by Chris Ernesto<\/p>\n
The primary purpose of this article isn\u2019t to make any of Bernie Sanders\u2019 Democratic or Republican competition look comparatively good \u2013 regardless of who\u2019s elected the next president of the United States, the builders of the American Empire, particularly weapon manufacturers, will be happy.<\/p>\n
The intent of this piece is to call out Democrats, liberals and progressives who are hysterically supporting Bernie Sanders, while still calling themselves supporters of peace.<\/p>\n
As David Masciotra wrote<\/a> in Salon, \u201cLiberal supporters of Sanders who \u2026 flippantly cast concerns about his collusion with the Pentagon establishment aside with \u201cno one is perfect\u201d or \u201cbetter than Hillary\u201d refrains, should scrutinize their own values, and answer how they rank more refugees, corpses and amputees in the Middle East and Africa against largely unenforceable rhetoric about \u201cstanding up to Wall Street.\u201d<\/p>\n The worst part of the silence surrounding America\u2019s aggression is not the obliviousness of average Americans, but the indifference of liberal activists\u2026 Rebuttals involving his excellent policy proposals on healthcare, education, and social services are insufficient: No issue rises above the moral, political and financial emergency of war and militarism,\u201d stated Masciotra.<\/p>\n Opposing war is an either\/or<\/b><\/p>\n For a person to say they are opposed to U.S. wars while supporting and voting for a candidate who is not 100% opposed to all wars is straight-up hypocrisy.\u00a0 And Sanders doesn\u2019t come anywhere close to 100%. Indeed, he\u2019s closer to 0%<\/a>: Sanders supports current US engagements in Syria<\/a>, Afghanistan<\/a>, Yemen<\/a>, Libya<\/a> and Ukraine<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sanders also participates in the dangerous provocation of Russia<\/a> and Iran<\/a>, and is vague, at best, on the Israel Palestine issue (he typically votes for<\/a> funding to Israel andsupported<\/a> their 2014 war on Gaza).<\/p>\n To make matters worse, Sanders has said<\/a> he would continue Barack Obama\u2019s deadly drone program, which is to say he supports the way wars will be waged in the future. This is the same drone program that results in the killing of innocent people. According to documents revealed<\/a> by Jeremy Scahill, during one five month period, US drone strikes only killed 10% of their intended targets \u2013 in other words, 90% of those killed were innocent civilians.\u00a0 Sanders wants to continue such a program.<\/p>\n Caring about overseas victims of US wars is lowest on the totem pole<\/b><\/p>\n Why is war the one area in which liberals are willing to accept the “lesser of two evils?”\u00a0 Why do they accept promises of “less war” in place of guarantees of “no war?”<\/p>\n To emphasize this point, consider the outrage in respective circles if the following were to happen:<\/p>\n Preposterous, right?\u00a0 But it\u2019s happening right now with self-described antiwar liberals.<\/p>\n Talking out of both sides of his mouth<\/b><\/p>\n Liberals cheer when Sanders says he doesn\u2019t want to kick Muslims out of the US, but they turn a blind eye to the fact that he wants<\/a> Muslims in the Middle East to bomb and shoot each other.<\/p>\n Sanders talks about supporting women\u2019s rights in the US at the same time he supports<\/a>one of the world\u2019s<\/a> worst regime on women\u2019s rights \u2013 Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n But since he\u2019s not as much of a hawk as Hillary Clinton, liberals are enthusiastically supporting him.<\/p>\n Would those same liberals support Sanders if he were just a little bit better than \u2013 but still bad \u2013 on gay marriage, the environment, workers rights, race relations and a woman\u2019s right to choose?<\/p>\n Of course they wouldn\u2019t.\u00a0 For liberals to rationalize their support of Sanders on the basis that his foreign policy is not as imperialistic as Clinton\u2019s speaks volumes.\u00a0 Consider if one rationalized their support for:<\/p>\n Sanders panders<\/b><\/p>\n And Sanders supporters fail to recognize the obvious: Sanders panders to the war machine. If Sanders does this in order to become<\/i> president, imagine what he\u2019d do in his re-election bid? After tasting the nectar of being the “most powerful man in the world” does anyone seriously believe Sanders would stop accommodating the architects of the American Empire?<\/p>\n\n
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