Secretary of State Hillary Clinton acknowledged the limits of US power Thursday in a combative exchange with an Al-Jazeera reporter, saying, "We can't stop a lot of countries from doing things that we disagree with and we speak out against."
In the Qatari capital of Doha for a regional development conference, Clinton was asked why Arab countries should listen to her criticism when the US can't even get its longtime ally, Israel, to make peace with the Palestinians.
"Israel is a sovereign country and it makes its own decisions," Clinton responded.
"I wish there were a way we could tell a lot of countries what they should do because there are a lot of countries doing things that are not in the best interests of their own people, their neighbors or the world."
"You often make decisions based on your own experience and history,And when the Israelis pulled out of Lebanon they got Hizbullah and 40,000 rockets and when they pulled out of Gaza they got Hamas and 20,000 rockets."
"We have spent a lot of time and we will continue to spend a lot of time working to build enough confidence on both sides that they can make decisions that will by necessity mean compromises."