Interview with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

A: I think that it would be an appropriate policy change to consider because other countries in ASEAN, despite whatever happen in other countries they are up and down or they all have problems, they have made steady progress in democracy, human rights and economic prosperity that is broadly shared and that hasn't happened in Burma.

Now there's great debate that goes on, can you influence the Burmesse military junta more by exchanging ideas and engaging with them or sanctions and trying to get their attention or removing them from the organization... It's a fair debate. I have discussion with leaders in the region, who have advocated at both sides of the debate.

But you put your fingers on particularly painful issue for me personally as well as for my country. We admire Aung Sang Suu Kyi. I think that the sacrifice she has made for her people, people of Burma, are admirable... and really demonstrates that one person can make difference by standing up for the rights to determine your own future and your country. And I regret deeply that the unfortunate incidence that she has nothing to do with has surged an excuse for her to be put on trial and put in the prison. And yes we would like to see her release.

Let me just add that there are a lot of opportunities that could be made available to the Burmese government and people if they did really surged.

They should open up doors for investment and other exchanges that would help people in Burma. So we'll wait and see what the Burma government decides.

Q: Earlier you said US would extend ... to Iran. What else can be extended from US to Iran?

A: As you know our president came to office with very clear preference for talking with people and not prejudging what might come with those talks.

You know Winsor Churchill's famous saying 'It's always better with jaw jaw' meaning 'talk talk' or ...and of course it's our view.

And the president and I made it clear that we would be willing to have direct talks with Iran and we had hope that we would get a response. And we are positive that we can help circumstances for that kind of dialogue. Well their election helps. And I don't think there's any doubts of irregular. And when people tried to peacefully protest they were brutally oppressed. There's a great debate going on inside of Iran. We saw just this the past week with some of the leading clerics and former presidents even speaking out. So we have said that the door is open to what we would like to see a one-one-one engagement with Iran but they are so preoccupied right now. And at the same time the nuclear clock is ticking. We know they have continued to pursue their nuclear program so we're discussing with our counterparts around the world if there's meaningful engagement not only with us but with other countries. There is a mechanism that's called P5+1 which the Security Council, basically...US obviously... where we have been talking with Iran about their nuclear program for a couple of years so it's not just us and Iran, it's the world and Iran. As you know, the people around Iran are the most concerned and the ones to come to see me and convey their deep apprehension about what might happen... so we will still hold the door open but we also have made it clear that we will take actions as I've said you know time and time again, crippling actions, working to upgrade the defense of our partners in the region. We want Iran to calculate what I think is a fair assessment if the US extends a defense umbrella across the region, if we do even more to support the military capacity to those in the Gulf, it's unlikely that Iran will be any stronger or safer because they won't be able to intimidate or dominate as they apparently think they can once they have a nuclear weapon. So I think there is still a lot of opportunity here but we are not going to keep the window open forever.

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