Robert Parry: Is Hillary Clinton a Neocon-Lite?

[marmar]

from Consortium News:



Is Hillary Clinton a Neocon-Lite?
February 10, 2014

Exclusive: As a U.S. senator and Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton often followed a neocon-style foreign policy, backing the Iraq War, teaming up with Defense Secretary Robert Gates on an Afghan War “surge,” and staking out an even more hawkish stance than Gates on Libya, Robert Parry reports.

By Robert Parry


Most Democratic power-brokers appear settled on Hillary Clinton as their choice for President in 2016 – and she holds lopsided leads over potential party rivals in early opinion polls – but there are some warning flags flying, paradoxically, hoisted by former Defense Secretary Robert Gates in his praise for the former First Lady, U.S. senator and Secretary of State.

On the surface, one might think that Gates’s glowing commendations of Clinton would further burnish her standing as the odds-on next President of the United States, but strip away the fawning endorsements and Gates’s portrait of Clinton in his new memoir, Duty, is of a pedestrian foreign policy thinker who is easily duped and leans toward military solutions.

Indeed, for thoughtful and/or progressive Democrats, the prospect of a President Hillary Clinton could represent a step back from some of President Barack Obama’s more innovative foreign policy strategies, particularly his readiness to cooperate with the Russians and Iranians to defuse Middle East crises and his willingness to face down the Israel Lobby when it is pushing for heightened confrontations and war.

Based on her public record and Gates’s insider account, Clinton could be expected to favor a more neoconservative approach to the Mideast, one more in line with the traditional thinking of Official Washington and the belligerent dictates of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. ........................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://consortiumnews.com/2014/02/10/is-hillary-clinton-a-neocon-lite/

[Scuba]

1. No.

Is that too snarky?

[PeteSelman]

2. Lite? No, she's full on.

She's a full in Reaganite minus the religious insanity. Lite. Hahaha!

[yurbud]

6. beat me to it. She's going to run a perfect Reagan Era campaign

which might impress the rich but not the rest of us.

[DURHAM D]

3. Yawn

[yurbud]

7. it might seem obvious to many of us, but some people might not know her history

[4dsc]

4. Yes, nothing new here

The more you know about Hillary the more you should know she's not a liberal.

[TwilightGardener]

5. "Lite"? Nope, full-calorie.

[RedstDem]

8. yes and no

yes on the neo-con part, no on the lite!!!

[NorthCarolina]

9. More like Full-On Regan Republican. nt

[antigop]

10. aw, Robert Parry is just a "hater". nt

[Enthusiast]

11. Kicked and recommended a whole bunch.....nt