Ship-of-State Disasters

The Titanic

My previous speculation about Hillary Clinton running as a VP candidate along with Obama against the Romney/Ryan ticket might have led some to believe that I was a fan of Hillary’s. I am not … and never have been.  As I had previously indicated, I believe that she is nothing more than a political poseur … lacking in any real foreign policy vision or implementation skills.  Let me count the ways that I think that she has set this country back years, perhaps decades since she took her Foggy Bottom office:

- Her “reset” with Russia has seen Putin re-emerge as the belligerent bully he really is.  (George W. Bush had this one wrong too.)  Russia has opposed almost every one of America’s foreign policy initiatives regarding Iran, Syria and North Korea.  It (and he) is clearly not our friend but, increasingly our adversary.  Her silly attempt at cozying up with the Russian Bear has been met with repeated rebuffs.

- Her unthinking support of the Arab Spring has seen the Muslim Brotherhood take over Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and now probably Syria.  Let’s not forget that her State Department re-established diplomatic relations with Syria only a few months before what is effectively a civil war broke out there.  Whether her misreading of what has been going on there is a result of her aide, Huma Abedin (Anthony Weiner’s wife), whispering in her ear is debatable … or her long-standing tilt toward the Palestinians.  But she really has botched things up there but good.

- The policy she has pursued toward Iran has been a demonstrable utter failure.  We have diddled and dawdled with supposed “sanctions” to the point where an atomic weapon capability in Iran appears only months away.  Iran’s Ahmadinejad is now hooking up with Egypt, his considerable friends in Iraq, and even elements in Saudi Arabia to present Israel the gravest of threats.  Yes, Syria seems to be escaping his grasp but, seeing how we bungled these other Middle East uprisings, I’m fairly confident we will screw up Syria too.

- Hillary’s and Barack Obama’s treatment of Israel has been nothing short of shameful.  We have been disdainful, untrustworthy, and naively dismissive toward it, our only true friend in the Middle East.  If and when this tinder box ignites, I (and many others) place it fully on Hillary’s shoulders.

- In South and Central America, Hillary’s and Obama’s deference toward Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and the Castro’s of Cuba has emboldened other nations there to drift even further left … Brazil, Argentina, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Paraguay, Bolivia … all are sounding more and more despotic and socialistic.  I can not think of a single diplomatic success story emanating out of this area of the world during Hillary’s tenure.

- Despite Hillary’s recent swing through Africa, very little progress there has resulted from our State-Department’s policies … which appear vague and wavering.  Africa, in general, is in such a state of disrepair that small initiatives and innovative diplomacy should have yielded great rewards. Where have we been?

- Hillary’s singular visible diplomatic success seems to have been in the Far East – Myanmar (Burma).  Supposedly through her efforts, this country is slowly emerging into the 21st century.  It has freed opposition leader, Suu Kyi, after 21 years of isolation and house arrest to take her seat in Parliament … and begun to introduce gradually democratic freedoms.  However, elsewhere, in this area of the world (China, Indonesia, Japan, Viet Nam, etc.) we seem to exhibit no clear diplomatic weltanschauung.

So, although I understand the tendency of many Americans to moon over our former first lady, I believe that a careful viewing of her tenure as Secretary of State will show her to be a titanic failure.

Afterthought:  Let us not forget that Hillary's State Department recommended against the building of the Keystone Excel pipeline from Canada.