Many progressives have expressed (and kept on expressing) their shock at how Trump could have won. To them, Trump represents all that is wrong with our world. In their eyes he's a racist, xenophobic, sexist homophobe who brings out the worst in people. But the world is not as black and white as it is often presented. It takes a sincere desire to uncover the truth, and that includes taking a look at our long-held beliefs, which takes time and requires a sincere effort to understand the world. It requires seriously considering the possibility that we're wrong, that we don't have the entire picture, and that perhaps our strongly held opinions are not as justified as we think. That's hard.
The ways in which Hillary Clinton would have been much more destructive than Trump are legion. She's been involved in more scandals during her public life than (almost) any other US politician (and that says a lot!). There was Whitewater, Travelgate, Filegate, Chinagate, Vince Foster's mysterious death, her assistant Huma Abedin's family ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, and Benghazi. Then there were the emails that led to dozens more scandals involving the sending of classified material over unsecured servers, DNC voter fraud, getting presidential debate questions from CNN, Clinton Foundation donors getting special access to the State Department, and the millions upon millions donated from terrorist-sponsors like Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Oh, and in case you were lucky enough to forget, there was that super creepy 'spirit-cooking' thing involving the Podestas. The list goes on and on, but even these signs of deep corruption don't describe the worst of Hillary Clinton.
The Phantom Red Menace
In her role as Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton destroyed foreign relationships as well as entire countries. She was instrumental in developing a new and aggressive policy towards Asia and a particularly hostile stance towards China. In 2011 Clinton penned a piece in Foreign Policy magazine that laid out the United States' "Asian Pivot", or America's Pacific Century, as she called it at the time. In essence, it was a policy that sought to 'contain' the steadily growing influence of China. It was full of hubris, condescension, and typical Western egotism, and created an unnecessary and reckless decline in US-China relations. It was this very framework that led to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, from which Clinton later tried to distance herself.
Hillary Clinton’s Reset Button. The Russian word “perezagruzka,” written offensively in Roman alphabet, instead of Cyrillic, was intended to mean “reset” but actually meant “overload.” Turned out to be truer than intended.
Russia slams Clinton over election criticism
Clinton, who had previously chastised Russia's State Duma elections, stepped up the rhetoric while speaking at an Organization for Security and Cooperation (OSCE) ministerial meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania Tuesday.The interference wasn't mere vocal support of a weak Russian opposition. State Department NGOs were integral in the attempts to portray Russian elections as 'neither free nor fair'.
"When authorities fail to prosecute those who attack people for exercising their rights or exposing abuses, they subvert justice and undermine the people's confidence in their governments," she noted.
"As we have seen in many places, and most recently in the Duma elections in Russia, elections that are neither free nor fair have the same effect," Reuters quoted her as saying.
However, Asia Times correspondent Pepe Escobar told RT Clinton's remarks shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone.
"This is standard procedure for the State Department, interfering in other people's elections, sometimes directly, like in the Arab Spring; sometimes indirectly, as is the case of Russia."
BOMBSHELL: US Caught Meddling in Russian Elections!
Most recently, as Russia's elections approach, AFP has claimed that NGOs such as US NED-funded Golos and New Times' slon.ru, which regularly features columns by the now jailed and above mentioned Khodorkovsky, were attacked in order to prevent the exposure of "mass election fraud." Why opposition groups and foreign-funded NGOs who have a direct vested interest in preventing Putin's United Russia Party from obtaining a clean victory at the polls, should be trusted to reveal "mass election fraud" in the first place, is never quite explained by AFP.It doesn't take a genius to figure out where Hillary and her failed presidential campaign came up with the bogus claim that Russia was interfering in US elections. She herself tried to interfere in Russian elections! Her team's feverish anti-Russian sentiment and their unfettered access to US media pushed messages of inherent paranoia and incredulity over the edge. Hillary's scandals became so colossal that they broke the dam of Washington secrecy and exposed the man behind the curtain in the process. The great and evil Russian boogeyman was deflated and lost its power. Had Clinton won, Americans could have expected even greater tensions with, and saber-rattling against, Russia. Given the already highly-charged atmosphere, a Hillary presidency would have likely spelled catastrophe for the world.
NED's official website lists an astounding number of meddlesome NGOs conducting activities across the Russian Federation that no American in their right mind would allow on US soil. Golos is just one of many NGOs funded by the United States government, overseen by the US Embassy in Russia, and used to meddle in the sovereign internal affairs of their nation.
AFP reported, "Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, whose United Russia party has won Sunday's polls but with a reduced majority, has denounced non-governmental organisations like Golos, comparing them to the disciple Judas who betrayed Jesus." And indeed, Golos is certifiably betraying the Russian people by taking foreign money and pursing a foreign agenda, masquerading as "pro-democracy" crusaders.
