Interview with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton - cont.

Q: So you're going to stop the practice of the CIA having secret camps like the one in Thailand using torture against the suspects?

A: Again, I'm not going to talk about the past. We have moved beyond that. Our government is very committed, very open to internationally accepted norms that we intend to follow. (But did they exist?) I can't talk about any of that, whether they do, whether they don't... (Do you know or is it something you cannot talk about?) By not talking about it, I'm following long-term advice that you don't talk about intelligence matters. My not talking about it doesn't mean yes, doesn't mean no. We don't talk about it. I think we have a very positive relationship with Thailand that we want to look at how we're going to focus on areas where it's going to make a difference to the Thai people and the American people in the 21st century.

Q: Talking about Thailand, are there any areas in particular where we can improve our relations on?

A: Well you know there are a couple where we're working very hard on together. As I mentioned early on during the interview, the trafficking is one that I personally committed to in 1996, I went to the north of Thailand and visited some of the shelters that have taken young girls and I met a young girl, only 12 years old who has been sold by her family. And it wasn't clear whether her family knew what her destiny would be or whether they were told a different story but she was sold and she ended up unfortunately in...basically... the brothels and when she got sick with HIV/AIDS they threw her out and she made her way back home but her family won't take her in. So I met her when she was dying in one of the centers that have been set up for children in her condition. And so that's a very personal experience and I know that Thailand is making a lot of efforts to end that scourge of human trafficking and we want to work with you and do what we can to accelerate those efforts. I think the research work that our doctors and researchers are doing is very important, not only on HIV/AIDS, but other diseases where the facilities and reputation of your institutions and researchers is so high and we have a great partnership there so I think there's a lot of positive work in the future, we're grateful we have a wonderful relationship with the military in Thailand because we want to be ready for disaster assistance and any other crisis that might occur. So across the board, we feel positive and I want the Thai people to know we're positive. I don't want anyone thinking that under our new administration, we are taking Thailand for granted. That's why I'm here with a very strong message of our appreciation for our partnership and friendship.

Q: What is the latest report on the US economy? Has it hit rock bottom?

A: Well actually the reports are we are stabilizing, that we're not out of this yet at all, that we still have very high unemployment particularly in some parts of our country. But our Federal reserve chairman Bernake testified yesterday before the Congress and said we think we should be able to maintain the plateau we're on, we're obviously like the rest of the world at negative growth but we might, by the end of this year pr early next year see a slight positive growth and jobs returning. But we're not out of the woods yet, I think that's the best way of saying.

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