Secretary Clinton in 2009: “I really consider President and Mrs. Mubarak to be friends of my family”
EmailABC’s Kirit Radia reports: During a March 2, 2009 interview with the Arab television network Al Arabiya in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was asked about the State Deparment’s annual human rights report, which is perennially critical of Egypt’s record, and whether it was tied to an invitation for Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to visit the United States.
She replied, in part:
“No. It’s an annual report. It is not in any way connected. We look forward to President Mubarak coming as soon as his schedule would permit. I had a wonderful time with him this morning. I really consider President and Mrs. Mubarak to be friends of my family. So I hope to see him often here in Egypt and in the United States.”
Here’s the full exchange, including a question right afterward about the future of the Egyptian Presidency, which Clinton replies is up to the Egyptian people.
QUESTION: On another issue, the State Department issued a report about criticizing the human rights record of Egypt. And what kind of – in order for Egypt to enhance its record, what do you recommend or ask Egypt to do?
SECRETARY CLINTON: We issue these reports on every country. We consider Egypt to be a friend and we engage in very forthright conversations with our friends. And so we hope that it will be taken in the spirit in which it is offered, that we all have room for improvement. The United States, as you have seen under our new President, is moving to remedy some of the problems that we have had. We view human rights as very important. It’s central to our value system and to our foreign policy, and so we want to enlist others to make progress.
QUESTION: Is this file, by any chance, connected to the invitation – extended invitation – for President Mubarak to visit the United States?
SECRETARY CLINTON: No. It’s an annual report. It is not in any way connected. We look forward to President Mubarak coming as soon as his schedule would permit. I had a wonderful time with him this morning. I really consider President and Mrs. Mubarak to be friends of my family. So I hope to see him often here in Egypt and in the United States.
QUESTION: How do you view the presidency in Egypt, the future of the presidency in Egypt?
SECRETARY CLINTON: That’s for the people of Egypt to decide. That is a very important issue that really is up to Egyptians.
-Kirit Radia
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The guy’s a DICTATOR. Hillary and Obama have to go. This is unbelievable. I pray these people are ousted, they are doing so much harm to our country and now even more to the economy. Talk about the DUMBING of America.
Posted by: Ann | January 31, 2011, 6:33 pm 6:33 pm
So, if this guy’s a friend of the family, will they be sending a plane when he’s running from his country?
Posted by: Scott Gore | January 31, 2011, 7:00 pm 7:00 pm
I like Mrs. Clinton when she voiced her true thoughts and conviction. But ever since she works for Mr. Obama, she has to be careful in what she says. For instance, she now would say that Mr. Obama is an amazing President…, etc…Mr. Biden and Mrs. Clinton has become a yes-man and a yes-woman. They know that anything otherwise, they will be kicked out for subordination like General McChrystal.
Posted by: young_voter | January 31, 2011, 7:58 pm 7:58 pm
Perhaps Secretary Clinton has changed her mind in recent days. Politics has many twists and turns. Friend today and foe tomorrow.
Posted by: kottaras | January 31, 2011, 8:55 pm 8:55 pm
They are friends to alot of americans and the world. I wish them the best and pray for world stability when this is over
Posted by: Steve | January 31, 2011, 10:04 pm 10:04 pm
I know the State Dept. reports very well. They are extremely flawed and unreliable. They are basically copy and paste reports based mainly on the very unreliable organization HRW(Human Rights Watch), which writes its reports on hearsays and outright fabrications from partisan sources.
Posted by: justin | February 1, 2011, 3:17 am 3:17 am
Murbarak will soon be living in Las Vegas.
Posted by: LongT | February 1, 2011, 10:12 am 10:12 am
Ann, how would Obama ‘have to go’, as you put it, for keeping a relationship with Egypt, when Mubarak has been in power for over 20 years? Does that make every President during that time guilty of the same thing, since we have been giving money to Egypt for many, many years so that they will buy our weapons to protect themselves from other countries in the area. This is turn protects…. you guessed it, the oil of the area.
Posted by: Lydia | February 1, 2011, 3:05 pm 3:05 pm
Lol, it cracks me up how people SUDDENLY have some big, important opinion of Mubarak, who probably didn’t know his name a month ago. Most experts on middle eastern politics will tell you that Muburak was quite loved and a decent leader for many years, and it’s only been in about the last decade that he has become more and more repressive – a friend of mine in Egypt tells me that is due to his son exerting more and more influence as his father has aged.
Posted by: Teri Beaugez | February 18, 2011, 11:34 am 11:34 am
They know that anything otherwise, they will be kicked out for subordination like General McChrysta?
Posted by: prefabrik | June 30, 2011, 8:17 am 8:17 am