Excellent analysis, at least on my views about foreign policy and HRC, I’m not alone …

UPDATE: Clinton has frequently differed with Obama– on foreign policy | Mondoweiss |

At the Democratic debate in Milwaukee last week, Hillary Clinton sought to bind herself to President Obama and show that Senator Bernie Sanders has taken issue with the president on numerous occasions. Clinton’s calculation is that she can win over progressive Democrats who like the sitting president, especially African-American voters.

Sanders responded: “Have you ever disagreed with a president? I suspect you may have.” In fact, Clinton has frequently disagreed with President Obama’s policies in the Middle East, and embraced a leader who has repeatedly undermined President Obama– Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu.

In summer 2014 she called Obama’s policy on the Syrian civil war a “failure.” [Source: Reuters]

At that time, Clinton also took Israel’s side in the Gaza slaughter, thereby distancing herself from the– very mild– criticisms issued by the Obama administration of Israel.

Sanders himself said that Israel had “overreacted” in its attack on Gaza that left 2200 dead, including nearly 500 children. But he was reluctant to go much further. In that sense his position was very close to the Obama administration.

At that time, Clinton also knocked Obama’s famous non-interventionist doctrine:

    “Great nations need organizing principles, and
    ‘Don’t do stupid stuff’ is not an organizing principle,”
    Clinton said.

As an interventionist hawk, Clinton later called for American ground forces in Syria, in an appearance at the Council on Foreign Relations last November in which she sharply departed from Obama policy on several occasions.

Report: Qatar base ‘regional nerve center’ for US-led strikes on ISIL

In July 2014, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani penned an op-ed in The New York Times ahead of his visit to the US, saying that “bullets and bombs” were not enough to win the war on extremism.

He added that understanding the root cause of terrorism was a prerequisite to tackling its spread:

    “I know that many in the West look at the terrorist threat and say that the problem is Islam.
    But as a Muslim, I can tell you that the problem isn’t Islam — it’s hopelessness. It’s the
    kind of hopelessness that abounds in the Syrian and Palestinian refugee camps,
    and in war-weary towns and villages in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Libya and Gaza.

It’s the hopelessness we see in the poorer neighborhoods of Europe’s great cities, and, yes, even in the United States. And it is this hopelessness, which knows no state or religion, that we need to address if we are to stem the tide of terrorism.”

Al Jazeera seizes its moment in spotlight | March 2011 |

“I think Al Jazeera should capitalise on its new-found fame and new-found favour in the U.S.,” Ali Jaber, dean of the Mohammed Bin Rashid School for Communication at the American University of Dubai told The National. Al Jazeera has made a fan of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, a powerful ally to have in your corner. With social media, it can also gather support from millions of others.

Secretary Clinton Testifies Before Senate Foreign Relations Committee | Arab Spring and Libya Crisis – March 3, 2011 |

Well, thank you, and I want to begin by thanking you, Chairman Kerry and you, Ranking Member Lugar, for not just those two eloquent statements of our priorities and our needs as a nation, but for your service, your lifetime of leadership on issues that really do matter to America’s security, interest, and values. It’s an honor to appear before you.

I recently took part in emergency meetings in Geneva to discuss the events unfolding in Libya, and I’d like to begin by offering a brief update. As the Chairman said, we have joined the Libyan people in demanding that Colonel Qadhafi must go, now, without further violence and bloodshed. And we are working to translate the world’s outrage into action and results.

Marathon diplomacy at the United Nations and with our allies has yielded quick, aggressive steps to pressure and isolate Libya’s leaders. We welcome yesterday’s decision to suspend Libya from the Human Rights Council, as I had urged a day earlier. USAID is focused on Libya’s food and medical supplies, and is dispatching two expert humanitarian teams to help those fleeing the violence into Tunisia and Egypt. Our combatant commands are positioning assets to prepare to support these critical civilian missions. And we are taking no option off the table so long as the Libyan Government continues to turn its guns on its own people.

As both the Chairman and the Ranking Member have noted, the region is changing, and a strong, strategic American response will be essential. In the years ahead, for example, Libya could become a peaceful democracy, or it could face protracted civil war or fall into chaos. The stakes are high. And this is an unfolding example of using the combined assets of smart power, diplomacy, development, and defense to protect our interests and advance our values.

This integrated approach is not just how we must respond to the crisis of the moment. It is the most effective and most cost-effective way to sustain and advance our security. And it is only possible with a budget that supports all the tools in our national security arsenal, which is what I am here today to discuss.

I understand and agree that the American people are rightly and justifiably concerned about our national debt, about our economy, and about unemployment. But I think also, Americans understand the need for responsible investments in our security for the future to make us safer, to keep markets open, to ensure that we remain the leader in the world.

[Read on …]

Clinton Lauds Virtues Of Al Jazeera: ‘It’s Real News’ | NPR |

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton went out of her way to single out the Al Jazeera TV news network for its work in covering recent uprisings throughout the Middle East.

“You’ve got a global — a set of global networks — that Al Jazeera has been the leader in, that are literally changing people’s minds and attitudes,” Clinton told members of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Her remarks are a marked shift from the hostility expressed toward Al Jazeera by many conservatives, as well as some officials under former President Bush.

“Viewership of Al Jazeera is going up in the United States because it’s real news,” Clinton said

The fall of Al Jazeera in Egypt

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