Golos' activities, mirroring those in the US-engineered Arab Spring, include an online "Map of Violations" site detailing "claims" of fraud across Russia, in an attempt to undermine the legitimacy of upcoming elections Putin and is party are predicted to easily win. Golos' Liliya Shibanova described their "Map of Violations" project as being a place where people could upload any information or evidence of election violations. This, being far from actual evidence, again mirrors the same tactics of manipulating public opinion in the midst of uprisings around the world, fueled by identical foreign-funded organizations where baseless claims of abuse, violence, and "human rights" violations made up the entirety of accusations then used by Western governments to diplomatically and militarily (in the case of Libya and now Syria) pressure targeted nations.
That said, her positions toward China and Russia as Secretary of State are just the tip of the iceberg.
A Review of US Empire
Mainstream sources and most 'independent' media sites rarely cover international issues in any depth. Even popular US alternative media sites like the Young Turks, Raw Story, Alternet, the DailyKos and others focus primarily on domestic affairs. When they do go into these issues it is limited and usually involves directed and distorted "concern" about human rights issues. Discussion is one-sided and lacking in substance. News-styled rants are more popular than investigative analysis. Unsettling taglines and catchphrases are often enough to imprint superficial narratives on an uninformed population. Despite living in the most powerful nation on earth - which derives much of that power from foreign 'adventures' - the American people's awareness of geopolitics is either severely distorted or severely lacking. An unfortunate state of affairs indeed.
Americans, like other Westerners, identify their country as a nation-state. Yet this is an inaccurate description because of the US' position as global hegemon. Moreover, this 'exceptional' position hasn't been one of partnership but of authoritarian rule through the use of the terrorism, threats, espionage, and economic, military and covert warfare.
Ngo Dinh Diem with Eisenhower and Foster Dulles at the Washington Airport; he was installed as the President of Vietnam with support from the CIA and later assassinated in 1963 with the support of the CIA
The establishment of the global empire developed largely through the newly formed CIA and its tactics, including illegal coups to overthrow foreign governments. The system that developed has been used dozens of times in dozens of countries. This is all to say that the US government isn't just a domestic system and its issues cannot be viewed through a domestic lens alone. It is also an international power that extends its far-reaching influence through destabilization of other nation states. Americans have been conditioned to ignore the larger issues of the world and their governments' role in it. When Americans look to their leadership, it would behoove Americans to consider the implications of the foreign policies that have created so much turmoil in the world, because it directly affects them.
The US as a global leader has inflicted immense suffering upon billions of people throughout the world. Resources have been stolen and societies destroyed through endless war. The US has installed dictators, created slave states through economic warfare, and used terrorism to further its cause. This injustice is made worse because citizens of the United States have been conditioned not to pay attention to these things.
In case anyone is inclined to think that it's 'not so bad', here is William Blum's list on US involvement in coups since WWII:
Instances of the United States overthrowing, or attempting to overthrow, a foreign government since the Second World War. (* indicates successful ouster of a government)This is far from a complete list. You can delve into any one of these coups and learn a lot from it. I'd highly suggest doing so. Many countries on the list were, at the time, led by remarkable leaders who were forging independent societies that not only aimed to improve the lot of the people, but were actually succeeding.
China 1949 to early 1960s
Albania 1949-53
East Germany 1950s
Iran 1953 *
Guatemala 1954 *
Costa Rica mid-1950s
Syria 1956-7
Egypt 1957
Indonesia 1957-8
British Guiana 1953-64 *
Iraq 1963 *
North Vietnam 1945-73
Cambodia 1955-70 *
Laos 1958 *, 1959 *, 1960 *
Ecuador 1960-63 *
Congo 1960 *
France 1965
Brazil 1962-64 *
Dominican Republic 1963 *
Cuba 1959 to present
Bolivia 1964 *
Indonesia 1965 *
Ghana 1966 *
Chile 1964-73 *
Greece 1967 *
Costa Rica 1970-71
Bolivia 1971 *
Australia 1973-75 *
Angola 1975, 1980s
Zaire 1975
Portugal 1974-76 *
Jamaica 1976-80 *
Seychelles 1979-81
Chad 1981-82 *
Grenada 1983 *
South Yemen 1982-84
Suriname 1982-84
Fiji 1987 *
Libya 1980s
Nicaragua 1981-90 *
Panama 1989 *
Bulgaria 1990 *
Albania 1991 *
Iraq 1991
Afghanistan 1980s *
Somalia 1993
Yugoslavia 1999-2000 *
Ecuador 2000 *
Afghanistan 2001 *
Venezuela 2002 *
Iraq 2003 *
Haiti 2004 *
Somalia 2007 to present
Honduras 2009
Libya 2011 *
Syria 2012
Ukraine 2014 *
The 1953 coup against Iran lays out the initial template used for installing friendly regimes. It also marks the distinct transfer of power from the UK to the US. Britain and their control over Iran's oil resources with the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (which would later become British Petroleum) became a sign of how the old ways of imperial power and exploitation were collapsing. An emerging Iranian leader was found in Mohammad Mosaddegh, who could rightly be described as the JFK of Iran. His desire to serve the Iranian people matched a strong will that fought for sovereignty and dignity. He fought corruption and pulled Iranian leadership out of a position of learned helplessness. After Mosaddegh kicked out all British officials and the British embassy, the UK turned to the US for help. The US then spent millions of dollars in planting false stories in the Iranian media, staging protests and buying corrupt government officials. Mosaddegh trusted and respected the US. That was his undoing. Read Stephen Kinzer's book, All the Shah's Men for the full story.
