Washington, Aug 17 (ANI): US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton defended her department's response to crackdown of protestors in Libya and Syria, saying that the nation is projecting a 'smart power' approach to deal with issues in these regions.
She called Obama administration's policies an approach that emphasizes collective action and international consensus over unilateral solutions that rely disproportionately on US troops and treasure, the Washington Post reports.
"It's not just brute force, it's not just unilateralism, it's being smart enough to say: 'You know what? We want a bunch of people singing out of the same hymn book," Clinton said.
Clinton also acknowledged US' limited ability to directly influence a country with which it has few economic or political ties.
She even fired back at critics who have accused the United States of failing Syria's pro-democracy movement by not yet publicly demanding the removal of President Bashar al-Assad.
"It's not going to be any news if the United States says, 'Assad needs to go.' Okay, fine, what's next?" the paper quoted Clinton, as saying.
"If Turkey says it, if [Saudi] King Abdullah says it, if other people say it, there is no way the Assad regime can ignore it," she added.
Clinton pointed to the building a 'chorus of condemnation' against Assad, noting the recently made strong statements by Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf states. (ANI)
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