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In the Herald, yesterday:

Nicola Sturgeon has praised former US presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton as a “class act” and said the world would have been better if she had defeated Donald Trump. Posting on social media after Ms Clinton’s testimony to the House Oversight Committee was made public, Ms Sturgeon paid a glowing tribute to her fellow politician.

This topic has caused me much angst over the years. Throughout those years, in TuS, I have praised and defended Nicola Sturgeon, time and again but she has a really surprising, for such an intelligent person, blind spot – Hilary Clinton.

Clinton is a ‘class act’ but she’s fully and enthusiastically, in a class along with US foreign policy hawks, including every US president, since Jimmy Carter perhaps, who have launched devastating attacks on weaker nations, killing now millions of civilians, women and children, in pursuit of those countries’ resources and to take out popular, left-of-centre, democratic governments deemed as damaging to US corporations and their right to extract, to pollute and to impoverish the local population. They do so, backed by US arms pretending to bring liberation and civilisation with them, as did Rome, as did the European Empires.

In addition to, as First Minister and SNP leader, without asking the people or even the members, unilaterally, backed Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2016.

Surely, Nicola Sturgeon can see this or is she just another law graduate, like Blair, uneducated in this regard. Is that why she felt it appropriate to tweet that the war criminal (Cambodia 1975ish), Henry Kissinger’s book is a good read.

I have no doubt that Clinton is a war criminal with a track record worse than Trump, so far. If she’d been on the losing side, a Libyan, a Syrian, a Yemeni or a Somali, she’d be in jail.

What is her actual record?

A quick AI search gives you this:

Hillary Clinton, as U.S. Secretary of State (2009–2013), was involved in decisions related to U.S. foreign policy, including military interventions in Libya, Syria, and drone strikes in multiple countries. Critics, particularly from anti-war and progressive circles, argue her actions contributed to significant harm, pointing to:

Libya (2011): Clinton supported the NATO intervention that led to Muammar Gaddafi’s overthrow. The operation, authorized by UN Resolution 1973, aimed to protect civilians but resulted in prolonged instability, with critics claiming it violated international law by exceeding the UN mandate. Posts on X and some web sources, like antiwar.com, call her a war criminal for this, citing civilian deaths and Libya’s descent into chaos.

Drone Strikes: As Secretary of State, Clinton was part of an administration that expanded drone warfare in Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia. Leaked documents (e.g., The Drone Papers) suggest high civilian casualties, fueling accusations of war crimes for violating principles of distinction and proportionality under international humanitarian law.

Syria and Other Conflicts: Her advocacy for arming Syrian rebels and hawkish stance on Iran and Afghanistan are cited by detractors as contributing to regional destabilization.

Frankly, Nicola, I just don’t get it.

Trump is a monster, clearly, and the US population might haver been better under Clinton though she too serves first the interests of the rich who sponsor her campaigns and has a poor track record even on women’s rights more so on those of the poor.

The rest of the world? The Middle East? She’d have been a nightmare for them. Iran would have been attacked 10 years ago with 1 million civilians, mostly women and children dead and countless millions homeless and displaced. She’d have dragged the UK into further boots-on-the-ground post-imperial adventures across the globe.

Why, on earth does Sturgeon not know this and see that it’s not enough to just be a woman denied a top job.

Finally back to the Donald. As I said, he’s a monster, in many ways, and the people of the US are paying a price for electing him, but:

If you look instead at US military deaths, Trump has far, far, fewer attributable to him.

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