A Hillary Clinton presidency would shatter the glass ceiling for women in the United States, but it would leave intact the ol’ boys’ military-industrial complex that has been keeping our nation in a perpetual state of war for decades.

As senator, Clinton voted for the Iraq war because she thought it was politically expedient—a vote she certainly came to regret when the war turned sour and Senator Barack Obama surged forward as the candidate opposed to it. That disastrous war plunged Iraq into chaos and opened the way for the Islamic State group to emerge. But Clinton didn’t learn the main lesson from Iraq. 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 overthrowing Muammar Gaddafi. She even out-hawked Robert Gates, the defense secretary first appointed by George W. Bush who was less than enthusiastic about going to war in Libya.

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

When it comes to Syria, Clinton has called for greater military intervention in that nation’s civil war. Back in 2012 she advocated for arming Syrian rebels, long before the Obama administration agreed to do so. In her presidential bid, she has broken ranks with the White House on Syria by joining Republican Senators like John McCain and Lindsey Graham in supporting the creation of a no-fly zone. Clinton’s position is not only at odds with President Obama but also with Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, who warned that a unilateral U.S. no-fly zone in Syria could “get us more deeply involved in that horrible civil war and lead to a never-ending U.S. entanglement in that region.”

On Israel, Clinton has distanced herself from President Obama’s feud with Netanyahu over the prime minister’s efforts to derail the Iran nuclear deal and his comments opposing the creation of a Palestinian state. Referring to Obama’s policy toward Netanyahu, Clinton said that “tough love” is counterproductive because it invites other countries to delegitimize Israel. She has indicated to wealthy Jewish donors that she will be a better friend to Israel than President Obama. However, being a “better friend” to a regime that is occupying Palestinian lands and repressing the Palestinian people is no feat to brag about.

To the dismay of some of her major donors, Clinton did end up supporting the administration’s Iran nuclear deal, but her support came with a history of bellicose baggage. Back in April 2008 she warned that the U.S. could “totally obliterate” Iran in retaliation for a nuclear attack on Israel. Ever since her days as secretary of state, she has insisted on keeping the military option on the table. Even after the nuclear agreement was sealed, she struck a bullying tone: “I don’t believe Iran is our partner in this agreement,” Clinton insisted, “Iran is the subject of the agreement,” adding that she would not hesitate to take military action if Iran attempts to obtain a nuclear weapon.

Clinton has also criticized the Obama administration for not doing more to confront Russia since the 2014 annexation of Crimea. At a California fundraiser last year, she reportedly compared Russian President Vladimir Putin to Adolf Hitler. At a meeting earlier this year with London Mayor Boris Johnson, he said she faulted European leaders for being “too wimpy” about challenging Putin.

Contrast Secretary of State Clinton with Secretary of State Kerry. It was only after Clinton resigned as secretary of state and was replaced by Kerry that the agency moved away from being a Pentagon appendage to a body that seeks creative, diplomatic solutions to seemingly intractable conflicts. President Obama’s two signature foreign policy achievements—the Iran deal and the groundbreaking opening with Cuba—came after Clinton left.

There was a very telling moment about Clinton’s attitude during the first Democratic debate when Anderson Cooper asked, “Which enemy are you most proud of?”

Alongside the NRA, Republicans, and health insurance companies, Clinton listed “the Iranians” — which could mean either the Iranian government or the nation’s 78 million people. In either case, it wasn’t a very diplomatic thing to say while her successor and former colleagues are trying to chart a new, more cooperative relationship with Iran.

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.


ZNetwork is funded solely through the generosity of its readers.

Donate
Donate

Medea Benjamin is the co-founder of CODEPINK and the co-founder of the human rights group Global Exchange. She has been an advocate for social justice for more than 40 years. She is the author of ten books, including Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control; Kingdom of the Unjust: Behind the US-Saudi Connection; and Inside Iran: The Real History and Politics of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Her articles appear regularly in outlets such as Znet, The Guardian, The Huffington Post, CommonDreams, Alternet and The Hill.

1 Comment

  1. Clinton’s foreign policy behavior and proposals re not all that different from the other leading Democrat, Bernie Sanders.

    Though he voted against the Iraq slaughter resolution during the reign of Bush 2, he’s supported most of the “emergency” funding proposals since then that have turned that war of occupation into a permanent war of occupation.

    The same is true of the permanent war of occupation in Afghanistan.

    Clinton and Sanders are silent on the US-led occupation of the African continent and all that goes with it.

    Like Clinton, Sanders is a Zionist who gives lip service to a “two-state” solution that keeps a Zionist government in Tel Aviv/Jerusalem and would render the remaining 28% of the nation as a satellite of the “Jewish” state.

    Both Sanders and Clinton have been consistently silent on US military adventurism in Mexico, Central America and South America.

    Nor have either of them said much about the torture-training camp at the School of the Americas.

    Both Clinton and Sanders support the multi-trillion dollar F-35 boondoggle, the most costly military program in the history of humanity.

    Both claim that the U.S. military must be the most powerful on Earth.

    While Sanders calls for some democratic political and economic reforms domestically, he fails to state the obvious mathematical fact that choosing for maintaining a global military empire makes austerity in the “homeland” inevitable and permanent.

    Both Clinton and Sanders have sworn fealty to the U.S. Democratic Party, one of the duopoly parties of business and global empire.

    It is unclear why Benjamin leaves Sanders out of the discussion. Not really…

Leave A Reply

Subscribe

All the latest from Z, directly to your inbox.

Institute for Social and Cultural Communications, Inc. is a 501(c)3 non-profit.

Our EIN# is #22-2959506. Your donation is tax-deductible to the extent allowable by law.

We do not accept funding from advertising or corporate sponsors.  We rely on donors like you to do our work.

ZNetwork: Left News, Analysis, Vision & Strategy

Subscribe

All the latest from Z, directly to your inbox.

This is your article this month.

We’re glad you keep coming back. If Z’s work has informed, challenged, or inspired you, that’s no accident: there are no paywalls, no ads, and no billionaire owners here, and there never will be. Independent media survives because readers choose to support it.

Billionaires fund their own media. We fund ours. Help us reach 1,000 sustaining donors:

Number of donors684
Our goal1,000

Sustainers at $9/month or more receive the digital Z Magazine.

Already a sustainer? Click here and we won’t ask again. Thank you!

Your reading count is stored only in your browser and is never sent to us.

Sound is muted by default.  Tap 🔊 for the full experience

CRITICAL ACTION

Critical Action is a longtime friend of Z and a music and storytelling project grounded in liberation, solidarity, and resistance to authoritarian power. Through music, narrative, and multimedia, the project engages the same political realities and movement traditions that guide and motivate Z’s work.

If this project resonates with you, you can learn more about it and find ways to support the work using the link below.

Independent media is not disappearing because the ideas are weak.

It is disappearing because platforms reward speed, outrage, and algorithmic visibility over thoughtful analysis.

More than 100,000 people read Z every month, free of paywalls, ads, and billionaire owners. It takes fewer than 1 in 100 of them to fund all of it: 1,000 donors who keep Z independent, for everyone, and build what comes next.

Number of donors684
Our goal1,000

Sustainers at $9/month or more receive the digital Z Magazine.

Subscribe

Join the Z Community – receive event invites, announcements, a Weekly Digest, and opportunities to engage.

Exit mobile version