Taking Hillary To Task On Foreign Policy

A Ying Yang Scenario

Security And Opportunity For The 21st Century by Hillary Rodham Clinton reintroduce America to the world and restore our leadership ...... the democratic values that are the deepest source of our strength. ...... In my travels around the world as senator and as first lady, I have met people from all walks of life. ...... we diverted vital military and financial resources from the struggle against al Qaeda and the daunting task of building a Muslim democracy in Afghanistan. ........... turning our backs on the search for peace in the Middle East. ...... refusal to participate in any international effort to deal with the tremendous challenges of climate change ........ the world's most pressing problems require unprecedented cooperation ...... American leadership is wanting, but it is still wanted. ......... threats from states, nonstate actors, and nature itself ........ The next president will be the first to inherit two wars ....... an unpredictable and dangerous situation in the Middle East that threatens Israel and could potentially bring down the global economy by disrupting oil supplies. ........ a new wave of global health epidemics. ........ a pragmatic willingness to look at the facts on the ground and make decisions based on evidence rather than ideology. ......... Leadership requires a blend of strategy, persuasion, inspiration, and motivation. It is based on respect more than fear. ...... harness our might to a set of guiding principles. ..... Use our military not as the solution to every problem but as one element in a comprehensive strategy. ........ Nor can diplomacy alone stop the perpetrators of genocide and crimes against humanity in places such as Darfur. ...... the value of simply carrying a big stick, rather than using it. .......... international institutions are tools rather than traps ...... we should bring them in line with the power realities of the twenty-first century and the basic values embodied in such documents as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ........ Globalization is widening the gap between the haves and the have-nots within societies and between them. Today, there are more than two billion people living on less than $2 a day. ....... a vast permanent underclass ....... countries plagued by mass poverty and ruled by tiny wealthy elites ....... The war is sapping our military strength, absorbing our strategic assets, diverting attention and resources from Afghanistan, alienating our allies, and dividing our people. The war in Iraq has also stretched our military to the breaking point. ........ government ministries or ministers that hoard, steal, or waste them. ...... the two million Iraqis who have fled their country and the two million more who have been displaced internally. ......... Ongoing military innovation is essential, but the Bush administration has undermined this goal by focusing obsessively on expensive and unproven missile defense technology ......... develop a modern GI Bill of Rights ...... In the cities of Europe and Asia -- such as Hamburg and Kuala Lumpur, which were the springboards for 9/11 -- terrorist cells are preparing for future attacks. We must understand not only their methods but their motives: a rejection of modernity, women's rights, and democracy, as well as a dangerous nostalgia for a mythical past. We must develop a comprehensive strategy focusing on education, intelligence, and law enforcement to counter not only the terrorists themselves but also the larger forces fueling support for their extremism. ............ dry up recruiting opportunities for the Taliban by funding crop-substitution programs, a large-scale road-building initiative, institutions that train and prepare Afghans for honest and effective governance, and programs to enable women to play a larger role in society. ......... better intelligence and a clandestine service that is out on the street, not sitting behind desks ........ increase the number of agents and analysts proficient in Arabic and other key languages ....... building counterterrorist capacity around the world ...... strengthen police, prosecutorial, and judicial systems abroad; improve intelligence; and implement more stringent border controls, especially in developing countries. ........ help the most vulnerable and at-risk cities prepare for an attack. ....... The Bush administration has opposed talks with our adversaries, seeming to believe that we are not strong enough to defend our interests through negotiations. ......... Iran .... the country that most practices state-sponsored terrorism, and it uses its surrogates to supply explosives that kill U.S. troops in Iraq. ......... Iran has enhanced its nuclear-enrichment capabilities, armed Iraqi Shiite militias, funneled arms to Hezbollah, and subsidized Hamas, even as the government continues to hurt its own citizens by mismanaging the economy and increasing political and social repression. .......... North Korea responded to the Bush administration's effort to isolate it by accelerating its nuclear program, conducting a nuclear test, and building more nuclear weapons. ........ remove all nuclear material from the world's most vulnerable nuclear sites and effectively secure the remainder ........ Putin has thwarted a carefully crafted UN plan that would have put Kosovo on a belated path to independence, attempted to use energy as a political weapon against Russia's neighbors and beyond, and tested the United States and Europe on a range of nonproliferation and arms reduction issues. Putin has also suppressed many of the freedoms won after the fall of communism, created a new class of oligarchs, and interfered deeply in the internal affairs of former Soviet republics. ......... Putin has used Russia's energy wealth to expand the Russian economy, so that more ordinary Russians are enjoying a rising standard of living. ........ Our relationship with China will be the most important bilateral relationship in the world in this century. ......... on most global issues we have no more trusted allies than those in Europe. ......... the largest developing democracies in the region, Brazil and Mexico, and deepen economic and strategic cooperation with Argentina and Chile. ...... the interconnected threats of drug trafficking, crime, and insurgency ...... the growing ranks of democracies in Africa ........ the blatant political corruption and brutality of Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe ........ We will have to talk about the consequences of our invasion of Iraq for the Iraqi people and others in the region. We will have to talk about Guantánamo and Abu Ghraib. ........... the Education for All Act, which would provide $10 billion over a five-year period to train teachers and build schools in the developing world. ......... climate control represents a powerful economic opportunity that can be a driver of growth, jobs, and competitive advantage ........ Two-thirds of the growth in energy demand over the next 25 years will come from countries with little existing infrastructure. ...... all of Africa can provide carbon credits to the West. ........ Human rights will never truly be realized as long as a majority of the world's population is still treated as second-class citizens. ......... women have been elected heads of state in countries on nearly every continent ....... the continuing spread of trafficking in women, the ongoing use of rape as an instrument of war, the political marginalization of women, and persistent gender gaps in employment and economic opportunity. ........ 1825 .... exulted in the simple fact that America had survived and flourished ...... gloried not in American power but rather in the power of the American idea ......... Two centuries later, our economic power and military might have grown beyond anything that our forefathers could have imagined. ........ the authority not simply of a large and wealthy nation but of the American idea.

