Hillary's AIPAC Speech

I watched Hillary Clinton's speech to AIPAC this morning, and I found that we may have just seen the most daylight between her and President Obama that we will all year. Her words on Iran, and our nuclear deal with them, were quite a bit more hawkish. Her words on ISIS, while echoing, were also very hawkish. Hillary clearly broke ranks a bit.

On the matter of ISIS, I agree with her, destroy them. This is a group that provides little to no value to the people they live amongst, and is actually killing more Muslims than anything else each day. What they are doing to the people within their "caliphate" is inhumane, and they are a threat to the security of the world. They are a group of barbarians. She is right to say we must defeat Daesh.

On the matter of the Iran Deal, I find her words troubling. It's not that I disagree that we can't trust Iran yet, it's that there is no positive value in saying that our default position should be mistrust. Here's the truth- the Iran Deal was the right thing to do, and it needs to work. Perhaps that is not the default position of those in the room at AIPAC, but it is the reality. Without a deal in place, Iran continues to work towards having nuclear weapons, and has less reason to not use them as a bargaining chip. The idea that a confrontational relationship with Iran has worked is incorrect. It has not.

As for her words on Israel itself, I generally agree with her. We must defend the security of Israel. We must support it. We also have to push their government towards positive outcomes right now. Bibi Netanyahu is the rightfully elected Prime Minister in Israel. His goals do not really align with our's on many regional issues, or for that matter the global community. Yes, we should be Israel's friend and ally. Yes, we should make it clear to their enemies that we will continue to do so. We almost must not coddle Netanyahu on matters where he is at odds with our policies. That has not worked in the past, and it won't work in the future.

On the whole though, I am glad that Hillary Clinton is at AIPAC. Despite it's rightward drift in recent years, it remains the main pro-Israel lobbying group in our country. A Democratic nominee must make it clear that we are supportive of Israel. I am glad to see Hillary Clinton make that case at the highest level she can.