If elected the architect of the Libya invasion will continue the neocon agenda of endless war
On Super Tuesday Democrat Hillary Clinton once again trounced rival Bernie Sanders and won contests in Georgia, Virginia, Arkansas, Alabama, Massachusetts and Tennessee.
If she wins the Florida primary on March 15 her nomination is all but a done deal. In past elections the state has proven pivotal in determining who is selected.
Democrats, especially black Democrats, are enthusiastic about Clinton and have rejected Sanders socialist bromides. In their zeal to defeat Donald Trump and the Republicans and put yet another statist Democrat in the White House, they have blithely ignored her track record.
On February 28, several days before the primary, The New York Times ran a piece highlighting the role Clinton played in the destruction of Libya and the murder of its leader, Muammar Gaddafi.
The newspaper cites former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who said Clinton controlled the decision to invade the African nation and kill approximately 100,000 Libyans.
The invasion of Libya was “arguably her moment of greatest influence as secretary of state” and serves as “a working portrait rich with evidence of what kind of president she might be,” according to the Times. If elected her past support for illegal war will determine “when and how the United States should wield its military power in Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East.”
Unlike Obama, who is viewed and often pilloried as weak and indecisive, “her record on Libya illustrates how, facing a national-security or foreign-policy quandary, she was inclined to act” with devastating result.
Beginning in 2014, well before Donald Trump stormed the Republican party, the neocons began signaling support for Clinton. Robert Kagan and Max Boot, both members of the Council on Foreign Relations and diehard neocons, praised Clinton.
Kagan served as a Clinton foreign policy adviser during her tenure at the State Department. Boot celebrated the illegal intervention in the Balkans by Hillary’s husband. He was also a cheerleader for the Libya invasion. In addition to advocating the use of Super Hornets to pummel Gaddafi into submission, Boot urged the US to send Special Forces trainers to assist the “rebels” who were in fact, according to CIA linked Abdel-Hakim al-Hasidi, members and fellow travelers of al-Qaeda. Many would later join the Islamic State.
Social issues—abortion, gay marriage, and environmentalism—have historically driven Democrat voters and this election is no exception. Few care to realize, however, that when it comes to war and the national security state Clinton varies little from her Republican challengers, in particular Marco Rubio.
“A President Hillary Clinton would undoubtedly launch a more aggressive policy in Syria at a time when her party seems to want a deescalation from Mid-East wars,” writes Trevor Law. “While foreign policy doesn’t seem to be playing a large role in the Democratic primary it is still shocking that neither of her Democratic rivals have pounced on this disparity with her party. It remains to be seen if this will have a larger impact on the election as a whole but if she wins the primary it is bound to create an interesting dynamic for any of her GOP rivals.”
It appears the only dynamic in play is the prospect of Republicans crossing party lines to back Clinton to avoid voting for Trump or not voting all.
“I’m literally losing sleep over Donald Trump,” Max Boot told Zack Beauchamp of Vox on Tuesday. “She would be vastly preferable to Trump.”
“I’m not wild about Hillary, and I think she has a lot of weaknesses. I would be much happier if Sen. Rubio became president, and I’m much more in agreement with him… But at least Clinton is informed and serious on foreign policy issues.”
In other words neocons back a Clinton presidency because it will continue their agenda of conquest and destruction in the Middle East and a dangerous brinkmanship with Russia.
Democrat voters are oblivious to this. In November, when Clinton faces Donald Trump, those who rallied behind Bernie Sanders will line up and vote for Hillary Clinton. Both Democrats and Republicans vote along partisan lines and for Democrats the prospect of continued war and mass murder comes in a distant second to the prospect of Donald Trump sitting in the Oval Office.
Related:
Please Don't Vote For Hillary Clinton Just Because She's a Woman. Watch This First. (short version)
Hillary Clinton is a Crook - This is Why People Won't Vote for Her (A Letter to ABC's 7:30 Program)