Another benchmark in the expansion of US empire was the Western attack on Yugoslavia. The Weight of Chains documentary describes the societal advances being made within Yugoslavia and the severe destruction wrought from the NATO campaign, which was sold to the public by the mainstream media and politicians like current Vice President Joe Biden. The breakup of Yugoslavia was a transition point, as it marked the first official use of NATO for the wholesale dismemberment of a large nation state in the interest of the expansion of the US empire.
Hillary's Wasteland
The period when Clinton was Secretary of State (2009-2013) involved critical events that led to the current disasters playing out on the world scene. The Arab Spring and the destruction of Libya paved the way for 'terrorism on steroids'. Clinton's connections with Saudi Arabia and her use of Turkey as a terrorist transport hub are important factors relating to the growth of ISIS as well.
Wayne Madsen describes a list of the countries affected by State Department policies from when she was in office, and a number of them relate to the above issues:
The Complete A To Z Of Nations Destroyed By Hillary Clinton's "Hubris"
The following is a before and after recap, country by country, of the destabilizing effects of Clinton's policies as Secretary of State:The above list includes particular areas of focus for destabilization, in which Latin America and the Middle East figured prominently. It's also important to note that this isn't about labeling Hillary Clinton as the United States' singular war-machine master-mind. It is more about the powers she is aligned with and enthusiastically serves.
Abkhazia
Before Hillary: In 2009, more and more nations began recognizing the independence of this nation that broke away from Georgia and successfully repelled a U.S.-supported Georgian invasion in 2008.
After Hillary: Clinton pressured Vanuatu and Tuvalu to break off diplomatic relations with Abkhazia in 2011. The State Department pressured the governments of India, Germany, and Spain to refuse to recognize the validity of Abkhazian passports and, in violation of the US-UN Treaty, refused to permit Abkhazian diplomats to visit UN headquarters in New York. The Clinton State Department also threatened San Marino, Belarus, Ecuador, Bolivia, Cuba, Somalia, Uzbekistan, and Peru with recriminations if they recognized Abkhazia. Georgia was connected to Clinton through the representation of Georgia in Washington by the Podesta Group, headed by Tony Podesta, the brother of Mrs. Clinton's close friend and current campaign chairman John Podesta.
Argentina
Before Hillary: Under President Nestor Kirchner and his wife Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, Argentina's economy improved and the working class and students prospered.
After Hillary: After former president Nestor Kirchner's sudden death in 2010, the U.S. embassy in Buenos Aires became a nexus for anti-Kirchner activities, including the fomenting of political and labor protests against the government. Meanwhile, Clinton pressed Argentina hard on its debt obligations to the IMF, also crippling the economy.
Bolivia
Before Hillary: Bolivia's progressive president Evo Morales, the country's first indigenous Aymara leader, provided government support to the country's coca farmers and miners. Morales also committed his government to environmental protection. He kept his country out of the Free Trade Area of the Americas and helped start the Peoples' Trade Agreement with Venezuela and Cuba.
After Hillary: Clinton permitted the U.S. embassy in La Paz to stir up separatist revolts in four mostly European-descent Bolivian provinces, as well as foment labor strikes among miners and other workers in the same model used in Venezuela.
Brazil
Before Hillary: Brazil's progressive presidents, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff, ushered in a new era for the country, with workers' and students' rights at the forefront and environmental protection and economic development for the poor major priorities.
After Hillary: Clinton's authorization of massive electronic spying from the US embassy in Brasilia and consulate general in Rio de Janeiro resulted in a "constitutional coup" against Rousseff and the Workers' Party government, ushering in a right-wing, CIA-supported corrupt government.
