In 1982, Anwar Sadat traveled to Israel, a trip that resulted in a peace
agreement that has lasted ever since. In the spirit of that type of bold
leadership...would you be willing to meet separately, without precondition,
during the first year of your administration, in Washington or anywhere
else, with the leaders...of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba, and North Korea,
in order to bridge the gap that divides our countries? -I should also point
out that Stephen is in the crowd tonight. Senator Obama?-I would. And the
reason is this, that the notion that somehow... not talking to countries
is punishment to them - which has been the guiding diplomatic principle
of this administration - is ridiculous. Now, Ronald Reagan and Democratic
presidents like JFK constantly spoke to Soviet Union at a time when Ronald
Reagan called them an evil empire. And the reason is because they understood
that we may not trust them and they may pose an extraordinary danger to
this country, but we had the obligation... to find areas where we can potentially
move forward. And I think that it is a disgrace that we have not spoken
to them. We’ve been talking about Iraq... one of the first things that
I would do in terms of moving a diplomatic effort in the region forward
is to send a signal that we need to talk to Iran and Syria... because they’re
going to have responsibilities if Iraq collapses. They have been acting
irresponsibly up until this point. But if we tell them... that we are not
going to be a permanent occupying force, we are in a position to say that
they are going to have to carry some weight in terms of stabilizing the
region. -I just want to check in with Stephen **** if he believes he got
an answer to his question? -I seem to have a microphone in my hand. Well,
I’d be interested in knowing what Hillary has to say to that question.-Senator
Clinton? Well, I will not promise to meet with the leaders of these countries
during my first year. I will promise a very vigorous diplomatic effort
because I think...it is not that you promise a meeting at that high a level
before you know what the intentions are. I don’t want to be used for propaganda
purposes. I don’t want to make a situation even worse. But I certainly
agree that we need to get back to diplomacy, which has been turned into
a bad word by this administration. And I will pursue very vigorous diplomacy.
And I will use a lot of high-level presidential envoys to test the waters,
to feel the way. But certainly, we’re not going to just have our president
meet with Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez and, you know, the president of
North Korea-...Iran, and Syria until we know better what the way forward
would be.-Senator Edwards, would you meet with Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro,
Kim Jong Il? Yes, and I think actually Senator Clinton’s right though.
Before that meeting takes place, we need to do the work, the diplomacy,
to make sure...that that meeting’s not going to be used for propaganda
purposes, will not be used to just beat down the United States of America
in the world community.But I think this is just a piece of a bigger question,
which is, what do we actually do? What should the President of the United
States do...to restore America’s moral leadership in the world? It’s not
enough just to lead with bad leaders. In addition to that, the world needs
to hear...from the President of the United States about who we are...-
Time.-...what it is we representThat, in fact, we believe in equality,
we believe in diversity; that they are at the heart and soul of what the
United States of America is.