Sanders blasts Kissinger for his role in Cambodia policy

Published February 13, 2016
Milwaukee: Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton shake hands after a Democratic presidential primary debate at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Thursday.—AP
Milwaukee: Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton shake hands after a Democratic presidential primary debate at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Thursday.—AP

NEW YORK: Senator Bernie Sanders, the Democratic front-runner, has criticised former secretary of state Henry Kissinger for his role in US policy towards Cambodia decades ago.

Sanders is trying to undermine Hillary Clinton’s foreign policy judgment by pointing out that she has boasted of praise from Kissinger. The 92-year-old was secretary of state till 1977.

Sanders said in a debate on Thursday night that Kissinger was “one of the most destructive secretaries of state in the history of this country.”

Clinton is trying to turn the tables by pointing out that Sanders has faced tough questions about where he’s getting his foreign policy advice. Sanders responds, “Well, it ain’t Henry Kissinger”.

Clinton is praising Kissinger for his role in expanding US relations with China.

Asked by moderators about keeping America safe, Clinton said the United States should combat the militant Islamic State (IS) group by supporting fighters on the ground and trying to “take on ISIS online”.

She said American Muslims must feel “welcomed”. “American Muslims are the frontline against terrorist attacks in the United States.”

Sanders said the United States must be cautious about seeking regime change in other countries, noting that he “will look very carefully at unintended consequences”.

Bernie Sanders is continuing to criticise Clinton for supporting the 2003 invasion of Iraq, which he opposed.

During a foreign policy exchange in the Democratic debate in Milwaukee, the Vermont senator cited the two opposing war votes in the Senate and said, “judgment matters”.

The former secretary of state stressed her experience, saying, “I do not believe a vote in 2002 is a plan to defeat ISIS in 2016”. She has since said her vote to authorise the war was a mistake.

According to sources in the Trump campaign, he is escaped to paint Jeb Bush’s move to bring in his mother, and now brother, as a sign of weakness.Trump will tell a crowd of thousands at a rally in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, that he has read reports about the former president’s plans to campaign with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

Jeb Bush “tried the mother, that didn’t work out so good. Now he’s bringing in his brother” according to a copy of Trump’s speech.

Trump recalls his own opposition to the war in Iraq and pointed to George W. Bush “getting us in that quicksand”. “That was a horrible call to go in”.

“I will leave Jeb Bush alone if his campaign stops airing negative ads against me”.

Published in Dawn, February 13th, 2016

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