April 11th, 2012
01:44 PM ET

Clinton on bin Laden raid: No one breathed

By Jill Dougherty

Who can forget the photo of President Barack Obama and his Cabinet in the White House Situation Room, all eyes riveted on a monitor out of view of the camera, watching - real time - as Navy SEALs killed Osama bin Laden?

Many people remarked on the image of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who sat in the middle of the room with her right hand covering her mouth and her eyes wide open.

Almost a year after the raid in Pakistan, Clinton described what it was like to be in that room that night.

"I'm not sure anyone breathed for, you know, 35 or 37 minutes," she said, answering questions Tuesday evening from future officers at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, after a foreign policy speech.
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U.S. discusses possible buffer zone for Syria
Joint Special Envoy Kofi Annan meets with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during a stop in Iran.
April 11th, 2012
01:39 PM ET

U.S. discusses possible buffer zone for Syria

By Elise Labott

With the Syria deal in jeopardy and questions as to whether Syria will truly cease its military operations, particularly after Syrian troops fired across the border into Turkey, discussions within the Obama administration about creating a Syria-Turkey border "buffer zone" have intensified, State Department officials tell CNN.

"It would be correct to say this idea is getting another look in the last week or so," one official said about the buffer zone.

In a statement issued Monday, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said “Syrian citizens who took refuge in our country from the brutality of the current regime in Syria are under Turkey’s full protection. We will certainly take necessary measures if such incidents reoccur."

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke about a possible buffer zone with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Monday during a phone conversation about the crisis, officials said.

State Department Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters that Clinton invited Davutoglu to address G8 ministers Wednesday afternoon by videoconference to discuss the crisis in Turkey.
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Filed under: Assad • China • Iran • Russia • Syria
Intel windfall from N.Korean rocket launch
North Korea's Unha-3 rocket sits on the launch pad
April 11th, 2012
02:00 AM ET

Intel windfall from N.Korean rocket launch

By Pam Benson

While the Obama administration is urging North Korea not to go ahead with its expected rocket launch, the launch does present one benefit: The U.S. intelligence community will get the rare opportunity to more precisely see just how far North Korea has progressed with its long-range missile technology program since its last launch three years ago.

Although North Korea says it is merely deploying an Earth observation satellite, something it has failed at doing in the past, the United States believes the secretive nation is really testing technology that would also enable it to fire a ballistic missile carrying a warhead, one that could potentially strike the United States.

But the real question is whether the rocket performs as intended, especially that third stage, which releases the satellite.
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Filed under: Asia • Intelligence • Military • North Korea • Nuclear • Satellite imagery • Technology • weapons