From Clinton Cash to Clinton Caches

Posted, 2015-06-01

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Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling

When one thinks of weapons caches, war zones like Syria and Afghanistan immediately comes to mind. But for the United States, those hidden and buried rifles, mines, missiles, and explosives mentioned in foreign nations are closer to home. In fact, not only are they in America's backyard but they belong to the Mistress of War: Hillary Clinton.



Following Peter Schweizer's book, "Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich," comes another damning indictment of Hillary Clinton. (Recall "Clinton Cash" revealed how the Clintons amassed $130 million through shady deals with foreign states and businesses.)



Along with Clinton using her Secretary of State role to make corrupt deals with foreign nations and businesses expecting favors, David Sirota shows that donors to the Clinton Foundation received massive weapons deals. Furthermore, she used the sales as leverage in persuading and manipulating nations in doing the bidding of the U.S. and its policies.



According to Sirota, a consortium of American defense contractors led by Boeing donated millions to the Clinton Foundation in return for military contracts. The weapons would then be delivered to certain nations.(1) In one instance, $29 billion worth of advanced fighter jets were sold to Saudi Arabia, which is currently at war in Yemen.

Sirota also detailed how crooked quid pro quo deals collided with the State Department's concerns over repressive policies of the Saudi Royal family. Clinton weapons caches also went to nations with either poor human rights records or at war, fueling ongoing conflicts. Neither were her caches always in America's best national interests.



"The Saudi deal," writes Sirota, "was one of dozens of arms sales approved by Hillary Clinton's State Department that placed weapons in the hands of governments that had also donated money to the Clinton family philanthropic empire."(2) (Other countries were involved like Bahrain, Thailand, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, and Columbia.)



Another example was Algeria. Clinton's State Department initially inveighed against Algeria's government for imposing "restrictions on freedom of assembly and association" and tolerating "arbitrary killings." But after Algeria donated $500,000 to the Clinton Foundation, State Department officials approved a 1-year 70 percent increase in military exports.



Closer to home, Lockheed Martin (132,000 employees) donated to the Clinton Foundation and received $35 billion in military contracts for F-35 fighter jets. And while Boeing (100,500 employees) was awarded $31 billion for Apaches and drone missiles, Northrop Grumman (120,000 employees) received $28 billion for chemical-biological warfare.(2)



Raytheon, General Dynamics, United Technologies, Honeywell, and Hawker Beechcraft, donated large sums of money to the Clinton Foundation, too. Along with military logistics equipment, these companies exported massive caches of electronic communications for the purpose of hacking computers or disrupting internet services.



In his farewell address, President Dwight Eisenhower warned of the rise of the military industrial complex and of individuals with unwarranted influence in high places. Clinton is an example of Eisenhower's warning. In reality, she was really a consultant and lobbyist for the world's largest weapons cache: the Pentagon and armaments industries.



During Clinton's tenure as Mistress of War, foreign weapons sales totaled $66 billion, "or more than three-quarters of the global arms market."(3) Any threat posed to the Clinton-Pentagon's billion dollar weapons caches by cheap weapons fashioned by insurgents required billions of more dollars in even more sophisticated weapons systems.



Clinton is no dove. Neither does her foundation always promote peace and goodwill. Instead, it is used as leverage abroad, remaking a global village in her neo-liberal image, even if it means arming brutal regimes that kill and murder innocent people. Has her quid pro quo deals and massive weapons caches also served as the roots of more terrorism?



At home, Clinton cash and weapons caches are used to dominate political opponents and manipulate public opinion. She will also use her blood money to seize power in the next presidential election. But if elected president, her administration will not be one of public good but of private gain, mainly for the One Percenters and those who manufacture massive weapons caches.



Overseas, global cooperation is the last thing Clinton cash and caches want, including the Pentagon and armaments industries. Cooperation would not only reduce military exports but cause the collapse of America's economic system. This would mean an end to a militarized empire ruled by Mistresses and Masters of war and their authoritarian laws.



But sadly, Clinton weapons caches are not only buried in the ground but buried deep in a nation's institutions, in the collective minds and hearts of its people.



Dallas Darling (darling@wn.com)



(Dallas Darling is the author of Politics 501: An A-Z Reading on Conscientious Political Thought and Action, Some Nations Above God: 52 Weekly Reflections On Modern-Day Imperialism, Militarism, And Consumerism in the Context of John's Apocalyptic Vision, and The Other Side Of Christianity: Reflections on Faith, Politics, Spirituality, History, and Peace. He is a correspondent for www.worldnews.com. You can read more of Dallas' writings at www.beverlydarling.com and wn.com//dallasdarling.)


(1) www.internationalbusinesstimes.com. "Clinton Foundation Donors Got Weaons Deals From Hillary Clinton's State Department," by David Sirota. May 27, 2015.

(2) www.buisnessinsider.com. "The 25 Biggest Defense Companies In America," by Elise Lee and Robert Johnson. March 13, 2012.

(3) Schreiner, Ben. A People's Dictionary To the 'Exceptional Nation'. Salem, Oregon: Ben Schreiner Publisher, 2015., p. 113.