Central African Republic
Before Hillary: Under President Francois Bozize, the CAR remained relatively calm under a peace agreement hammered out under the auspices of Muammar Qaddafi's Libya.
After Hillary: In 2012, Islamist terrorists of the Seleka movement and supported by Saudi Arabia conducted an uprising, massacring Christians and riving Bozize's government from power. The CAR became a failed state under Clinton's State Department.
Ecuador
Before Hillary: Ecuador began sharing its oil wealth with the people and the economy and the plight of the nation's poor improved.
After Hillary: Clinton authorized a 2010 National Police coup against President Rafael Correa. The economy soon plunged as labor disputes wracked the mining and oil sectors.
Egypt
Before Hillary: Under Hosni Mubarak, Egypt was a stable secular nation that suppressed jihadist politics in the mosques. The jihadist-oriented Muslim Brotherhood was kept at bay.
After Hillary: After Clinton's 2011 "Arab Spring" and the toppling of Mubarak, Egypt saw Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood elected president. Immediately, the secular country began a process of Islamization with Christian Copts experiencing repression and violence, including massacres. Morsi's rule resulted in a military coup, thus ending Egypt's previous moves toward democracy.
Germany
Before Hillary: The nation was a peaceful country where German culture, as well as religious freedom and women's rights were guaranteed.
After Hillary: Clinton's "Arab Spring" eventually resulted in a flood of mainly Muslim refugees being welcomed into Germany from the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia. Today, Germany is wracked by Muslim refugee street crime, unsanitary and harmful public health habits of migrants, sexual assaults by migrant men of women and children, increased acts of terrorism, and a diminution of German culture and religious practices.
Greece
Before Hillary: Greece was a nation that saw government safety net social services extended to all in need. It also remained a top tourist destination for northern Europeans.
After Hillary: The 2010 debt crisis emaciated the Greek economy and Clinton remained adamant that Greece comply with draconian economic measures dictated by Germany, the European Union, and the IMF/World Bank. Making matters worse, Clinton's "Arab Spring" eventually resulted in a flood of mainly Muslim refugees being welcomed into first, the Greek isles, and then mainland Greece, from the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia. Today, Greece, especially the islands of Lesbos, Chios, Samos, Symi, Rhodes, Leros, and Kos, are wracked by Muslim refugee crime, unsanitary public health habits of migrants, sexual assaults by migrant men of women and children, acts of arson and vandalism, and a diminution of Greek culture and religious practices.
Guatemala
Before Hillary: Under President Alvaro Colom, the nation's first populist progressive president, the poor received access to health, education, and social security.
After Hillary: Clinton authorized the U.S. embassy in Guatemala to work against the 2011 election of president Colom's wife, Sandra Torres. Colom was succeeded by a right-wing corrupt president who resigned for corruption and then was arrested.
Haiti
Before Hillary: Haiti was prepared in 2011 to re-elect Jean-Bertrand Aristide, forced out of office and into exile in a 2004 CIA coup. The prospects of Artistide's return to power was a blessing for the slum dwellers of Haiti.
After Hillary: Clinton refused to allow Aristide to return to Haiti from exile in South Africa until it was too late for him to run in the 2011 election. Under a series of U.S.-installed presidents, all approved by Bill and Hillary Clinton, Haiti is a virtual cash cow for the Clintons. The Clinton Foundation diverted for its own use, international aid to Haiti, and the Clintons ensured that their wealthy friends in the hotel, textile, and construction businesses landed lucrative contracts for Haitian projects, none of which have benefited the Haitian poor and many of which resulted in sweat shops and extremely low wage labor practices.
Honduras
Before Hillary: Emergent multi-party democracy with a populist progressive president, Manuel Zelaya. Children received free education, poor children received free school meals, interest rates were reduced, and the poorest families were given free electricity.
After Hillary: Clinton authorized a military coup d'etat against Zelaya in 2009. Clinton family "fix-it" man Lanny Davis became a public relations flack for the military dictatorship. A fascist dictatorship involved in extrajudicial death squad killings of journalists, politicians, and indigenous leaders followed the "constitutional coup" against Zelaya. During 2012, Clinton ordered U.S. embassy in Tegucigalpa to work against the 2013 election of Xiomara Castro de Zelaya as president.
Iraq
Before Hillary: Under Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Iraq experienced small moves toward an accommodation with the Kurds of the north and Sunnis. Iran acted as a moderating political force in the country that deterred any attempts by Saudi-supported jihadis to disrupt the central government in Baghdad.
