Clinton in Indonesia on next leg of Asia trip
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has arrived in Indonesia, where she is hoping to make progress on rehabilitating America's image abroad, especially among Muslims.
It is her second stop in an inaugural overseas trip as the top U.S. diplomat.
While in Jakarta, Clinton intends to announce plans to step up U.S. engagement with Southeast Asia, stressing the growing importance of a region that often felt slighted by the Bush administration.
Development and climate change will also top the agenda during her meetings with Indonesian leaders, along with the Iranian nuclear dispute and the war in Afghanistan.
During Clinton's first stop in Japan, her two days of talks focused mostly on North Korea's belligerent rhetoric and threats of a missile test, and on the global financial crisis.
After 24 hours in Indonesia, she travels to South Korea and China, where Pyongyang will again likely be a major topic.
Ready to listen again
But in Tokyo on Tuesday, Clinton previewed the new approach to dialogue she will try out in Southeast Asia. During a town hall student meeting, she said the United States is under new management.
"America is ready to listen again," she said. "Too often in the recent past, our government has not heard the different perspectives of people around the world. In the Obama administration, we intend to change that."
Later, in response to a student question about the administration of former U.S. president George W. Bush's perceived "prejudice" against Muslims in the war on terrorism, Clinton lamented that America's failure to communicate its intentions to the world is "one of the central security challenges we face."
She also acknowledged that the task had become harder because of the hugely unpopular war in Iraq, which she supported as a senator but came to oppose. That conflict, she said, was "viewed as wrong by many in the world."
"I think that the war on Iraq made our argument more difficult because although they just had peaceful elections, as you know, that they never would have had under [former Iraqi dictator] Saddam Hussein, the process was extremely controversial," Clinton said.
Still, she stressed, the administration would not shy from the topic.
"I think you will see from President Obama and those of us in his administration a concerted effort to present a different position to the Islamic world without in any way stopping our efforts to prevent terrorism," Clinton said.