The United States’ security would be undermined if parts of Iraq turned into a failed state that serves as a petri dish for insurgents and Al Qaeda. It is right in the heart of the oil region. It is directly in opposition to our interests, to the interests of regimes, to Israel’s interests.
-- Hillary Clinton
Published on Thursday, March 15, 2007 by the New York Times
If Elected... Clinton Says Some G.I.’s in Iraq Would Remain
by Michael R. Gordon and Patrick Healy
WASHINGTON — Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton foresees a "remaining military as well as political mission" in Iraq, and says that if elected president, she would keep a reduced military force there to fight Al Qaeda, deter Iranian aggression, protect the Kurds and possibly support the Iraqi military.
In a half-hour interview on Tuesday in her Senate office, Mrs. Clinton said the scaled-down American military force that she would maintain would stay off the streets in Baghdad and would no longer try to protect Iraqis from sectarian violence — even if it descended into ethnic cleansing.
In outlining how she would handle Iraq as commander in chief, Mrs. Clinton articulated a more nuanced position than the one she has provided at her campaign events, where she has backed the goal of "bringing the troops home."
She said in the interview that there were "remaining vital national security interests in Iraq" that would require a continuing deployment of American troops.
http://www.commondreams.org/...
Democratic chicken hawk Hillary Clinton's Kyl-Lieberman vote to give Bush the authority to exercise "all options on the table" on Iran is the latest example of her support of a neocon/neolib imperialist foreign policy. Like all chicken hawks, Hillary confuses "strength" with the use of brute military force, rather with the strength shown by great peacemakers like the late Archbishop Romero or Nobel Peace Laureate Desmond Tutu.
It is highly unlikely that as President Hillary would deviate one iota from the corporatist and imperialist agenda she followed in the US Senate. Hillary will never raise the issue of justice for Palestinians, much less pursue a Middle East settlement that would require Israel to give up Arab land taken in the 1967 War. Hillary will continue the disastrous US policy of enabling Israel's imperialism in the region, including maintaining an occupation force in Iraq as a counter to Iran.
In Latin America, the wife of the man that kept the School of the Americas open, will pursue the Bush policies with renewed vigor. Hillary will unleash the CIA and the military to reestablish American hegemony in the region.
In light of the reactionary policies of the second Clinton Administration, what will progressives be doing during Hillary's presidency? Here are some of the highlights:
March 2009 - National antiwar marches on the 6th anniversary of the start of the Iraq War.
October 2009 - National antiwar marches on the 7th anniversary of Iraq War Resolution.
March 2010 - National antiwar marches on the 7th anniversary of the start of the Iraq War.
October 2010 - National antiwar marches on the 8th anniversary of Iraq War Resolution.
March 2011 - National antiwar marches on the 8th anniversary of the start of the Iraq War.
October 2011 - National antiwar marches on the 9th anniversary of Iraq War Resolution.
March 2012 - National antiwar marches on the 9th anniversary of the start of the Iraq War.
October 2012 - National antiwar marches on the 10th anniversary of Iraq War Resolution.