Posted by
Always To The Right on Thursday, December 18, 2008 8:00:20 PM
For ten years, Bill Clinton resisted calls to make public the donors to
his charitable foundation. Under pressure from Barack Obama for
Hillary’s appointment to State, Bill finally agreed to the release of
the data — and his reluctance is now understandable. Clinton took tens of millions from foreign interests that will call into question Hillary’s ability to represent American foreign policy
The bulk of the money comes from powerful interests around the
world, and the heavy Saudi and Indian financing could create problems
in two hot spots for the Obama administration, especially the latter.
I’m comfortable with positioning ourselves as a friend of India,
which has a much better record of democracy and of fighting terrorism
than Pakistan. The new Pakistani government represents a step in the
right direction, though, and they may not appreciate dealing with
someone with so many large financial ties to their bitter enemy to the
south. The incoming administration will have to deal with both
governments to resolve the Kashmir dispute, which fuels terrorism and
extremism in the region and has prompted Pakistan in the past to
subsidize terrorist groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba. Will Pakistan see
Hillary as a disinterested refereee in that process now? That seems
highly doubtful.
Some of the major donors may raise eyebrows, either for questionable
associations or just puzzlement. For instance, the Swedish Postcode
Lottery donated between $500K and $1 million to the foundation. Why
would they donate to the Clintons instead of charities closer to home?
The US Islamic World Conference donated $250-500K, as did the China
Overseas Real Estate Development organization. What made them so
interested in the Clinton library?
Michelle
has more on other donors, and the question is pretty clear. Can the US
have a Secretary of State who has so many financial connections to
foreign interests? The Senate had better conduct a thorough debate on
that topic.
Update: Uh-oh. How long before the inevitable freak-out among the Left about this:
The Blackwater Training Center donated $10,001 to
$25,000. The State Department will have to decide next year whether to
renew Blackwater Worldwide’s contract to protect U.S. diplomats in
Iraq. Five Blackwater guards have been indicted by a U.S. grand jury on
manslaughter and weapons charges stemming from a September 2007
firefight in Baghdad’s Nisoor Square in which 17 Iraqis died.