While there have been many times when it has been necessary to mount a defense here against right-wing and Tea Party operatives, it is unusual to have to defend Hillary's record against someone supposedly on her side of the divide. If this were coming from Jennifer Rubin (see refutation of her assessment of Hillary's legacy here), for example, I might have shrugged it off at this point since, like The Ancient Mariner, she continues repeating the same refrain ad nauseam. It comes, however, from someone who should know better, has some credibility in some quarters, and therefore requires correction.
Hillary Clinton was never a shrinking violet on issues relating to Iran, not on their nuclear aspirations and not on their human rights record. Here are some links that support this statement dating back to 2009.
Video: Secretary Clinton’s Remarks on Iran
September 24, 2009Secretary Clinton: Further Remarks on Iran
September 26, 2009Video: Secretary Clinton’s Remarks on Armenia, Iran, and Honduras
March 6, 2010Three video shorts: Hillary Clinton in Estonia on Iran, Kyrgyzstan, and Syria
April 25, 2010Videos: Hillary Clinton’s Remarks on North Korea and Iran
May 25, 2010Secretary Clinton’s Remarks on the Anniversary of Iran’s Disputed Presidential Election
June 12, 2010Secretary Clinton’s Statement on Passage of Iran Sanctions Legislation
June 25, 2010Hillary Clinton Speaks Out For Sakineh, Gays, and Greens in Iran
August 10, 2010Hillary Clinton Speaks Out Against Persecution of Religious Minorities in Iran
August 12, 2010Secretary Clinton’s Statement on Deteriorating Human Rights Situation in Iran
February 24, 2011Video: Secretary Clinton Announces Changes to Iranian Student Visa Validity
May 20, 2011Secretary Clinton’s Statement: Repression in Iran and Syria
June 14, 2011Secretaries Clinton & Geithner: Joint Statement on Iran Sanctions
June 23, 2011Secretary Clinton Commends IAEA Resolution on Iran
November 20, 2011Secretary Clinton: Measures to Increase Pressure on Iran **Video**
November 21, 2011Hillary Clinton: Significant Reductions of Iranian Crude Oil Purchases
June 11, 2012China and Singapore Earn Clinton Credit on Reducing Iranian Crude Imports
June 28, 2012Hillary Clinton’s Statement on Iran
September 14, 2012Clearly, Hillary Clinton leaned hard on Iran throughout her tenure at the State Department. To suggest that she was pussy-footing flies in the face of the record. To say that as Secretary of State she calibrated her actions according to a distant future campaign that remains imaginary to this day badly insults her strong performance on many fronts, not just Iran. That this comes from a voice perceived to be within her own camp and the party in power as she carried out these policies is treacherous and dangerous in that the audience receiving this message is inimical to the progress of the administration she represented in this position.
A last, and important factor that Brzezinski failed to address is the transfer of power within Iran since Hillary stepped down. She was dealing with Ahmedinejad. Secretary Kerry inherited the groundwork she laid with a hard line on sanctions (that worked) and a new, reform leader whose openness to a kind of glasnost was apparent from the beginning.
It is facile and pointless to compare the performances of these two secretaries of state. It borders on slander to design a scenario wherein Hillary Clinton was operating not out of loyalty to her oath but rather out of a political ambition imagined by someone purportedly on her own side of the fence.
Brzezinski is dead wrong on this. He is wrong about the facts, and he is wrong to have invented a back story the intent of which only could have been to tarnish the record of a fine public servant who deserves our thanks for her very dedicated, selfless work for all of us. These were graceless remarks. He should retract them and apologize for misrepresenting Hillary Clinton based on no fact and no knowledge whatsoever.
Hillary! We've got your back!
