SCENARIOS-Hillary Clinton's views on foreign policy issues

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sen. Hillary Clinton has accepted an offer from President-elect Barack Obama to become U.S. secretary of state, the New York Times said on Friday.

Here are some views on foreign policy issues expressed by Clinton, who lost the Democratic presidential nomination to Obama this year, and is the wife of former President Bill Clinton.

IRAQ

"Ending the war in Iraq is the first step towards restoring the United States' global leadership," Clinton wrote a year ago in an article in Foreign Affairs magazine. U.S. troops had to be brought home safely and stability restored to the region, she said.

But on the campaign trail, Clinton was more reluctant than Obama to commit to a firm timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq. She refused to apologise for her 2002 Senate vote authorizing the war, but did say she would like to have that vote back to do over.

AFGHANISTAN, PAKISTAN AND AL QAEDA

During the campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, Clinton, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the United States should focus more on improving security in Afghanistan. She has called for greater U.S. troop deployments there.

She also has suggested appointing a U.S. envoy who could shuttle between Afghanistan and Pakistan to help their leaders in the fight against a resurgent Taliban and an al Qaeda presence.

IRAN