Will Hillary Clinton Be A 'War President' On Day One?

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates looked out over North Korea during a tour of the Demilitarized Zone on Wednesday. July, 2010. Credit Cherie Cullen/DOD, via Reuters

Micah Zenko, Foreign Policy: Hillary the Hawk: A History

From Haiti to Syria, the Democratic candidate’s long record suggests she’s looking forward to being a war president on day one.

Whoever is elected on Nov. 8 will be a war president on day one, with the power and autonomy to undertake destabilizing shows of force, drone strikes, special operations raids and ever-deepening military interventions. Today, combat troop deployments are routinely made by executive branch spokespeople, decisions to back open-ended air wars in places like Yemen by “partners” like Saudi Arabia are announced via press release, and congressional oversight hearings largely boil down to legislators pleading with commanders to ask for more troops and looser rules of engagement.

And much of this probably suits Hillary Clinton just fine.

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WNU Editor: Micah Zenko breaks down Hillary Clinton's history on what has been her positions and proposals on past (and current) wars and conflicts. If that is her past .... a Hillary Clinton Presidency is probably going to mean more military interventions, and definitely more wars.

Former First Lady Hillary Clinton Has Apparently Earned The Title Of Being The Most Detested Person Under The Protection Of The Secret Service

Hillary Told One Agent To 'F*** Off' And Another That His Suit Looked 'Cheap.' Secret Service Staff Say Guarding The Former First Lady Was 'The Worst Form Of Punishment,' Author Reveals In Explosive New Book -- Daily Mail

* Author Ronald Kessler claims agents confess that being on Hillary’s security detail is the worst duty assignment in the Secret Service
* If agents driving her went over a bump, she’d swear at them
* 'When she's in front of the lights, she turns it on and when she's not she's a totally different person,' says one agent
* Arriving at a 4-F Club in upstate New York while campaigning, she saw cows and people in jeans. She was enraged
* She asked a staffer, 'What the f*** did we come her for? There's no money here'
* She insulted White House counsel Vince Foster and told him that he would never be more than a hick-town lawyer and wasn’t ready for the big time

Her nasty treatment, her explosive temper and her imperious attitude toward those assigned to her detail have earned former first lady Hillary Clinton the title of the most detested person under the protection of the Secret Service.

And as a result, agents are all too happy to keep Hillary in the dark about Bill’s buxom blonde love and her secret visits to their Chappaqua home, according to Ron Kessler in his explosive forthcoming book The First Family Detail, published by Crown Forum.

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My Comment: This is actually old news .... I heard the same thing when the Clinton were in the White House. All that I can say about this story is .... as bad as it may be if you are on the Secret Service detail for Hillary Clinton .... pity the poor guy who is actually married to her. :)

Questions Arise Over Clinton's Foreign-Policy Power

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

From The Wall Street Journal:

WASHINGTON -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is accelerating a high-profile campaign to place her stamp on U.S. foreign policy, co-chairing Washington's strategic dialogue with China next week and maintaining a blitz of policy speeches and television appearances.

But despite this surge in the former first lady's activity, questions remain about her influence on the most pressing issues facing the Obama administration in the coming months, particularly Iran and the Arab-Israeli peace process.

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My Comment: Mea Culpa .... I am not a fan of the Clintons .... but it is hard to be the Secretary of State when your boss is the person that you ran against in the primaries. Even if President Obama is focused on other issues (and he is) .... his support staff and political advisers will not be. They will always be watching her, and hey will always be quick to put her in her place.

Is she an effective Secretary of State .... I have some doubts. Her remarks on providing a nuclear umbrella for our allies in the event of Iran being successful in their nuclear program fell flat .... and questions then arose if this was true, or was it just her personal opinion. Not a good sign if you are Secretary of State.

Will she stay put in her job for the next few years. I doubt that also. Diplomacy, and the patience necessary to be a good diplomat, are qualities that are hard and tiresome. I am impressed that she has been able to do all of this in the past 6 months .... but to keep on doing this for the next few years .... nah.

Her eyes are on the Presidency .... and this is never going to change.

Hillary Clinton Will Have To Make Her Vital Choices Quickly -- A Commentary

Soldiers of the US 926th Engineer Brigade's team pray in their
military camp on the outskirts of Baghdad. Reuters.

From The Independent:

The State Department, Hillary Clinton declared at her Senate confirmation hearing this week, would be "firing on all cylinders" the moment she takes over as the country's top diplomat. It will need to be. Rarely has a new administration come to office with a more daunting foreign policy in-tray.

On issues ranging from Iraq to Afghanistan, from Iran to Darfur, from the tortuous nuclear negotiations with North Korea to policy towards an evermore assertive and nationalist Russia, the incoming Obama team must quickly make important choices – at a moment when its top priority is, inevitably, the domestic economic crisis.

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