{"id":277806,"date":"2016-11-07T14:56:40","date_gmt":"2016-11-07T13:56:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/?p=277806"},"modified":"2016-11-07T18:50:26","modified_gmt":"2016-11-07T17:50:26","slug":"vote-life-depended-upon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/latest-news\/vote-life-depended-upon\/","title":{"rendered":"Vote as if your life depended upon it, because it does."},"content":{"rendered":"

Eric Zuesse<\/a><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s why:<\/span><\/p>\n

Hillary has repeatedly said: \u201cWe should also work with the coalition and the\u00a0neighbors to impose no-fly zones that will stop Assad from\u00a0slaughtering civilians and the opposition from the air.\u00a0Opposition forces\u00a0 <\/span>on the ground, with material support\u00a0from the coalition, could then help create safe areas where\u00a0Syrians could remain in the country, rather than fleeing\u00a0toward Europe.”<\/span><\/p>\n

This would mean that U.S. fighter-jets and missiles would be shooting down the fighter-jets and missiles of the Syrian government over Syria, and would also be shooting down those of Russia. The Syrian government invited Russia in, as its protector; the U.S. is no protector but an invader against Syria\u2019s legitimate government, the Ba\u2019athist government, led by Bashar al-Assad. The CIA has been trying ever since 1949 to overthrow Syria\u2019s Ba\u2019athist government <\/span><\/a>\u2014 the only remaining non-sectarian government in the Middle East other than the current Egyptian government. The U.S. supports Jihadists who demand Sharia law, and they are trying to overthrow and replace Syria\u2019s institutionally secular government. For the U.S. to impose a no-fly zone anywhere in Syria would mean that the U.S. would be at war against Russia over Syria\u2019s skies.<\/span><\/p>\n

Whichever side loses that conventional air-war would then have to choose whether to surrender, or instead to use nuclear weapons against the other side\u2019s homeland, in order for it to avoid surrendering. That\u2019s nuclear war between Russia and the United States. <\/span><\/p>\n

Would Putin surrender? Would Hillary? Would neither? If neither does, then nuclear war will be the result.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are the two most extensive occasions in which Hillary has stated her position on this:<\/span><\/p>\n

To the Council on Foreign Relations, on 19 November 2015:<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 We should also work with the coalition and the\u00a0neighbors to impose no-fly zones that will stop Assad from\u00a0slaughtering civilians and the opposition from the air.\u00a0Opposition forces on the ground, with material support\u00a0from the coalition, could then help create safe areas where\u00a0Syrians could remain in the country, rather than fleeing\u00a0toward Europe.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 This combined approach would help enable the opposition\u00a0to retake the remaining stretch of the Turkish border from\u00a0ISIS, choking off its supply lines. It would also give us new\u00a0leverage in the diplomatic process that Secretary Kerry is\u00a0pursuing. \u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 QUESTION: When you were secretary of state, you tended\u00a0to agree a great deal with the then-Secretary of Defense Bob\u00a0Gates. Gates was opposed to a no-fly zone in Syria; thought\u00a0it was an act of war that was risky and dangerous. This\u00a0seems to me the major difference right now between what\u00a0the president \u2014 what Obama\u2019s administration is doing and\u00a0what you\u2019re proposing.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Do you not \u2014 why do you disagree with Bob Gates on this?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 CLINTON: Well, I \u2014 I believe that the no-fly zone is\u00a0merited and can be implemented, again, in a coalition, not\u00a0an American-only no-fly zone. I fully respect Bob and his\u00a0knowledge about the difficulties of implementing a no-fly\u00a0zone. But if you look at where we are right now, we have to\u00a0try to clear the air of the bombing attacks that are still being\u00a0carried out to a limited extent by the Syrian military, now\u00a0supplemented by the Russian air force.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 And I think we have a chance to do that now. We have a no-fly zone over northern Iraq for years to protect the Kurds.\u00a0And it proved to be successful, not easy \u2014 it never is \u2014 but I\u00a0think now is the time for us to revisit those plans.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 I also believe, as I said in the speech, that if we begin the\u00a0conversation about a no-fly zone, something that, you\u00a0know, Turkey discussed with me back when I was secretary\u00a0of state in 2012, it will confront a lot of our partners in the\u00a0region and beyond about what they\u2019re going to do. And it\u00a0can give us leverage in the discussions that Secretary Kerry\u00a0is carrying on right now.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 So I see it as both a strategic opportunity on the ground,\u00a0and an opportunity for leverage in the peace negotiations. \u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 QUESTION: Jim Ziren (ph), Madam Secretary. Hi. Back to\u00a0the no- fly zone. are you advocating a no-fly zone over the\u00a0entire country or a partial no-fly zone over an enclave where\u00a0refugees might find a safe haven? And in the event of either,\u00a0do you foresee see you might be potentially provoking the\u00a0Russians?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 CLINTON: I am advocating the second, a no-fly zone\u00a0principally over northern Syria close to the Turkish (ph)\u00a0border, cutting off the supply lines, trying to provide some\u00a0safe refuges for refugees so they don\u2019t have to leave Syria,\u00a0creating a safe space away from the barrel bombs and the\u00a0other bombardments by the Syrians. And I would certainly\u00a0expect to and hope to work with the Russians to be able to\u00a0do that. [She expects Putin to join America\u2019s bombing of Syria\u2019s government and troops and shooting-down of Russia\u2019s planes in Syria, but no question was raised about this.] \u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 To have a swath of territory that could be a\u00a0safe zone \u2026 for Syrians so they wouldn\u2019t have to leave but\u00a0also for humanitarian relief, \u2026 would give\u00a0us this extra leverage that I\u2019m looking for in the diplomatic\u00a0pursuits with Russia with respect to the political outcome in\u00a0Syria.<\/span><\/p>\n

