2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumBernie Sanders Says He's Being "Lectured" by Hillary Clinton on Foreign Policy
Bernie Sanders was defensive when he was asked at Thursday's Democratic presidential debate why he doesn't talk more about how he'd approach being commander-in-chief. So does he plan on changing course anytime soon? Not a chance.
On Sunday afternoon in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, speaking at the same community college that hosted Hillary Clinton on Saturday, Sanders did not mention foreign policy until the 50th minute of a 54-minute speech. Even then, he kept it short, telling supporters (and a few undecided voters) he was tired of being "lectured" by his opponent on the issue. "And by the way," he said, as he wrapped up his remarks, "as somebody who voted against the war in Iraqwho led the opposition to the war in Iraq, lately I have been lectured on foreign policy. The most important foreign policy in the modern history of this country was the war in Iraq. I was right on that issue. Hillary Clinton was wrong on that issue."
And then he moved on. In one of his final get-out-the-vote events before Tuesday's New Hampshire primary, Sanders showed a willingness to continue taking the fight to Clinton on his own terms. The speech he gave on Sunday, still hoarse from his appearance on Saturday Night Live with Larry David, was much the same speech he delivered in Boston in October, and in Burlington in May. He excoriated the oligarchs who he believes corrupt the political system and outlined a theory of change, from the suffrage movement to civil rights to gay rights, that he believes shows that grassroots movements like his own can overturn the system. The routine is so familiar that when he asked his audience who the biggest recipient of federal welfare is, about half of those in attendance were able to answer"Walmart."
What's changed is the crowd. When I saw him in Boston in October, the crowd booed 17 different times during his speech, prompted by references to Jeb Bush or the Koch brothers. On Sunday, that number was was halved in a speech of equal length. (Targets of booing included the black and Latino unemployment rate, speaker fees from Goldman Sachs, and companies that exploit loopholes in the tax code to avoid "paying a nickel in federal income taxes." Clinton refers to the animating ethos of Sanders' supporters as "anger," and there's certainly that, but increasingly, there's the optimism of a organization that truly thinks it can win.
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2016/02/bernie-sanders-portsmouth-rally-foreign-policy
leftofcool
(19,460 posts)beam me up scottie
(57,349 posts)I think he'll have better judgment when it comes to choosing his advisers.
Uncle Joe
(58,365 posts)Military coup of 1973[edit]
Main article: 1973 Chilean coup d'état
On 11 September 1973 the combined Chilean Armed Forces (the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Carabineros) overthrew Allende's government in a coup, during which the presidential palace, La Moneda, was shelled and Allende committed suicide.[23] While the military claimed that he had committed suicide, controversy surrounded Allende's death, with many claiming that he had been assassinated.
In his memoirs Pinochet said that he was the leading plotter of the coup and had used his position as commander-in-chief of the Army to coordinate a far-reaching scheme with the other two branches of the military and the national police. In later years, however, high military officials from the time have said that Pinochet reluctantly became involved only a few days before the coup was scheduled to occur, and followed the lead of the other branches (especially the Navy, under Merino) as they executed the coup.[citation needed]
The new government rounded up thousands of people and held them in the national stadium where many were killed. This was followed by brutal repression during Pinochet's rule, during which about 3,000 people were killed, and more than 1,000 are still missing.[24]
In the months that followed the coup, the junta, with authoring work by historian Gonzalo Vial and admiral Patricio Carvajal, published a book titled El Libro Blanco del cambio de gobierno en Chile (commonly known as El Libro Blanco, "The White Book of the Change of Government in Chile" , where they said that they were in fact anticipating a self-coup (the alleged Plan Zeta, or Plan Z) that Allende's government or its associates were purportedly preparing. United States intelligence agencies believed the plan to be untrue propaganda.[25] Although later discredited and officially recognized as the product of political propaganda,[26] Gonzalo Vial insists in the similarities between the alleged Plan Z and other existing paramilitary plans of the Popular Unity parties in support of its legitimacy.[27]
Canadian Jean Charpentier of Télévision de Radio-Canada was the first foreign journalist to interview General Pinochet following the coup.[28]
The Church Report investigating the fallout of the Watergate scandal stated that while the U.S. tacitly supported the Pinochet government after the 1973 coup, there was "no evidence" that the US was directly involved in the coup.[29] This view has been contradicted by several academics, such as Peter Winn, who writes that the role of the CIA was crucial to the consolidation of power after the coup; the CIA helped fabricate a conspiracy against the Allende government, which Pinochet was then portrayed as preventing. He states that the coup itself was possible only through a three-year covert operation mounted by the United States. He also points out that the US imposed an "invisible blockade" that was designed to disrupt the economy under Allende, and contributed to the destabilization of the regime.[6] Author Peter Kornbluh argues in his book The Pinochet File[30] that the US was extensively involved and actively "fomented"[30] the 1973 coup. Authors Tim Weiner, in his book, Legacy of Ashes,[31] and Christopher Hitchens, in his book, The Trial of Henry Kissinger [32] similarly argue the case that US covert actions actively destabilized Allendes government and set the stage for the 1973 coup.
