Post date: Nov 21, 2010 5:15:47 PM
Clinton plans to rally Senate to ratify START treaty during lame duck. On Afghanistan, Clinton says U.S. will continue to provide support to Afghan security during transition.
WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (NOVEMBER 20, 2010) NBC - With the clock ticking in the lame duck session of Congress, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is vowing to continue her push for Senate support on a new nuclear arms treaty with Russia, even as Republicans continue to voice opposition to a vote before the new year.
In a pre-taped interview on NBC's "Meet the Press", Clinton said Saturday (November 20), "It's a question about whether we have the time and whether we can make the case in the limited time that the lame duck provides to satisfy the concerns of two-thirds of the Senate."
"I think we can," she said.
Clinton went to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to press senators on the urgency of bringing the deal to a vote during the final weeks of the current Congress -- the so-called "lame-duck" session.
Democrats are concerned the treaty may face more difficulty in the new year because their Senate majority will be smaller in the new Congress due to recent election losses.
"We're all in the tradition of both Republican and Democratic presidents going back to Ronald Reagan who famously said, trust but verify. We have no verification without a treaty about what's going on in Russia's nuclear program.," Clinton said.
"I think we want to get our inspectors back on the ground and the only way to do that is by ratifying this treaty," she added.
Analysts say the START debate reflects growing polarization in Congress over public policy and U.S. national security.
Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed the New START treaty in April to replace the previous START accord, which expired last December. The new agreement commits the former Cold War foes to cut deployed nuclear weapons by about 30 percent, to no more than 1,550, within seven years.
The accord is seen as one of Obama's top foreign policy accomplishments, a part of his effort to improve relations with Russia and his drive against nuclear proliferation. He promised Medvedev on Sunday that ratification during the final weeks of the year was a priority for his administration.
Meanwhile, on the heels of NATO's agreement on Saturday to hand control of security in Afghanistan to Afghan forces by the end of 2014, Clinton said the U.S. would continue to provide support in Afghanistan throughout the transition process.
"We're intent on reaching the goal of transitioning to Afghan security in 2014. But both the United States and NATO ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) partners have said that of course we'd both be willing to train and equip the Afghan military, what we do with countries around the world....So the security lead, the fight if you will, does transition to the Afghans. Support for that fight will continue to be provided," Clinton said.
Some NATO officials fear a rise in violence could make it hard to meet the target date set by Afghan President Hamid Karzai for the security handover, which would leave a vastly reduced number of foreign troops in a training and support role.
But President Barack Obama lifted hopes the target date would be met by saying for the first time that his aim was to halt major U.S. combat operations by the end of 2014 and significantly reduce the number of U.S. troops there.