Hillary Clinton Hasn’t Learned a Thing from Iraq

[portlander23]

Hillary Clinton Hasn’t Learned a Thing from Iraq
Medea Benjamin
Common Dreams

Clinton, it seems, failed to learn anything after supporting the disastrous Iraq War, which plunged a huge swath of the Middle East into chaos and cost her the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. Instead of embracing diplomacy, she continued to champion ill-conceived military interventions as secretary of state.

In 2011, when the Arab Spring came to Libya, Clinton was the Obama administration’s most forceful advocate for intervening to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi. She even out-hawked Robert Gates, the Pentagon chief first appointed by George W. Bush who was less than enthusiastic about going to war in Libya.

Ironically, the political grief Clinton has suffered over the subsequent attack on a U.S. diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, which killed four Americans, might never have occurred if Clinton had opted against intervening in Libya’s civil war.

While House Republicans recently spent 11 hours relentlessly drilling Clinton about Benghazi and her personal email account, the larger disaster by far is the postwar chaos that’s left Libya without a functioning government, overrun by feuding warlords and extremist militants.

Clinton favors greater military intervention in Syria’s civil war, too. In her presidential bid, she’s joined hawkish Republican senators like John McCain and Lindsey Graham in supporting the creation of a no-fly zone over the country.

Back in 2008, for example, she warned that Washington could “totally obliterate“ Iran. During that presidential campaign, she chided Obama as “naïve” and “irresponsible” for wanting to engage the country diplomatically.

When it comes to war and peace, it might not matter too much if a Republican or Hillary Clinton wins the White House. In either case, the winner will be the military-industrial complex President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned us about.

Related:

The Benghazi Hearings We Need

Clinton Syria Fact Check: "Safe Zones" = "Ground Troops"

Debate: Sanders Rejects Intervention While Clinton Slams Iran, Putin and Supports Syrian Rebels

It’s something that might have been called neocon ... her supporters are not going to call it that

Robert Scheer: Go Ahead, Back Hillary Clinton and Forget All About Her Record

[99Forever]

1. Same ol' same ol'.

Hillary Clinton in a nutshell.

[razorman]

2. In light of some current news reports, I have to wonder if President Obama

learned anything from Iraq, either. We are reportedly sending troops back in there. In fact, I read one this morning that claims that American troops have been in Iraq "secretly" for months. I will see if I can find the stories again for reference. Hope they're not true.

[jeff47]

4. It wasn't exactly secret.

We've had "advisors" and troops helping to train Iraqis in Iraq for a long time now. Also, we fly our bombing missions against Syria/ISIL out of Iraq.

What's new is, as in Vietnam, the "advisors" are being put in a place to start shooting.

[razorman]

5. You may be right. But, there has not been much said about it.

Also, I have to wonder how recently the "advisors" joined in the combat. We have not been told the truth from the beginning.

[Martin Eden]

3. IWR vote #1 reason I won't support Hillary

Either she was:

Too stupid to know Bush was lying and the neocons would invade no matter what, once given the authority.

On board with the neocon agenda.

Knew the case for war was bogus but voted for it anyway, based on political calculation.


All the above are disqualifiers in my book.

[EndElectoral]

6. Agree. How quickly people forget.

It is amazing to me how dug in the sand people already are. People are defending their candidate without actually listening, without examining facts.

I can criticize some of Sander's earlier votes on gun control, but Clinton's votes on the Iraq War can't be just swept away. They happened. I've seen posts like, well Biden or Kerry voted for it. This is irrelevant. I have seen a continued proclivity to threaten military action rather than diplomacy which worries me in her relations with adversaries.

As this country has seen, it is easy to get into a war, and far more difficult to get out of it. The costs are astronomical - both financially and in terms of human life and casualties.

I have serious concerns with Ms. Clinton's ties to the banking industry, and the insurance lobbies, as well as trade and many others, but I keep coming back to the Iraq War Vote that has led to such disruption in the Middle East and contributed to the cost so many needless lives.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

7. A majority supported the invasion....

She based her support on the polls.

The polls were being fed by lies.

The question isn't whether if she knew that but if it would matter.

Or worse:

[artislife]

8. Repeating the truth is not the same as your argument

Weak as it is.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

9. After it came out what she spends on polling it became obvious....

[Martin Eden]

10. "The question isn't whether if she knew that but if it would matter."

Matter in what context??
-- whether her vote would make a difference
-- how it would affect her political career
-- consequences of the war

What we really needed was strong Democratic leaders to stand up with the courage to speak truth to power, to dispell the lies, and to make every effort to avert the costly disaster.

A few (not many) stood up and spoke out against the war before the IWR vote, and slightly more than half the Democrats in Congress voted against it.

Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, not only voted for it but stood up and vocally reinforced the bogus case for war.

At that time she forever lost my vote in Democratic primaries, as did John kerry, Joe Biden, and all who cast their lot with GW's mad rush to war.

I have yet to hear a good argument why that should be acceptable.

[cprise]

11. My #2 reason: She employs Bush neocons for foreign policy

The Kagan-Nulands specifically. Robert Kagan's name is on the original PNAC manifesto urging the US to attack a long list of Middle Eastern countries. Clinton promoted his wife (who edits his pro-war articles) at the State Dept.

When Kagan recently blamed the Libya mess on Obama, Hillary let Obama have it using the same criticism.

Clinton also repeats the neocon lie about Iran threatening to "wipe Israel off the map", saying the Iran deal was only a pretext to allow more military action against Iran.

[WillyT]

12. K & R !!!

[antigop]

13. k&r nt

[slipslidingaway]

14. A "mistake" that has led to unending wars and instablity. nt