Europe is not Asia and TTIP is not looking like it can be like TPP: Daily Bullshit, May 9, 2016 (updated)

benfell

Updated for a surprisingly frank assessment of Henry Kissinger’s record in Vox and the depths to which the Clinton campaign is stooping.

TTIP

Matt Payton, “TTIP trade deal under threat after Germany claims US not making ‘any serious concessions,'” Independent, May 8, 2016, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ttip-trade-deal-under-threat-due-after-germany-claims-us-not-making-any-serious-concessions-a7019291.html

Henry Kissinger

One of the things I ask for from a political system is the opportunity not to be governed by war criminals. It seems like the least it could do. But, it should be noted, the Kissingers and Clintons are very good friends[1] and Hillary Clinton has relied heavily on Henry Kissinger’s advice in foreign policy.[2]

Zack Beauchamp, “The Obama administration is honoring Henry Kissinger today. It shouldn’t be,” Vox, May 9, 2016, http://www.vox.com/2016/5/9/11640562/kissinger-pentagon-award

Hillary Clinton

Although he’s far from alone,[3] Stephen Zunes has been among the harsher and better-informed critics of Hillary Clinton’s foreign policy record[4] I’ve seen. In this vein, Zunes posted on Facebook yesterday:

Hillary Clinton has condemned Donald Trump for accepting the support of bigots and has made clear that she does not. However, since she has claimed that those of us who condemn Israeli war crimes and support boycotting and divesting from companies supporting the Israeli occupation are anti-Semitic, then she apparently does not want my vote. As long as she refuses to retract such accusations, I will not vote for her, and I encourage others who take similar positions to do the same.[5]

And today,

I’ve been called a lot of names for opposing the Iraq War and for opposing candidates who supported it: a “traitor,” “supporter of terrorists,” “pro-Saddam,” “Muslim sympathizer,” etc. The current accusation is “sexist” because I believe that Hillary Clinton, like others who supported the illegal and unnecessary invasion and occupation, has demonstrated such contempt for international law and recklessness in foreign policy that she should not become president. I guess those who back wars for oil and empire and/or candidates who support them, being unable to argue on the merits, have no choice but to falsify and disparage the motivations of those who disagree.[6]

He has apparently managed to attract the wrong sort of attention, as a super-PAC has coincidentally joined forces with the Clinton campaign (using a loophole that apparently enables such liaisons) to troll Clinton’s critics.[7] Of course, he won’t be able to prove any connection even if to do so would in any way be profitable.

Evan Halper, “Be nice to Hillary Clinton online — or risk a confrontation with her super PAC,” Los Angeles Times, May 9, 2016, http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-clinton-digital-trolling-20160506-snap-htmlstory.html

Footnotes

  1. [1]David Corn, “Hillary Clinton and Henry Kissinger: It’s Personal. Very Personal,” Mother Jones, February 12, 2016, http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/02/hillary-clinton-kissinger-vacation-dominican-republic-de-la-renta↩
  2. [2]Greg Grandin, “Henry Kissinger, Hillary Clinton’s Tutor in War and Peace,” Nation, February 5, 2016, http://www.thenation.com/article/henry-kissinger-hillary-clintons-tutor-in-war-and-peace/↩
  3. [3]Medea Benjamin, “Hillary Clinton Hasn’t Learned a Thing From the Iraq Experience,” Truthdig, October 29, 2015, http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/hillary_clinton_hasnt_learned_a_thing_from_iraq_20151029; Marjorie Cohn, “Want Endless War? Love the U.S. Empire? Well, Hillary Clinton’s Your Choice,” Truthdig, February 1, 2016, http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/want_endless_war_love_the_us_empire_hillary_clintons_your_choice_20160201; Daniel Larison, “Clinton’s Reliably Bad Foreign Policy,” American Conservative, April 12, 2016, http://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/clintons-reliably-bad-foreign-policy/; Jackson Lears, “We came, we saw, he died,” review of Hard Choices, by Hillary Clinton, and HRC: State Secrets and the Rebirth of Hillary Clinton, by Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes, London Review of Books 37, no. 3 (February 5, 2015), pp. 8-11, http://www.lrb.co.uk/v37/n03/jackson-lears/we-came-we-saw-he-died; Lauren McCauley, “Critics Aghast at ‘Disgusting Speech’ Clinton Just Gave to AIPAC,” Common Dreams, March 21, 2016, http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/03/21/critics-aghast-disgusting-speech-clinton-just-gave-aipac; Robert Scheer, “Go Ahead, Back Hillary Clinton and Forget All About Her Record,” Truthdig, October 9, 2015, http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/go_ahead_back_hillary_clinton_and_forget_all_about_her_record_20151009↩
  4. [4]Stephen Zunes, “Hillary the Hawk,” Cairo Review of Global Affairs, Winter, 2016, http://www.thecairoreview.com/essays/hillary-the-hawk/; Stephen Zunes, “The Five Lamest Excuses for Hillary Clinton’s Vote to Invade Iraq,” Foreign Policy In Focus, January 26, 2016, http://fpif.org/five-lamest-excuses-hillary-clintons-vote-invade-iraq/↩
  5. [5]Stephen Zunes, [Facebook post], May 8, 2016, https://www.facebook.com/stephen.zunes/posts/1293866237308710↩
  6. [6]Stephen Zunes, [Facebook post], May 9, 2016, https://www.facebook.com/stephen.zunes/posts/1294754737219860↩
  7. [7]Evan Halper, “Be nice to Hillary Clinton online — or risk a confrontation with her super PAC,” Los Angeles Times, May 9, 2016, http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-clinton-digital-trolling-20160506-snap-htmlstory.html↩

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