We have been hearing a lot lately about how the Obama administration blew the “reset” with Russia, but few people recall or ever heard how Hillary Clinton, then secretary of state, was embarrassed by a close aide in what was to be a symbolic new start in U.S. – Russia relations.
Sergei Lavrov and Hillary Clinton all smiles over “reset” button. (pool photo by Fabrice Coffrini)
It was on March 6, 2009 in Geneva. Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei V. Lavrov were to have dinner together, in what was to be an effort to mend the relationship between the two countries that had become strained.
Before they sat down, however, a photo-op was arranged. A smiling Clinton handed a small green box to Lavrov, saying I would like to present you with a little gift that represents what President Obama and Vice Predsident Biden and I have been saying and that is, we want to reset our relationship, and so we will do it together.”
Ill-conceived “reset” button. (foxnews.com)
In the box was a square yellow metal object with a bright red button. It was to symbolize the reset of the relationship. The word, “peregruzka” appeared above the button. As Lavrov smiled, Clinton said, “We worked hard to get the right Russian word. Do you think we got it?” Lavrov’s smile turned to a laugh, stopping to say, “You got it wrong. It should be “perezagruzka.” He then pointed out that the Russian word on the gift button meant “overcharged,” causing Clinton to emit one of her characteristic cackles.
“State Department officials professed not to know who was responsible for the error,” wrote Mark Landler in the New York Times, “but Mrs. Clinton was accompanied by several diplomats and White House officials who had lived in Russia and speak Russian – any of whom conceivably would have caught it.”
Philippe Reines and Hillary Clinton (dcbarroco.wordpress.com)
The individual behind the gaffe was someone not known outside the Washington scene, Philippe Reines, who was officially Clinton’s deputy assistant secretary for strategic communications. Reines (pronounded RYE-ness) “has been the caretaker of her public image through her iterations as rookie senator, front-runner presidential candidate, sore loser and resurgent secretary of state,” wrote Jason Horowitz in a Washington Post puff piece carried in the paper’s Style section.
Reportedly pilfered from a hotel spa, Reines saw the button as a clever gimmick to get world-wide news coverage, but he failed to consult with State Department translators, who hopefully would have come up with the right word.
President Obama caught by open mike with Dimitry Medvedev. (AP photo)
Two years later, at the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul, President Obama was caught on an open mike telling Russian President Dimitry Medvedev, “This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility.” And Medvedev responded, “I understand. I will transmit to Vladimir.”
Now we are beholding to agreements on Syria with Putin, another on Iran with Putin, and of course our $71 million round trip tickets to transport our astronauts to the space station, while he toys with us on Crimea and Ukraine.
Astonishingly, speaking in California earlier this month, Clinton cautioned about upping the rhetoric on Ukraine while a diplomatic solution is sought, but chose to compare Putin’s actions in Ukraine to Hitler’s outside Germany.
Today, as I post this blog, Secretary of State John Kerry is in Paris to meet with Lavrov on Ukraine. Do you suppose Lavrov will have seen the amateurish and embarrassing Twitter by Kerry’s spokeswoman Jen Psaki last Thursday, in which she included a photo of herself, thumbs up, holding a United for Ukraine sign? Whatever happened to a State Department with “statesmen” and “stateswomen?”
It’s been five years since the ill-conceived reset button presentation, and our relationship with Russia has worsened. The Obama administration’s foreign policy vacuum has become a laughing stock.
