is below, with the transcript also available.
There is a delicious irony in all of Mitchell’s interviews with HRC. As Hillary shows how effective and powerful she is becoming Mitchell has to report on it! I wonder if she will ever eat a little crow? Probably not.