We’ve all known that former New York Democratic Senator and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is a warmonger, a statist, an interventionist. She is like the rest of her post-World War II predecessors – Lyndon Baines Johnson, Richard Nixon, George W. Bush, Barack Obama – a lover of war.
But what about billionaire real estate mogul and Republican nominee Donald Trump?
At the start of his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump talked a good game when it came to foreign policy (SEE: Libertarians for Donald Trump? 5 reasons libertarians can’t support Trump). He reiterated his opposition to the war in Iraq, he chastized the Obama administration for the Libyan intervention and he criticized the regime changes sponsored by the CIA.
That all sounds like excellent stances to have, right?
Well, since Trump is sniffing the White House, he has significantly modified his foreign policy positions and softened his blows against the bloodthirsty elite who desire for never ending regime changes, interventions and wars. He wants to kill terrorists’ families, he now thinks taking out Moammar Gaddafi was a good thing and he pledges to increase the size of the U.S. military. Yikes.
Some of his early critics feared that he may just be someone who is against past wars, not new ones. Over the last couple of months, since he has secured his GOP nomination, that seems like a correct assessment of Trump. His ostentatious representation of being an anti-war candidate at the beginning was blatant and downright dishonest. This won’t hurt his die hard support, however.
Unfortunately, it proves one thing: Republican or Democrat, Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, United States foreign policy will stay the same for at least the next four (likely eight) years.
Despite the mainstream media attempting to portray Clinton as this sage stateswoman who is completely different from Trump, if you look into Trump’s rhetoric and Clinton’s record, it’s apparent that they are the same, at least pertaining to foreign policy.
It’s akin to past elections and historical accounts. Obama has been no different than George W. Bush; John Kerry would have continued George W. Bush’s mandate; Mitt Romney would have maintained the status quo. New elections and candidates, but the same disappointing results.
And the general public eats it up.
The latest example of the electorate’s ignorance is Trump tweeting out a new story that included a memo, disclosing that President Obama was aware of the growing threat of ISIS that stemmed from al-Qaeda (remember them?) in Iraq. It’s been reported and discussed by experts that the Obama administration fueled, financially supported and armed the rebels in Libya and Syria to fight against Gadaffi and Bashar al-Assad, which eventually became ISIS.
An: Media fell all over themselves criticizing what DonaldTrump “may have insinuated about @POTUS.” But he’s right: https://t.co/bIIdYtvZYw
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 15, 2016
It’s the same thing when it was discovered that the Libyan war was about Gaddafi wanting to create a regional gold dinar currency (SEE: Libyan war over gold dinar & other reasons to fear for humanity’s future this week).
However, the anti-Trump crowd won’t believe the facts just because The Donald tweeted a recent memo about it. The stubborn Trump opponents think that the entire leaked memo is silly just because he mentioned it. It’s their allegiance to a single party and belief into the left-right paradigm that is blinding them to the problems of America’s blowback in the Middle East.
There is no doubt that the tune would change. If ISIS had blossomed under the Bush administration and Trump had talked about a leaked memo highlighting the fact that the U.S. supported an organization that metastasized into this barbaric group then he would receive praise not scorn.
You can see this on a regular basis. Demonstrators stage violent riots and protests against Trump because he’s accused of being Islamophobic. The interesting thing, however, is that nothing is said when President Obama has killed thousands of Muslims in several different countries. One receives condemnation for something that hasn’t even been done yet, while the other is celebrated for the very thing these people complain about. Hypocritical much?
Trump is far from being a perfect candidate. There is so much to criticize, lambast and satirize regarding his flip-flops and policies. But to dismiss reports and facts just because Trump supports them is downright ridiculous and even terrifying.
Will anything change? Not really. People are still binded to their parties. People are still hypnotized by the MSNBCs and the Fox News of the world. People still think U.S. foreign policy is virtuous and generates zero unintended consequences.
It’s head scratching, comical and sometimes frustrating to peruse the comments sections on the websites of Politico and Salon or to listen to mainstream media. It simply proves that the U.S. population is not ready for a true revolution, whether it’s pertaining to domestic policy or foreign policy.
The 2016 election cycle is evidence that once again things will always stay the same, R or D. So be ready for four more years of government snooping, regime changes and wars, whether it’s Clinton or Trump.
I like what USMC Major General Smedley Butler said in 1935 –
“I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902–1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested. Looking back on it, I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents.”
81 years later and nothing has changed. War is big business, the profits are grand. The Military Industrial Complex, President Eisenhower warned us about, is alive and well in 2016.