Hillary, the war chickBy Pepe Escobar
April 26, 2008
PHILADELPHIA - When that phone rings at 3am at the White House, what does a true red-blooded Madam President do? She calls her generals and orders them to "obliterate" Iran. In other words: she orders the killing of 70 million people.
It's 10pm right outside Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton's victory rally at the Hyatt in downtown Philadelphia, and Mei-ling Wang is very, very angry. ..... As a co-director of the Social Exclusion Knowledge Network, she's been all over the developing world working with the poor, the homeless, the downtrodden, the excluded. And she has a few rash words to say to the Clintons.
"I've stumbled on Clinton supporters and asked them why she has lied about so many important issues. They told me everybody lies. I am a teacher. I told them 'look me in the eye. Would you say to your children that it is OK to lie'?"
.....
On ABC's Good Morning America, Hillary was asked what she would do as president if Iran attacked Israel with nuclear weapons. The premise of the question in itself is preposterous. Iran does not possess a single nuclear weapon; it is not trying to assemble a nuclear weapon (even US intelligence admits it); and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has already stressed, echoing the leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini, that a nuclear weapon - which implies the genocide of civilians - is "against Islamic rules". Khamenei has stressed "our nuclear bomb and our explosive powers are our faith, our youth and our people who have been present on the most difficult scenes with utmost power and faith and will continue to do so".
Hillary, anyway, was undeterred. She said: "In the next 10 years, during which they might foolishly consider launching an attack on Israel, we would be able to totally obliterate them." She admits this is "a terrible thing to say", but doesn't question the much-hyped Iranian threat for the hype it truly is, adding that "those people who run Iran" need to understand her tough talk. Thus she positions herself as the sender of a wise message that "perhaps will deter them from doing something that would be reckless, foolish and tragic".
Not a (word) from Hillary about Israeli neo-colonization and collective punishment in the West Bank and Gaza. Not a word about Israel's several hundred nuclear warheads - the only country in the Middle East to actually possess nuclear weapons, and to have announced not so subtly it would have no problems using them.
Mei-ling Wang has every reason to be angry with what she characterizes as Hillary's "lies". This is further evidence that as the acrimony inside the Democratic Party spreads like a poisonous virus, Hillary by now has become virtually indistinguishable from the presumptive Republican nominee, McCain. McCain, not happy to just contemplate a hundred-year war in Iraq, has already sung his now famous "Bomb, bomb, Iran" Beach Boys rip-off. Hillary lip-synchs she wants to finish the war in Iraq, but then goes for the "obliteration" of Iran.
Both candidates are obviously pandering towards the Zio-cons and the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee lobby in the US. But most of all, Hillary is hedging her bets in terms of the buildup towards a possible attack on Iran, now that Vice President Dick Cheney is free to pursue his ultimate goal with pliable, opportunistic, counterinsurgency ace General David Petraeus promoted to head US Central Command.
Hillary's positioning spells Imperial Washington in all its glory - and hubris. Not only McCain; a president Hillary will mean more wars in the Middle East. So much for Hillary's rhetoric about "peace in the Middle East". But the real tragedy is that none of the vociferous street supporters outside the victory party rally in downtown Philadelphia, or her voters at large, are aware of the true colors of Hillary, the war chick.
She voted for Bush's Iraq War Resolution.
She voted to designate Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization.
It's no surprise she now brays about annihilating Iran.
The world knows what this woman is about.
STOP. THIS. INSANITY.