After Hillary: Clinton's Arab Spring resulted in the rise of the Sunni/Wahhabist Islamic State in northern and western Iraq and Iraq's plunge into failed state status. Shi'as, Kurds, Yazidis, Assyrian Christians, and moderate Sunnis were massacred by the jihadis in northern, western, and central Iraq. The Iraqi cities of Mosul, Kirkuk, and Nineveh fell to ISIL forces with non-Muslims being raped, tortured, and executed and priceless antiquities being destroyed by the marauding jihadists.
Kosovo
Before Hillary: Kosovo, which became independent in 2008, initially granted its Serbian minority in northern Kosovo and Metohija some degree of self-government.
After Hillary: In 2009, Kosovo increasingly became a state ruled by criminal syndicates and terrorists of the former Kosovo Liberation Army. The rights of Serbs were increasingly marginalized and Kosovo became a prime recruiting ground for jihadist guerrillas in Arab countries subjected to Clinton's "Arab Spring" operations, including Libya and Syria.
Clinton pressured states receiving U.S. aid and other U.S. allies to recognize Kosovo's independence. These included Pakistan, Palau, Maldives, St. Kitts-Nevis, Dominica, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Burundi, East Timor, Haiti, Chad, Gambia, Brunei, Ghana, Kuwait, Ivory Coast, Gabon, St. Lucia, Benin, Niger, Guinea, Central African Republic, Andorra, Oman, Guinea-Bissau, Qatar, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Honduras, Somalia, Djibouti, Vanuatu, Swaziland, Mauritania, Malawi, New Zealand, Dominican Republic, Jordan, Bahrain, and Comoros. In the Kosovo capital of Pristina, there is a 10-foot-high statue of Bill Clinton standing over Bill Clinton Boulevard. Not far away is a women's clothing store called "Hillary."
Libya
Before Hillary: Under Muammar Qaddafi, post-sanction Libya saw a boom in urban construction and a new major international airport to serve as a hub for Africa. Plans announced for an African dinar, supported by Libyan gold holdings, to serve the needs of Africa. All Libyans received free education and medical care. There was a program for revenue sharing of Libya's oil wealth with the Libyan people.
After Hillary: Clinton's 2011 regime change operations against Qaddafi, which saw the Libyan leader sodomized, beaten, and shot in the head by U.S.-supervised jihadist rebels, resulted in Clinton laughing about the incident in the infamous, "We came, we saw, he died" comment. Libya became a failed state where Islamic jihadist terrorists vied for control of the country and Qaddafi's arm caches were given or sold to jihadist terrorists in Syria, Iraq, Egypt, the pan-Sahel region, and sub-Saharan Africa. After Qaddafi's ouster, black African guest workers and their families were massacred by jihadist forces.
Malaysia
Before Hillary: Malaysia, before 2009, was a religiously tolerant nation where Buddhists, Christians, and Hindus enjoyed freedom of religion.
After Hillary: In 2009, Najib Razak became prime minister and he began accepting bribes from Saudi Arabia that totaled some $2.6 billion with additional Malaysian public money in Razak's personal bank accounts plus the Saudi cash totaling some $3.5 billion. Razak began allowing Saudi-influenced clerics to push for sharia law throughout Malaysia and Christians in Sarawak, Sabah, and Penang began experiencing Wahhabist repression. Clinton was silent about Malaysian persecution of non-Muslims. The reason may have been a reported several hundred million donation from Razak's slush fund into the Clinton Foundation's coffers.
Palestine
Before Hillary: In 2012, Palestine was granted non-member observer status in the United nations. The 2009 Goldstone Report of the UN found that Israel violated international humanitarian law in its war against Gaza in 2009. Palestine was gaining more support and sympathy internationally and was successfully putting to rest Israeli propaganda disinformation.
After Hillary: Hillary Clinton rejected the Goldstone Report as "one-sided." Clinton's unbridled support for expanding Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem and its silence on the dehumanizing Israeli blockade of Gaza, emboldened Israel's theocratic right-wing government to further encroach on Palestinian territories and cementing into place an apartheid-like series of Palestinian "Bantustans" in the West Bank and an open-air ghetto in Gaza.
Paraguay
Before Hillary: The country under Fernando Lugo began lifting out of poverty the nation's rural campesinos and urban workers. Paraguay also began a steady move toward democratization after years of military dictatorships.
After Hillary: Clinton's 2012 "constitutional coup" against Fernando Lugo brought back into power the military-industrial oligarchy with the nation's campesinos being forced back into poverty and repressive rule.
South Sudan
Before Hillary: Prior to independence in 2011, South Sudan, while rife with intra-tribal feuding, was relatively calm.
After Hillary: After being rushed into independence from Sudan in 2011, South Sudan, a special project of Clinton, George Soros, and actor George Clooney, descended into civil war and chaos. It beat all records in being transformed from a newly-independent state into a failed state.
