Did the US commit atrocities while Big Dog was in office?

[Doctor_J]

The real lefties like Cockburn and Chomsky and Parenti lump the last generation of US presidents together under "US foreign policy", and cite our "imperialism" and "lawlessness" and so forth as being pretty much of a constant over the last 30 years. Is this true? Was that facet of our world presence as bad in the 90's as it is with Smirk in charge? If so, why was/is Clinton beloved around the world while * is despised?

[SaveElmer]

1. He didn't act in Rwanda...

Which he now says was his greatest mistake...

On the other hand our intervention in Kosovo likely prevented a genocide from occurring...

[Warpy]

2. Yes

The SOA was still in operation. The policy of rendition, transferring prisoners to countries where torture is practiced, was started under Poppy Bush and continued under Clinton's administration. The scale was just a bit different. Clinton's administration seemingly used it sparingly. This bunch glories in it.

There was a lot wrong with Clinton's administration. Much of it can be traced to Daddy Bush, the CIA, the NSA, and other governmental agencies gone wild, but not all of it. There were certainly policies he should have ended but didn't.

[Sapphocrat]

3. Two things come to mind...

...Kosovo, and air raids in Iraq's no-fly zone.

Which, while atrocious, don't come near the level of "atrocities" I think you mean.

On the other hand, the School of the Americas has been with us for decades, so if you're looking for actual hands-on torture, there you go. SOA isn't a Clinton creation -- but then, he didn't do anything to eliminate it, either.

[YOY]

4. Sperm was wasted!!!

adn we all know "Every Sperm is Sacred!"

[TheFarseer]

5. bombing the aspirin factory

Bad intelligence is the president's fault if a democrat is president and the fact that an aspirin factory was bombed in not in dispute because Rush said so. Also, everyone knows that The Sudan is the world's largest supplier of aspirin(?) :shrug:

[leveymg]

9. The "aspirin factory" was owned by a UBL financier, Khalid bin Mahfouz

It was a shot across the bow to him and the other Gulf billionaires who were contributing to the jihadist cause.

[No Exit]

6. I don't know, but I don't recall Clinton's VP openly pushing for torture

[Doctor_J]

7. Oh, yeah, this admin might be the worst in the world

damn small doubt about that. But I am seriously trying to figure out what sort of chicanery is SOP for our government, and what's "new and improved"

Edit: Can you imagine someone as brilliant and classy as Al Gore approving torture? Cheney is about as close as one can get to pure evil.

[Humor_In_Cuneiform]

8. This crowd is running wild, pretty much attempting to justify

violations of our own law, the Geneva convention, and International law on our part.

While condemning other nations for their "human rights" violation.

That is quite different.

[stillcool]

10. Hundreds of thousands of dead, or maimed people

in the last 4 years measure quite high on the atrocity yard stick.

[melody]

11. the problem is the Bush crime family

And the insane anti-communist wack jobs that have held the White House prisoner since JFK died.

Bill had very little say about those matters.

[orwell]

12. The Killing Fields

There is plenty that Clinton could be called on the carpet for. The continuation of the sanctions on Iraq, which even Maddy Albright conceded may have killed up to 500K people, many of them children. The air war over Kosovo which killed many civilians as well as troops (Remember the bombing of the Chinese embassy.) The bombing of the aspirin factory. These are only the things we know about.

American foreign policy has been a very effective killing machine for decades, going back to the Spanish American War, but intensifying with the cold war post WWII. By some estimates, 6 million people have died as either a direct result of the American military or the indirect result of US client states/regimes/political movements at the behest of the US.

This is not an enviable record by any measure.