Rubens: In the 2016 Presidential Race, the Choice is Groping vs. Genocide

The defining moral question of this election is not about whether Donald Trump has groped women. It is about the humanitarian catastrophe that has followed our 15 years of nation-building wars. It is fair to ask whether Trump’s treatment of women disqualifies him. It’s also fair to ask whether Hillary Clinton’s consistent drumbeating for these wars — most recently in Yemen – disqualifies her.

Yemen is the site of an under-reported joint Saudi-U.S. war. Rather than fighting Al Qaeda, which now controls one-quarter of Yemen’s land area, we are fighting Houthi tribal rebels who present no threat to U.S. national security. This war would cease within hours without U.S. logistics, targeting, maintenance and weapons supply, particularly F-15s and precision-guided bombs.

In addition to military targets, Saudi pilots are bombing hospitals, schools, marketplaces and water supplies. They have imposed a sea blockade to cut off food imports to this deeply impoverished nation. Thousands of innocent women, men and children have died. Over 300,000 children now face death by starvation.

Our wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria have spread instability and terrorism, created millions of refugees, and made Americans less safe at home. True to pattern, the Yemen war has made Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula stronger there than ever. Conspicuously contradicting the “war on terror” rationale for U.S. intervention, the Saudis are not bombing Al Qaeda territory.

Does Hillary Clinton have dirty hands in the genocide in Yemen? Let’s consider the well-established facts.

Hillary Clinton knows that Saudi Arabia is a bad actor. She has said repeatedly and accurately that Saudi Arabia is the world’s leading source of funding for terror groups and terror ideology.

In a secret cable dated December 30, 2009, Secretary of State Clinton wrote: “[D]onors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide.” While preparing her formal run for President, in a leaked August 17, 2014 email to her future campaign chair John Podesta, Clinton wrote, “[W]e need to use our diplomatic and more traditional intelligence assets to bring pressure on the governments of Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which are providing clandestine financial and logistic support to ISIL and other radical Sunni groups in the region.”

The Saudis have for decades engaged in worldwide promotion of the radical Wahhabi version of Islam which preaches hatred against non-believers and is the basis for ISIS doctrines. A Saudi government newspaper documented that, as of 2002, the Saudi royal family had spent “billions to spread Islam to every corner of the earth … 210 Islamic centers …, more than 1,500 mosques and 202 colleges and almost 2,000 schools for educating Muslim children in non-Islamic countries in Europe, North and South America, Australia and Asia."

Under its harsh system of Sharia law and prevailing social norms, Saudi Arabia treats women more inequitably that almost anywhere else in the world. The World Economic Forum ranks Saudi Arabia at the bottom of its gender gap index, 134th of 145 countries. It is socially unacceptable for Saudi women to drive and women are compelled to use separate entrances to public buildings. Last year, the Saudis beheaded 158 people for crimes including drug possession, blasphemy and witchcraft. Married adulterers may be put to death by stoning. Gay people live in fear of the death penalty. Theft may be punished by amputation of a hand or foot.

Notwithstanding Saudi barbarism and misogyny, as Secretary of State, Clinton actively promoted and approved record weapons sales to the nation, which is the largest foreign buyer of U.S. weapons. A 2010 State Department briefing described the sale of American weapons to Saudi Arabia as a “top priority for … Secretary Clinton.” “Not a bad Christmas present” wrote a state department aide to Hillary Clinton in a 2011 Christmas Eve email. The aide was congratulating her on the consummation of a $29.4 billion sale to Saudis of over 80 F-15 fighter jets manufactured by group of contractors led by Boeing.

These F-15s are now being used in the Saudi war in Yemen and Clinton has not uttered a word of objection.

Was Hillary Clinton influenced by Saudi millions given to her, Bill Clinton and the Clinton Foundation?

Two months before the Christmas Eve weapons sale, Boeing made a $900,000 contribution to the Clinton Foundation. This follows a pattern of Clinton Foundation donors getting state department approval of weapons deals. Saudi Arabia, has given at least $10 million to the Clinton Foundation since its inception. The Saudis have continued to give to the Clinton Foundation while Hillary runs for President.

While Clinton was Secretary of State, companies including General Electric, Boeing, Exxon Mobil and Microsoft were able to enlist the state department to help in their marketing to foreign governments, according to the Wall Street Journal. Before every overseas diplomatic trip, Undersecretary of State and former Goldman Sachs investment banker Robert Hormats prepared a list of corporate interests for Secretary Clinton to promote. The Journal found that of 425 corporate donors to the Clinton Foundation, the 60 who lobbied the state department during her four years as Secretary contributed $26 million.

John Podesta, former counselor to President Obama, is now Hillary’s campaign chairman. Podesta’s brother, Tony Podesta currently lobbies for the Saudi government. WikiLeaks just published an April 16, 2012 email from the director of foreign policy for the Clinton Foundation, Amitabh Desai, to a Bill Clinton staffer. Desai writes that Qatar’s ambassador “would like to see WJC [Bill Clinton] for five minutes in NYC, to present $1 million check that Qatar promised for WJC's birthday in 2011.” Remember, Hillary Clinton knows that both Saudi Arabia and Qatar have funded ISIS.

Hillary Clinton voted in 2002 for the war in Iraq. Many have learned the lessons of Afghanistan and Iraq. Hillary has not.

In 2011, ignoring unambiguous public warning from then-Defense Secretary Gates, Hillary Clinton pushed to bomb Libya. For anyone doubting Hillary Clinton’s decisive role in initiating the Libya bombing war, consider the subhead of this February 2016 New York Times feature story: “The president was wary. The secretary of state was persuasive. But the ouster of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi left Libya a failed state and a terrorist haven.” Then in 2012, despite prior warning from military leaders, Hillary Clinton backedarming, funding, and training “moderate” rebels in Syria and Iraq who morphed, almost exactly as predicted, into the ISIS Caliphate.

Aside from the humanitarian toll, Hillary’s whack-a-mole meddling in these hornets’ nests in Iraq, Libya, Syria and now Yemen has spread terrorism, made Americans less safe and increased the number U.S. conflicts with Russia. These conflicts have, in turn, increased the risk of nuclear war involving Russia to historic levels. “Today, the danger of some sort of a nuclear catastrophe is greater than it was during the Cold War,” warns former Pentagon chief William Perry.

Summing up, as Secretary of State and candidate for President, Hillary Clinton bears direct personal responsibility for the Saudi’s genocidal war in Yemen and the suffering and death of hundreds of thousands of innocent human beings. While there is no proof of quid-pro-quo corruption, it appears obvious that the Saudis have given the Clintons millions of dollars to influence U.S. military policy.

If you cannot stomach blatant political corruption, the facts rule out a vote for Hillary Clinton. If you despise wars that weaken national security and impose mortal suffering on hundreds of thousands of innocent humans, the facts rule out a vote for Hillary Clinton.

Jim Rubens is a former state Senator.