Secretary Clinton joins Secretary Gates and Admiral Mullens in concern over National Debt,..."...it makes us appear weaker..."

Following a speech today, Secretary Clinton stated the current National Debt tends to inhibit the activities of the USA when it comes to acting in our own behalf and it makes the USA appear to be weaker internationally.  Secretary Clinton never stated any assistance to foreign areas was ever in question.

Clinton Says Obama Foreign Policy Beginning to Yield Dividends (click title to entry - thank you)

David Gollust | State Department

08 September 2010

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the Obama administration's foreign policy strategy of rebuilding alliances and applying so-called soft power is beginning to yield dividends.  But Clinton warned that mounting government debt is beginning to erode U.S. power abroad.  

Progress report

Clinton's address to the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington amounted to a foreign policy progress report, a year and a half into the Obama administration.

She said the administration's approach of rebuilding traditional alliances and acting multilaterally, as opposed to the Bush administration's reliance on military power is beginning to show dividends.

Clinton declared that U.S. global leadership remains essential and that the United States "can, must and will" lead in the new century, even if it must do so in new ways.

Perceived threats

But in a question and answer session, Clinton also acknowledged that U.S. national security and global influence are being threatened by a debt burden she blamed on Bush-era unfunded tax cuts and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan waged on borrowed funds.

"It undermines our capacity to act in our own interests and it does constrain us where constraint may be undesirable," said Clinton. "And it also sends a message of weakness internationally.  It is very troubling to me that we are losing the ability to not only to chart our own destiny, but to have the leverage that comes from this enormously effective economic engine that has powered American values and interests over so many years."...