(CBS) — Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton questioned the Trump administration's approach to Afghanistan and also weighed in on the impeachment inquiry announced by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi this week.
Honoring women who work for peace in troubled areas of the world with an award bearing her name, Clinton remarked on the Trump administration's peace negotiations with the Taliban, with an eye to the Afghan elections Saturday.
"I am hoping the election continues and concludes and the outcome will create support for the new government because at the end of the day, one of the problems we face going back two administrations before this one is the refusal of the Taliban to negotiate with the government of Afghanistan" Clinton said.
Clinton doesn't agree with the administration's approach — negotiating peace with the Taliban unilaterally, without the direct involvement of the Afghan government.
"It fell apart for both legitimate and crazy reasons," Clinton said of the Trump administration's peace negotiation attempts with the Taliban.
Clinton was honoring three women for their work in the Central American Northern Triangle — Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador — countries which have been plagued by gang violence and corruption for years. The awards ceremony, held at Georgetown University, highlighted the work being done to empower women in vulnerable regions.
When speaking about expanding the rights of Afghan women, Clinton emphasized that she believes there have been significant gains since the Taliban was removed from power, noting that Afghan women are now able to go to school and start businesses.
She also praised House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her leadership on the impeachment inquiry. "[President Trump] has turned American diplomacy into a cheap extortion racket . . . This is ultimately about much more than Donald Trump," said Clinton, who ran against Mr. Trump in 2016. "This is about us. It is about who we are as a nation."
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