Hillary Clinton's DC book tour stop for Hard Choices had the feel of a campaign event (complete with a fervent crowd and a photo op holding a baby).
She's "totally done" with carefully parsing what she says, said Hillary, and is ready to speak more frankly and just put it out there. We snapped her in GW's Lisner Auditorium, where she spoke with Politics & Prose co-owner and longtime friend and advisor Lissa Muscatine. When Lissa asked whether the job of a Secretary of State functions like a diplomatic triage unit, Clinton replied "triage is a good description."
Clinton laughed about anecdotes like discussing camels with Saudi Arabian leaders (patented diplomacy technique), but quickly got serious when the topic turned to Iraq. It has "the recipe for a horrendous conflict," she said, and if countries like Iran send in troops, we could be looking at a potential war in the Middle East that'll cross borders and threaten the larger region. The decision over sending in US forces is a "delicate and difficult task for our government, because we certainly don't want to fight their fight."
