The Tillerson Hearing: Will Trump Have A Neocon Foreign Policy?

[Brian4Liberty]

The Tillerson Hearing: Will Trump Have A Neocon Foreign Policy? (http://ronpaulinstitute.org/archives/featured-articles/2017/january/12/the-tillerson-hearing-will-trump-have-a-neocon-foreign-policy/)
Written by Daniel McAdams - Thursday January 12, 2017


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGFjWcwvx_0


Watching the Senate hearing for President-elect Trump's Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, it seemed arch-neocon Bill Kristol might have been hiding somewhere feeding the former Exxon CEO his lines. He's going to stop China from accessing islands it has constructed in the South China Sea? He endorses the neocon line about Russian "aggression" against Ukraine and Crimea? If America doesn't "lead" the rest of the world, there will only be chaos and confusion? He wants to give Saudi Arabia a "pass" on its dismal human rights record? Let's hope Tillerson is just telling the likes of Marco Rubio (R-FL) what he wants to hear, but should we bet on it?
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http://ronpaulinstitute.org/archives/featured-articles/2017/january/12/the-tillerson-hearing-will-trump-have-a-neocon-foreign-policy/

[CaptainAmerica]

Rand Paul questioned him on his view of Iraq and he said it was a mistake to invade Iraq and Afghanistan. Only time will tell....now whether the new president will start more wars,end wars, and remove bases from foreign nations.

[CaptUSA]

Rand Paul questioned him on his view of Iraq and he said it was a mistake to invade Iraq and Afghanistan. Only time will tell....now whether the new president will start more wars,end wars, and remove bases from foreign nations.

Uh, I watched the Rand questioning. Tillerson said "in hindsight" Iraq was a mistake. It didn't turn out the way we wanted it to. That's a far cry from saying the invasions were mistakes!

If your criteria for judging whether or not interventions are a good idea include whether or not they turn out the way you want them to, then you are still an interventionist! At best, based on his answers, he'd be a more cautious interventionist. But he didn't seem to have a problem with using my money to create his dreamland.

[euphemia]

I think maybe not, if Tillerson's remarks are anything to go on. In my opinion, laypeople in general, and businesspeople in particular are able to see the cost to human life. Tillerson said that very thing. War has a cost, and it would be a last resort, if I understood him correctly. This, in contrast to Hillary Clinton, who went to war over the dumbest things.

Tillerson seems to have a very good grasp on things, and I feel like he is a man who measures his words and condact carefully. I don't think it is fair to try to predict what people would do under certain circumstances. That's a pretty broad brush considering how circumstances change from moment to moment and from person to person.

[jllundqu]

Does The Lorax, er I mean Bolton get a confirmation hearing? Can't wait to hear Rand when THAT day comes....

[CaptainAmerica]

Uh, I watched the Rand questioning. Tillerson said "in hindsight" Iraq was a mistake. It didn't turn out the way we wanted it to. That's a far cry from saying the invasions were mistakes!

If your criteria for judging whether or not interventions are a good idea include whether or not they turn out the way you want them to, then you are still an interventionist! At best, based on his answers, he'd be a more cautious interventionist. But he didn't seem to have a problem with using my money to create his dreamland.
Like I said, time will tell. Anyone can say they are a peace president, or peaceful and be a butcher. Obama campaigned on the idea of ending war....of course he wasnt going to end war, the same goes for Trump...he claims one thing but his actions will show over time. Its a matter of time until we see.

[euphemia]

Name a time Trump has ever solved a problem without negotiating first.

[Anti-Neocon]

Name a time Trump has ever solved a problem
It's difficult, but he's great at creating them.

[Origanalist]

Is Trump Already Finished? — Paul Craig Roberts
January 13, 2017 | Categories: Articles & Columns | Tags: | Print This Article Print This Article
Is Trump Already Finished?

Paul Craig Roberts

It did not take long before we knew there was no hope of change from President Obama. But at least he went into his inauguration with an unprecedented number of Americans on the Mall showing their support for the President of Change. Hope was abundant.

But with Trump, we are already losing faith, if not yet with him, at least with his choice of those who comprise his government even before Trump is inaugurated.

Trump’s choice for Secretary of State not only sounds like the neoconservatives in declaring Russia to be a threat to the United States and all of Europe, but also sounds like Hillary Clinton in declaring the South China Sea to be an area of US dominance. One would think that the chaiman of Exxon was not an idiot, but I am no longer sure. In his confirmation hearing, Rex Tillerson said that China’s access to its own South China Sea is “not going to be allowed.”

Here is Tillerson’s statement: “We’re going to have to send China a clear signal that first, the island-building stops, and second, your access to those islands also not going to be allowed.”

I mean, really, what is Tillerson going to do about it except get the world blown up. China’s response was as pointed as a response can be:

Tillerson “should not be misled into thinking that Beijing will be fearful of threats. If Trump’s diplomatic team shapes future Sino-US ties as it is doing now, the two sides had better prepare for a military clash. Tillerson had better bone up on nuclear power stategies if he wants to force a big nuclear power to withdraw from its own territories.”

So Trump is not even inauguarated and his idiot nominee for Secretary of State has already created an animosity relationship with two nuclear powers capable of completely destroying all of the West for enternity. And this makes the US Senate comfortable with Tillerson. The imbeciles should be scared out of their wits, assuming they have any.

One of the reasons that Russia rescued Syria from Washington’s overthrow is that Russia understood that Washington’s next target would be Iran and from a destroyed Iran terrorism would be exported into the Russian Federation. There is an axis of countries threatened by US supported terrorism—Syria, Iran, Russia, China.

Trump says he wants to normalize relations with Russia and to open up business opportunities in the place of conflict. But to normalize relations with Russia requires also normalizing relations with Iran and China.

Judging from their public statements, Trump’s announced government has targeted Iran for destabilization. Trump’s appointees as National Security Advisor, Secretary of Defense, and Director of the CIA all regard Iran incorrectly as a terrorist state that must be overthrown.

But Russia cannot allow Washington to ovethrow the stable government in Iran and will not allow it. China’s investments in Iranian oil imply that China also will not permit Washington’s overthrow of Iran. China has already suffered from its lost investments in Libyan oil as the result of the Obama regimes overthrow of the Libyan government.

Realistically speaking, it looks like the Trump Presidency is already defeated by his own appointees independently of the ridiculous and completely unbelievable propaganda put out by the CIA and broadcast by the presstitute media in the US, UK, and Europe. The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, and BBC have lowered themselves below the National Enquirer.

Possibly, as I wrote earlier today (http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2017/01/13/the-establishment-is-trying-to-steal-the-presidency-from-trump-paul-craig-roberts/), these statements from Trump’s appointees are nothing but what is required to be confirmed and are not operational in any sense. However, it is possible to stand up to the bastards in confirmation hearings. I stood up in my confirming hearing, and the embarrassed Democrats requested that the entire hearing be deleted from the record.

If the Chairman of Exxon and a Lt. General are not capable of standing up to the imbecillic Congress, they are unfit for office. That they did not stand up is an indication that they lack the strength that Trump needs if he is to bring change from the top.

If Trump is unable to change US foreign policy, thermo-nuclear war and the destruction of Earth are inevitable.

http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2017/01/13/is-trump-already-finished-paul-craig-roberts/