One of the defining declarations of Barack Obama’s 2008 run for the White House was his pledge not only to end the war in Iraq, but also to change the mindset that got America involved in that disastrous war in the first place. In fits and starts, he has adopted that approach as president, particularly in his second term. Unfortunately it appears that Hillary Clinton, his former secretary of state and now the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination, still hasn’t gotten the memo.
Last week Clinton ventured to Washington’s Brookings Institution to talk about her views on the Iran nuclear deal. While she unsurprisingly had positive words about the agreement, the rest of her comments were more troubling. Seven years after losing the Democratic nomination to Obama, in part because of her support for the Iraq War, it seems she still can’t shake the impulse to talk like a foreign policy hawk.
In a speech dripping with contempt for Iran and its leaders that was militaristic to the point of high comedy, Clinton declared that her starting point for dealing with Iran will be one of “distrust.”