During a debate against Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primaries:<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Hillary Clinton, in a debate with Bernie on 19 December 2015, argued for her proposal that the U.S. impose in Syria a \u201cno-fly zone\u201d where Russians were dropping bombs on the imported jihadists who have been trying to overthrow and replace Assad:\u00a0“I am advocating the no-fly zone both because I think it would help us on the\u00a0ground to protect Syrians; I’m also advocating it because I think it gives us\u00a0some leverage in our conversations with Russia.\u201d<\/span><\/a>\u00a0She said there that allowing the jihadists to overthrow Assad \u201cwould help us on the ground to protect Syrians,\u201d somehow; and, also, that, somehow, shooting down Russia\u2019s planes in Syria (the \u201cno-fly zone\u201d) “gives us\u00a0some leverage in our conversations with Russia.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Bernie Sanders\u2019s response to that was: “I worry too much that Secretary Clinton is too much into regime change and a\u00a0little bit too aggressive without knowing what the unintended consequences\u00a0might be.\u201d He didn\u2019t mention nuclear war as one of them.<\/span><\/p>\n

The \u201cno-fly zone\u201d policy is one of three policies she supports that would likely produce nuclear war; she supports all of them, not merely the \u201cno-fly zone.\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Hillary Clinton has never been asked \u201cWhat would you do if Russia refuses to stop its flights in Syria?\u201d Donald Trump has said nothing about the proposal for a no-fly zone (other than \u201cI want to sit back and see what happens\u201d<\/span><\/a>), because most Americans support that idea<\/span><\/a>, and he\u2019s not bright enough to take her on about it and ask her that question. Probably, if he were supportive of it, he\u2019d have said so \u2014 in which case it wouldn\u2019t still be an issue in this election. Trump muffed his chance \u2014 which he has had on several occasions. But clearly he, unlike her, has not committed himself on this matter.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hillary Clinton is obviously convinced that the U.S. would win a nuclear war against Russia<\/span><\/a>. The question for voters is whether they\u2019re willing to bet their lives that she is correct about that, and that even if the U.S. \u2018wins\u2019, only Russia and not also<\/i> the U.S. (and the world) would be destroyed if the U.S. nuclear-attacks Russia.<\/span><\/p>\n

Every other issue in this election pales by comparison to the no-fly-zone issue, which is virtually ignored, in favor of issues that are trivial by comparison. But a vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote for nuclear war against Russia, regardless of whether or not the voters know this. And a vote for Trump is a vote for the unknown. Could the unknown be even worse than Hillary Clinton? If so, would it be so only in relatively trivial ways?<\/span><\/p>\n

This election should be about Hillary Clinton, not about Donald Trump.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/span><\/p>\n

Investigative historian Eric Zuesse is the author, most recently, of\u00a0 They\u2019re Not Even Close: The Democratic vs. Republican Economic Records, 1910-2010<\/i><\/span><\/a>,<\/i> and of<\/span> \u00a0<\/i>CHRIST\u2019S VENTRILOQUISTS: The Event that Created Christianity<\/i><\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eric Zuesse Here\u2019s why: Hillary has repeatedly said: \u201cWe should also work with the coalition and the\u00a0neighbors to impose no-fly zones that will stop Assad from\u00a0slaughtering civilians and the opposition from the air.\u00a0Opposition forces\u00a0 on the ground, with material support\u00a0from the coalition, could then help create safe areas where\u00a0Syrians could remain in the country, rather […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1254,"featured_media":276977,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[461,18],"tags":[698,6257],"class_list":{"0":"post-277806","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-editorials","8":"category-latest-news","9":"tag-hillary-clinton","10":"tag-trump"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1254"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277806\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}