The U.S. provided material support to the military government after the coup, although criticizing it in public. A document released by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in 2000, titled "CIA Activities in Chile", revealed that the CIA actively supported the military junta after the overthrow of Allende, and that it made many of Pinochet's officers into paid contacts of the CIA or U.S. military, even though some were known to be involved in human rights abuses.[33] The CIA also maintained contacts in the Chilean DINA intelligence service. DINA led the multinational campaign known as Operation Condor, which amongst other activities carried out assassinations of prominent politicians in various Latin American countries, in Washington, D.C., and in Europe, and kidnapped, tortured and executed activists holding left-wing views, which culminated in the deaths of roughly 60,000 people.[34][35] The United States provided key organizational, financial and technical assistance to the operation.[36][37][38] CIA contact with DINA head Manuel Contreras was established in 1974 soon after the coup, during the Junta period prior to official transfer of Presidential powers to Pinochet; in 1975, the CIA reviewed a warning that keeping Contreras as an asset might threaten human rights in the region. The CIA chose to keep him as an asset, and at one point even paid him. In addition to the CIA's maintaining of assets in DINA beginning soon after the coup, several CIA assets, such as CORU Cuban exile militants Orlando Bosch and Guillermo Novo, collaborated in DINA operations under the Condor Plan in the early years of Pinochet's presidency.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augusto_Pinochet
Henry Kissinger, Hillary Clintons Tutor in War and Peace
Last night, Clinton once again praised a man with a lot of blood on his hands.
(snip)
http://www.thenation.com/article/henry-kissinger-hillary-clintons-tutor-in-war-and-peace/
beam me up scottie
(57,349 posts)Metric System
(6,048 posts)nominee.
PonyUp
(1,680 posts)nominee.
Uncle Joe
(58,365 posts)murder, suicide, spouse abuse, increased divorce rates, drug abuse and less spending on vital domestic needs.
gwheezie
(3,580 posts)If he is the nominee he really does have to be able to argue his position better than he protested against Vietnam and he voted against giving Bush authority to invade Iraq. He has made some vague statements about Jordan and a bizarre Saudi Iran coalition.
Uncle Joe
(58,365 posts)His statements regarding the Middle East, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Iran are expressing an aspiration for these enemies to put aside their differences and search for peace.
That the mega-wealthy gulf states should shoulder the financial ground power burden.
Bernie nor anyone else said it would be easy but what's not to trust about that?
On the other hand Hillary stated that we should impose a "no-fly zone" over Syria, now Russia and the Western Allies are all opposed to ISIS but we have differences as whom to support Assad or the Syrians rebelling against his dictatorial rule.
ISIS doesn't even have air power.
What if Russia; in support of Assad bombs groups supported by the U.S. do we shoot down Russian jets and risk WWIII or just disregard them and lose credibility with our allies?
This is just one more example as to why I don't trust Hillary's judgment in regards to foreign policy, she is too quick to pull the trigger and her proposals are ill thought out.
karynnj
(59,504 posts)And Iran were two countries that could help getting a ceasefire in Syria. This was neither bizarre or new. They were critical in Vienna to getting. The agreement that led to the UN resolution. As Bernie said, John Kerry did this.
wyldwolf
(43,867 posts)Uncle Joe
(58,365 posts)thing about Bernie is that his judgement is sound.
Hillary despite her experience has many shortcomings in that regard and the people she admires or relies on, Kissinger et al have way too much blood on their hands.
mikehiggins
(5,614 posts)for Halliburton et al. We may never be able to scrape off all the blood covering the Establishment from all these years of war for profit but maybe Bernie et al can keep them from adding anymore.
Years ago I talked with my kid about Irish folks songs and pointed out that many of them have led to bloodshed.
So have many votes.
Uncle Joe
(58,365 posts)Agony
(2,605 posts)fucks up everything she touches, her friends are worse.
Uncle Joe
(58,365 posts)libdem4life
(13,877 posts)He is very wise not to take the bait of foreign policy as it's almost a year away and much can happen that would completely shift any number of events. But, he did surely get North Korea right on the button. One thing he has is good judgment. That implies the ability to put together a stellar cabinet/staff/advisor panel.
Cheese Sandwich
(9,086 posts)She says different things to different audiences.
Brazenly warlike and openly corrupt. The only reason she stays popular is because corporate media treats all that stuff as normal.
Uncle Joe
(58,365 posts)" When the going gets tough, the tough take care of each other"
Too often our corporate media conglomerates have portrayed proponents of militarism as being "strong" or "tough" giving little or no credit to moral courage as signifying strength, not to mention wisdom.
Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)Uncle Joe
(58,365 posts)on the promotion of disproportionate fear.
Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)interventions for profit.