Syria
Before Hillary: Syria was a multi-cultural and multi-religious secular state championing the concept of pan-Arab socialism and progressive policies advanced by Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser. Syria was not a safe place for jihadism.
After Hillary: After Clinton's 2011 green light for the "Arab Spring," Syria became a failed state where the Islamic State gained a firm foothold. Minority Alawites, Christians, Druze, and Kurds were massacred by jihadist groups aided and abetted by NGOs and other interests backed by Clinton.
Thailand
Before Hillary: Thailand's Red Shirt movement was a powerful force that demanded a return to democracy in Thailand and the restoration of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted in a 2006 military coup, to power.
After Hillary: A Red Shirt protest in 2010 resulted in a bloody crackdown by the Thai military. Clinton remained silent about the Thai army's killing of protesters and the mass arrests of Red Shirt leaders. U.S. military assistance to the Thai government was continued by Clinton. When Thaskin's sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, became prime minister in 2011, Clinton began working to undermine her and her government in a manner not unlike Clinton's subterfuge against Rousseff in Brazil and Cristina Kirchner in Argentina. When it comes to women leaders, Clinton only tolerates conservatives who kow-tow to the United States. The pressure against Yingluck eventually resulted in her ouster in 2014 and her being criminally charged in the same manner that saw Rousseff charged in Brazil.
Tunisia
Before Hillary: Tunisia was one of the most secular nations in the Arab and Islamic world. A top destination for European tourists, the country was more European in its outlook than North African.
After Hillary: After Clinton's 2011 "Jasmine Revolution," a textbook themed revolution crafted by Clinton's friend George Soros, Tunisia descended into Islamist rule and violence. Today, Tunisia is the top country for recruits to the Islamic State.
Turkey
Before Hillary: Turkey was moving steadily closer to European standards on human rights and democracy. Even under the Islamist-oriented Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the country remained committed to pluralism.
After Hillary: Clinton authorized the shipment of Libyan weapons captured from Qaddafi's arms caches to Turkish middlemen in the employment of Erdogan's government for transfer to the jihadist rebels in Syria. A complication in this arrangement resulted in the September 11, 2012 jihadist attack on the CIA warehouse facility in Benghazi, which killed U.S. envoy Chris Stevens and other State Department personnel. Turkey's dalliance with jihadist rebels in Syria was mirrored by increasing Islamization of Turkey. The events of 2011 and 2012 resulted in Turkey today being ruled by an Islamist strongman, Erdogan, with open political opposition being stamped out.
Ukraine
Before Hillary: Ukraine was a stable and neutral country that neither aligned itself with the West and NATO nor with Russia under the presidency of Viktor Yanukovych, elected in 2009 and inaugurated in 2010.
After Hillary: Clinton tried everything possible to ensure the 2009 defeat of Viktor Yanukovych. The State Department and its friends in the George Soros camp provided assistance to Clinton's favorite candidate Yulia Tymoshenko to defeat Yanokovych. It was this early interference in the 2009 election that ultimately led to the "Euromaidan" themed revolution in 2014 against the government, resulting in civil war, the retrocession of Crimea back to Russia, and secessionist states in eastern Ukraine. Clinton's policies directly led to a failed state in Europe.
Venezuela
Before Hillary: Under Hugo Chavez, the country provided basic social services to its poorest of citizens. Venezuela also provided discounted gasoline to several Caribbean and Central American countries through the PetroCaribe consortium.
After Hillary: After Clinton allowed the U.S. embassy in Caracas to foment anti-Chavez labor and political protests, the country began to falter economically. After Chavez's 2012 diagnosis of terminal cancer, the State Department stepped up pressure on Venezuela, crippling the nation's economy and political system.
Western Sahara
Before Hillary: Recognized by the African Union and several nations around the world as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), Western Sahara saw some hope for an evacuation of illegal Moroccan occupation troops from its territory.
After Hillary: In 2010, Moroccan troops began entering Sahrawi refugee camps and attacking residents, even in UN-protected exclusion zones, where Moroccan troops were prohibited from entering. Clinton ensured that UN talks and a proposed popular referendum on the future of Western Sahara were stalled. Clinton pressured a number of states to withdraw their recognition of the SADR, including St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Paraguay, Haiti, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Malawi, Kenya, Mauritius, Zambia, Panama, and Burundi. The Clinton Foundation received a 2011 donation of $1 million from a Moroccan phosphate company owned by the Moroccan government and which has mining operations in Western Sahara.
Yemen
Before Hillary: Yemen was a largely secular state that was transforming into a federation where the rights of South Yemen and the Zaidi Houthis of north Yemen were being recognized.
