A vote for Clinton is a vote for war, a vote for Israel: Analyst

US Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton is “a lifelong political groupie” who has “none of the characteristics essential to being a good president,” an international lawyer and political analyst says.

Barry Grossman, who is based on the Indonesian island of Bali, told Press TV on Thursday that “a vote for Clinton is a vote for war, a vote for Israel and a vote for the continued oppression of untold millions of people around the world who do not offer value to the corporatist system promoted by her brand.”

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders on Wednesday censured Clinton for her support of the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and said that the former secretary of state should apologize to the victims of the Iraq war, which she voted in favor of as a senator. 

In March 2003, the United States and Britain invaded Iraq in blatant violation of international law and under the pretext of finding Weapons of Mass Destruction; but no such weapons were ever discovered in Iraq.

More than one million Iraqis were killed as the result of the US-led invasion, and subsequent occupation of the country, according to the California-based investigative organization Project Censored.

‘Experienced’ Clinton or ‘inexperienced’ Sanders?

“We keep hearing that Hilary Clinton represents the ‘heart and soul’ of the Democrat Party and is the candidate who speaks with experience, while we are told that Bernie Sanders  -- a man who has dedicated his entire life to actively advancing progressive causes -- is a populist poser who has no experience or understanding of foreign policy,” said Grossman.  

“Well, bearing in mind their respective records on foreign policy related issues, I think most informed progressives would say if Hillary is the voice of experience, then we overwhelmingly prefer Sanders’ so-called inexperience and posing anytime. That certainly is what American voters are saying with Sanders having won 7 or the last 8 contests, mostly by overwhelming margins,” he added.  

“In any case, what does Hillary’s so-called experience consist of?  Basically the claim reduces itself to a single stint as secretary of state, during which -- in addition to exposing her anything but progressive judgment on Palestine -- she made catastrophic messes of Ukraine, Libya, Egypt and Syria, while at the same legitimizing Myanmar’s systematic abuse of millions of Rohingya entirely on the basis of their status as Muslims,” the analyst stated.  

“She has shown herself to be biased and wrong about Iran, incapable of  engaging China in a productive way, and openly hostile to the democratic aspirations of  the millions of people in South and Latin America who are tired of being abused by the corporatist agendas advanced at their expense by the US-based interests championed by her brand.”

Sanders’ congressional record

“As for the question of foreign policy experience, Bernie Sanders’ congressional record stands up far better than most candidates who have gone on to be elected president. Indeed, Bill Clinton was widely regarded to be a country hick who knew nothing about foreign policy when he was elected and his presidency was widely vaunted in Democrat circles for being focused on domestic issues almost to a fault,” said Grossman.

“Obama was virtually unheard of until he surged out of oblivion to take the nomination from Hillary Clinton who even then was absurdly presented as the candidate with experience,” he said.  

“George W. Bush was widely thought to not even have set foot out of the USA until he was elected. In any case, your average ‘open minded’ internet warrior has a better understanding of foreign policy than Bush did stepping out of the blocks,” he added.

“The bottom line is that most people entirely misunderstand the role of the president. The president is not some all powerful figure with multi-faceted, specialist expertise in all areas of government policy. Rather, the president is a check to congressional imbalance, and is in principle chosen for having good judgment, good character and a sound, generalist’s understanding of the dominant issues and the mood of the people,” the commentator noted.

Why Clinton not qualified to be president

“The protracted schooling of Hillary Clinton as First Lady,  then during her free but short ride as a senator and finally, as secretary of state,  clearly demonstrates that she has none of the characteristics essential to being a good president.  The simple reality is that Hilary Clinton is not an experienced senior politician so much as a lifelong political groupie and the current face of the Clinton corporatist brand,” Grossman said.

“As for her claims that Sanders is not a Democrat, that quite really outrageous suggestion is not different in principle from Trump saying that Latinos and Muslims must be treated differently from real Americans?  It is just a desperate variation on the Trump gambit which has already so badly backfired on its namesake,” he stated.

“The underlying attitude is essentially the same in that both positions basically say that ‘you are not one of us and if you want to join the club, you have to accept and play by our rules no matter how fundamentally ill conceived and corrupt those rules may be. In other words, know your place or get out,’” the lawyer said.

Clinton plagiarizes Sanders policy positions

Grossman said “Americans should heed Bernie Sanders words and remember that a candidate must be assessed on their life long record rather than what they say during an election campaign.”

“In any case, bearing mind that Clinton has shamelessly plagiarized almost every Sanders policy position but of course has done so without making clear campaign pledges, there is really very little room for her to criticize Bernie Sanders’ positions which means that, in order to staunch the rush to support Sanders, she can only manipulate the party’s broken electoral system and encourage ad hominem attacks on the man himself,” he concluded.

Sanders, whose campaign was boosted by landslide victories in Alaska, Washington, Hawaii and Wisconsin, is hoping to cut further into Clinton’s lead in her home state of New York, where voters will cast their ballots on April 19.

Sanders has long been critical of US foreign policy and was an early opponent of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Clinton tends to be more hawkish and inclined to use military force.

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