President Obama met with Hillary Rodham Clinton at the White House on Monday to discuss the situation in Syria and consult the former secretary of state on a response to the country’s use of chemical weapons.
After her meeting with Mr. Obama, Mrs. Clinton briefly commented on Syria during a White House forum on wildlife trafficking. In her first public remarks on the topic in recent weeks, Mrs. Clinton said she supported Mr. Obama and hopes Congress will do the same.
“Achieving a political solution that ends the conflict is in the interest of the United States,†Mrs. Clinton said. “It will require an intense diplomatic effort guided by the road map†that was agreed upon at the Geneva Convention last June, she added.
Mrs. Clinton endorsed the idea by Secretary of State John Kerry that Syria could avoid an attack by the United States if it were to relinquish its chemical weapons supply. She said President Bashar al-Assad’s potential surrender of Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile would be an “important step,†but that “this cannot be another excuse for delay or obstruction, and Russia has to support the international community’s efforts sincerely, or be held to account.â€
The comments were the first time Mrs. Clinton has spoken publicly about the escalating violence in Syria since the Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack that prompted Mr. Obama to call on Congress to approve a strike. Mrs. Clinton is expected to reiterate her support for Mr. Obama in a speech she will deliver in Philadelphia on Tuesday evening upon receiving an award from the National Constitution Center.
Last week, an aide to Mrs. Clinton released a statement that said the country’s former top diplomat “supports the president’s effort to enlist the Congress in pursuing a strong and targeted response to the Assad regime’s horrific use of chemical weapons.â€
Although Mrs. Clinton has mostly kept a low profile on the politically contentious topic, she has been in close contact with White House officials, including several conversations with Denis McDonough, the White House chief of staff, according to a person familiar with the talks but not authorized to discuss them for attribution. Mrs. Clinton also placed calls to a couple of her former colleagues in the Senate to help drum up support for Mr. Obama as lawmakers prepare to vote.
As a member of the Obama administration, Mrs. Clinton took a tough stance toward Syria â€" often arguing more aggressively than Mr. Obama did in favor of the United States aiding the Syrian rebels who seek to oust Mr. Assad.
On Monday, Mrs. Clinton reiterated her hawkish stance. “The Assad regime’s inhuman use of weapons of mass destruction against innocent, men, women and children violates a universal norm at the heart of our global order,†she said. “Therefore it demands a strong response from the international community led by the United States.â€
Pundits have cited political calculation for Mrs. Clinton’s decision to remain mostly behind the scenes on the Syria debate, since her 2002 vote supporting the war in Iraq cost her heavily in the 2008 presidential election.
But an aide to Mrs. Clinton said if she were to emerge as too visible on the issue, it would look as if she were undermining the current administration. “She’s mindful of letting her successor do his job the same way her predecessor let her do her job,†this person said.
Mrs. Clinton and her daughter, Chelsea, were visiting the White House to discuss how to combat the poaching of elephants â€" one of a variety of causes the former first lady has adopted since she joined her family’s foundation, recently renamed the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation.
On Monday evening, Mrs. Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, and Chelsea, will hold a foundation fund-raiser at the Italian Embassy that costs $1,000 per person and later, at their Washington home, for $25,000 a couple. Earlier on Monday, Mrs. Clinton delivered a paid speech to an investor conference at the Carlyle Group.