After Hillary: Clinton's "Arab Spring" of 2011 and the fall of Abdullah Saleh from power saw Yemen become a failed state. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and the Islamic State gained control over several areas of North and South Yemen. The fall of Saleh permitted Saudi Arabia to conduct a genocidal war in the country with Mrs. Clinton's full support.
Under her watch, the State Department was hatching destructive plans for Syria along with Libya and the Arab Spring. William Engdahl describes the campaign:
Hillary Emails, Gold Dinars and Arab Springs
Secretary of State Clinton was also knee-deep in the conspiracy to unleash what came to be dubbed the "Arab Spring," the wave of US-financed regime changes across the Arab Middle East, part of the Greater Middle East project unveiled in 2003 by the Bush Administration after occupation of Iraq. The first three target countries of that 2011 US "Arab Spring" - an action in which Washington used its "human rights" NGOs such as Freedom House and National Endowment for Democracy, in cahoots as usual, with the Open Society Foundations of billionaire speculator, George Soros, along with US State Department and CIA operatives - were Ben Ali's Tunisia, Mubarak's Egypt and Qaddafi's Libya.
Libya - Before and After NATO aggression
The attack on and destruction of Libya served as the foundation for much of the turmoil in Syria and Iraq that we're seeing today. There's quite a lot of information to dig into on this topic, but it is at least worthwhile to understand what happened in Libya.
Here's an article from a US couple, James and JoAnne Moriarty, who lived in Libya just prior to the NATO campaign and barely got out alive. It's a jaw dropping testimonial in many ways: The truth about Gaddafi's Libya, NATO's bombing, and the Benghazi 'consulate' attack. Here's an except, but it's worth reading the whole thing:
I would like to note that the Libyan people were not in any way extremist Muslims. The part of the Koran that was added by the Ayatollah Khomeini talking about killing infidels was thrown out of Libya by Ghadafi because he said it was not part of the Koran. For this there was a fatwa or death order put on Ghadafi for over 20 years by the radical extremist Muslims. All religions with a book were allowed in Libya. Women were emancipated in the 1970s by Ghadafi. No special clothing were required and all women were highly educated if they choose to be. They were doctors, lawyers, ministers, business owners, or just house wives whatever they decided.SOTT.net also conducted an interview with the Moriartys, which may very well be one of the most important shows we've done. If you only check out one of the resources in this article, let it be this one. It unpacks and powerfully dismantles Western government and media lies about Libya and Gaddafi.
Libya shared ½ of all the its oil revenue with its 5.5 million population. All medical care was free, if you could not get the care you needed in Libya then you could travel wherever you needed with a family member and all costs and expenses were fully paid. Education was free and if you wanted to go outside to another University that was paid in full with a stipend. When a Libyan couple got married they received a $46,000 gift from the government to start their lives. Their first home, a 2,500 sq foot condominium cost 10% of their salary for 20 years and then it was theirs. Gasoline was 44 cents a gallon, all utilities were free. If you were hungry and had no money they had huge stores of food where you could get rice, milk, cheese, flour and money to buy meat. The average salary in Libya was the highest in Africa, higher than China or India at $15,800 a year. If you had a college education and could not find a job you received that money until you found a job.
The Libyan people were happy, there was no tax, only businesses had some tax but it was minimal. The government shared the wealth of Libya with its people, there was no taxing of the people to support the state. There was no reason for a revolution, there were some disgruntled radical Islamists who had tried to enforce Sharia law and radical Islam upon Libya to no avail because they only made up about 3 to 5%. These are the people NATO and the US joined hands with to take over Libya. In April of 2011 we were invited to travel to Tripoli on an NGO Fact Finding Commission. We agreed and in May of 2011 we traveled to Tripoli, Libya to take part in this Fact Finding Commission. We spent a whole lot of time with the Tribes of Libya learning about the truths of Libya and their government. We also were witness to huge war crimes committed by NATO upon the innocent people of Libya.
Behind the Headlines: NATO Slaughter - James and Joanne Moriarty expose the truth about what happened in Libya
Transformation of the American Left
The drastic increase in US foreign 'intervention' since 9/11 that was initially led by neoconservatives, was pursued with even more vigor during the Obama administration. While Bush bombed Iraq and Afghanistan, Obama continued bombing those countries and threw in Yemen, Pakistan, Somalia, Libya, and Syria. Apparently, the people behind 'Bush's wars' are driving the very same foreign policy within the Obama administration. These are also the same people who supported Hillary Clinton's 'leftist' Presidential campaign, even though they were prominent 'neoconservatives'. Current-day 'progressives' are in fact the unwitting supporters of the neoconservative movement, which is rather appropriate given that the 'left' in the USA has adopted the traditional tendency of the 'right' to whitewash imperial aggression committed by any administration.