Hillary made a major mistake on the Iraq War and she will not admit it. After 10,000 years of men ruling the earth, it might be the woman's turn, but will the woman admit a few mistakes first, learn a few lessons, and open up her mind a little instead of digging deeper into some past grooves?

Hillary in this Foreign Affairs article rehashes many of the established progressive principles but covers little new ground. There has been a G8, so she will create an e8. There was a GI Bill, she will create another.

I admire Hillary. Anyone would be better than Bush in the White House, but Hillary is more than anybody. She is outstanding as a person and has been an excellent Senator.

I am a great fan of the speech she gave in Beijing back in 1994, but I don't feel the same spirit reflected in this article. (Hillary's Beijing Speech) Is that what long years in Washington do to you?

Her $10 billion over five years for education in the poor countries proposal got me. That might be too little too late, but it is a step in the right direction.

The article is a major balancing act.

But one begs the question, could Bush have started the invasion of Iraq if it had not been for that vote in 2002? I would have been more than happy to move on, and let bygones be bygones. But Iraq is not past. The mistake is still being played out on a daily basis. 150,000 innocent Iraqis killed? Two million having left the country and another two million internally displaced? That is almost a quarter of that country. The Iraq War has been an unqualified disaster. And Hillary has been shifting the sand. Before the 2006 election, Hillary's primary stand was that Rumsfeld must resign, as in the decision to go to war was good, but its execution was bad, and so the Defense Secretary must go. Now she is ploughing a different narrative. Now she is saying there was a slight misunderstanding between Bush and herself.

If the Al Qaeda had been in a ground war with the US army, and 3,000 American lives were lost, the feelings that would have been generated would have been different. But instead the Al Qaeda killed 3,000 innocent people on 9/11.

Come to think of it, more than 3,000 American soldiers have lost their lives in Iraq.

The reason Hillary's 2002 vote does not go away is because not only has she not connected the dots between her leadership role on that vote and Bush' decision to invade, she has also changed her narrative a few times.

And now she has gone and repeated the mistake on Iran.

Hillary's Iran Vote, Not That Different From The Iraq Vote

Going into the future, there are two details that caught my attention.

One, this phrase I find so very offensive: "all of Africa can provide carbon credits to the West." The white people can go on polluting, the black people will have to make do with lukewarm economic growth. I believe I speak for African women when I protest.

Another is the line about how the US and Europe are meant for each other. That feels like a white suggestion to me.

The war on terror is the same magnitude as the Cold War, and the only way to conclude it is by ensuring a total spread of democracy in all Arab countries, and India, with its population of over 100 million Muslims, is in a unique position to help. And so India qualifies to become a close ally of America. Europe can not much help. That is where political logic takes you but Hillary is not going there. She is going back to the past.

India's role is not only crucial for the democracy cause in the Arab world, but also ultimately for the same cause in China. China can not be a one party state forever. China is not a different planet.

Don't get me wrong. Hillary is squarely in the progressive camp. She has been one of my progressive inspirations over the years. She chairs the Senate India Caucus. She has a long track record of working for women and children. And it is not for one person, not even the President of the United States, to solve all the world's problems. The reality of problems is more complicated than that.

And some of my criticisms are to some of the systemic malaise that Hillary has been part of by being part of a system that, for the most part, does good.

But I am with Barack, and I intend to draw out the differences. And I intend to criticize Hillary where I feel criticism is due.


Barack: Black Enough For Me

In The News

Obama's Eight Degrees of Dick Cheney Washington Post the very white vice president from Wyoming is in fact the eighth cousin of Obama ........ an early Cheney settler named Richard Cheney, whose granddaughter married Samuel Duvall, whose mother, Mareen Duvall, is distantly related to Obama. ...... Obama, whose mother was white, did not immediately comment on the revelation. But his campaign made light of the tie, without confirming it. "Obviously, Dick Cheney is the black sheep of the family," Obama spokesman Bill Burton said.

Obama Hopes to "Close the Gap" Washington Post Can bad fundraising news be potentially good? Sen. Barack Obama seems to hope so. ....... "We continue to build the largest grassroots movement in history, but Washington lobbyists and special interests rallied to help Hillary Clinton out-raise us for the first time" ......... Obama described Clinton as the "chosen" candidate of establishment lobbyists, saying he is campaigning "in the face of the most entrenched political machine in Democratic politics."
Giuliani Criticizes Obama The Associated Press Giuliani on Tuesday ridiculed Democratic rival Barack Obama for saying he would meet, without precondition, with leaders of renegade nations. ....... The Obama campaign answered back, arguing that Giuliani may not want to engage in diplomacy with outlaw leaders but he's been willing to take their money. ...... links between Giuliani's law firm and Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez. ...... given the hefty fee that Hugo Chavez's oil company paid Rudy Giuliani's firm, he apparently thinks we shouldn't talk to Chavez, but it's fine to take his money

Does Obama's Message Match the Moment? Washington Post promising a new era of consensus instead of partisan divide. ....... Obama says he wants to "turn the page" past the country's red-blue polarization. ..... the war in Iraq is not about a catalogue of many mistakes -- it is about one big mistake. The war in Iraq should never have been fought ......... those moments on the trail when he allows himself to take clear shots at Bush -- on issues such as torture, military contractors and education funding -- tend to win him his loudest cheers. ....... "If we could gain a 60 percent majority on any of these issues, we could actually get something done. My goal . . . is finding that 60 percent majority."