Hillary Clinton’s Real Scandal Is Honduras, Not Benghazi

[Judi Lynn]

Hillary Clinton’s Real Scandal Is Honduras, Not Benghazi

Hillary Clinton's Central American foreign policy blunder ought to darken her presidential prospects.

By Emily Schwartz Greco, July 24, 2014. Originally published in OtherWords.


Is it too soon to predict who will be the next president of the United States?

Without officially declaring her intention to run again, Hillary Clinton has cornered Democratic frontrunner status. Given the weak and crowded Republican field, that makes her the presumptive next occupant of a prestigious office lacking — as comedian Jon Stewart observes — any corners.

Clinton’s apparent unbeatability this time around helps explain the right-wing hysteria over the Benghazi tragedy. The conspiracy theories about the attack that killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya amount to a desperate effort to discredit the Democratic Party’s strong centrist candidate. It’s no surprise that this ploy isn’t making a dent on her popularity.What beats me is why more Democrats aren’t deeply troubled by the legacy of Clinton’s foreign policy blunder in Honduras.

Maybe you’ve forgotten what happened in that small country in the first year of the Obama administration — more on that in a moment. But surely you’ve noticed the ugly wave of xenophobia greeting a growing number of Central American child refugees arriving on our southern border.

Some of President Barack Obama’s supporters are trying to blame this immigration crisis on the Bush administration an anti-trafficking law George W. signed in 2008 specifically written to protect Central American children, which preceded the uptick in their arrivals. But which country is the top source of kids crossing the border? Honduras, home to the world’s highest murder rate, Latin America’s worst economic inequality, and a repressive, U.S.-backed government.

That’s a lot of investment in a nation where the police, the military, and private security forces are killing people with alarming frequency and impunity, according to Human Rights Watch. In short, desperate Honduran children are seeking refuge from a human rights nightmare that would cast a dark cloud over Clinton’s presidential bid right now if the media were paying any attention.

More:
http://fpif.org/hillary-clintons-real-scandal-honduras-benghazi/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=hillary-clintons-real-scandal-honduras-benghazi

[randys1]

1. Who do you want to be president?

[Louisiana1976]

2. I was for Hillary until I read about a week or so ago that Hillary supported the coup

in Honduras. Now I don't know who to be for in the primary. But in the election when Hillary's the candidate I'll have to hold my nose and vote for her because I'm a Democrat and I vote for Democrats.

[blkmusclmachine]

3. HRC is a DINO. No better than Obama. And possibly much worse.

[RufusTFirefly]

4. Almost certainly worse. n/t

[JayhawkSD]

5. Not only was Hillary supporting the coup...

...but she was flying in the face of the OAS and the rest of the world in doing so. It was a stunning "what in the hell was she thinking" moment since even Obama backed Zelaya, albeit in a somewhat half-hearted and tardy fashion.

[quadrature]

6. NO.. Benghazi was gunrunning, with resulting consequences...nt

[JayhawkSD]

7. Well, yes, that does tend to get overlooked. nt

[SharonAnn]

8. I think the origin of the "Honduras Problem" is the Dullers brothers in the 1950's.

Also, maybe some others in the decades before that.

We've always had policies about Honduras that damaged efforts for Democracy.

I lived there in 1981 and really had my eyes opened about U.S. foreign policy in other countries.

And I was working for a computer company, doing business with banks and industry, and living in the privileged environment of upper middle-class residents. And yet I saw, I asked questions, I read, and tried to understand.

I came home with the belief that "American exceptionalism" was destroying the world.

I love my country, but I finally learned some of our grievous faults.

[Judi Lynn]

9. I'm certain most US Americans are completely oblivious to US history in the Americas.

As one of those who lived in complete ignorance of the facts so very long before being awakened, I know it is deeply helpful hearing your first hand account. It can only encourage people to start their own exploration of the facts which are begging to be discovered.

Keeping us all in appalling ignorance while using our tax dollars to fund horrors against the human race right in the Western Hemisphere is an insult to the US citizens, as well as unforgivably criminal to the multitudes of human victims south of our border.