Robby Martin's documentary A Very Heavy Agenda describes how the Neocons transformed themselves during the Obama administration. This change wasn't just about improving their tarnished image. It was about becoming 'non-partisan' and extending influence to both sides of the political spectrum. The below link includes the trailers for the documentaries, which are both nauseating and eye-opening.
Exposing the Neocons, in their own words: Tom Secker reviews A Very Heavy Agenda
As the series progresses it incorporates more and more footage showing the impact of these statements and policies on the real world. The ease of saying such things in the internal isolation of a TV studio is writ large upon the world through a series of brutal exteriors from various NATO war zones. Terrifying moments from Syria and the Ukraine 'crisis' interrupt the neo-cons as they articulate their psychotic vision of the world. These interruptions are powerful illustrations that these are not mere ideas and words but that - as Robert Kagan articulates as one of the key principles of neo-conservatism - ideas have power.SOTT Radio also did an interview with Robbie Martin that is worth checking out: The Truth Perspective: A Very Heavy Agenda: The rise, fall and resurrection of the neocons, with Robbie Martin.
Kagan also dwells on how this political philosophy developed out of a tension in classical liberalism. The idea of individual rights and freedoms, which in some respects both Britain and the US have embraced more fully than many nations, faces a problem when applied to the rest of the world. Should a 'liberal' country export its values in the form of military and paramilitary might? Should 'liberal' countries insist that others conform to their values? Do they have that right?
Neo-conservatives say yes, but then neo-conservatives say a lot of things. This critical question facing Western countries is rarely discussed, let alone in the context of an informative documentary series. It is a rare treat to see any film that stares down the barrel of serious issues, let alone one that does it with such commitment and rigour. For that Martin deserves a lot of praise.
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What Martin does exceptionally well is to show how the neo-cons have faced a serious quandary in the upcoming US presidential election. Initially supportive of Donald Trump for his tough stance on absolutely everything, Trump's outlandish and explicitly racist rhetoric is inspired by and rooted in the same ideas of America's role in the world. However, by taking it to such an overt and ludicrous extreme Trump appears to have alienated the neo-cons, and as they began criticising him Trump began to employ more isolationist and even diplomatic language (e.g. saying he could work with Putin).
This leaves the neo-cons in the awkward position of having to temporarily abandon the Republican party entirely and throw their weight behind Clinton, the most neo-con candidate available. This demonstrates not just the imperial liberal roots of the neo-conservative philosophy, but also their ability to reinvent themselves to suit the political landscape.
Duped by the clarion call to bring 'freedom and democracy' to the world, the American left has welcomed regime change by any means necessary. Open support for terrorism to 'remove Assad' has become acceptable. The most egregious acts against humanity have become matter of course. Just yesterday, Obama ordered a waiver of weapons restrictions to terrorists in Syria. Apparently the weapons drops and illicit arms trafficking wasn't effective enough. With this mindset, it's little wonder why the 'liberal rebellion' thinks it's only right that they take back the White House for their war-mongering leader. So much for democratic values. Liberalism is said to promote equality, freedom of speech, cooperation, and democracy. Neo-liberals adhere to a doctrine of 'humanitarian might makes right' even if millions have to die in the process. This is the core of Western ideology. It represents the narcissistic view that 'my way of life is better than yours, so your way needs to go'. This is the kind of thinking that informed the crusades, the same goes for Napoleon's invasions, the 'assimilation' of American Indians, Hitler's expansion into Europe and the United States spreading 'freedom and democracy' all around the world. It doesn't matter how false and delusional such claims are, the 'other' needs to come to heel...or he will be brought to heel.
The same neoliberal ideology of 'my way or the highway' that has led to untold suffering around the world has given rise to "safe spaces" for adolescents at home. Liberals have become so blinded by their 'cause' that they can't see past their self-serving definition of 'justice'. The new American left sees nearly everything through gender, race, sexual preference, and human rights, the very 'ideals' that are often used to justify US military intervention and 'regime change' overseas. But like their government, their selective application of ideals exposes their hypocrisy. These issues are not applied in a global sense, but only to select causes that serve covert and selfish goals.
Clinton represents the very worst of the dark powers operating within the United States. These people have created the most destabilizing force in the world. The sum total of the suffering they have caused in the past years is incomprehensible. Trump has said quite a number of stupid things, but none of it comes close to matching the destructive actions of Clinton and her ilk. There's no comparison. When it comes down to it, Clinton has been far more destructive towards more nations and societies than any of Trump's rhetoric.
Thanks Shane