Fact check: Clinton’s record at State Department during Middle East chaos
Oren Dorell | USA TODAY1 hour ago
Hillary Clinton’s tenure as President Obama’s first secretary of State from 2009 through January 2013 was marked by extreme turmoil in the Middle East. It included the Arab Spring protests, Iranian nuclear brinksmanship and withdrawal of U.S. troops in Iraq. Republican rival Donald Trump said her tenure at State left a legacy of “death, destruction and weakness.”
Here is what Trump said, plus events before, during and after her time as secretary:
ISLAMIC STATE (ISIS or ISIL):
Trump said: “In 2009, pre-Hillary, ISIS was not even on the map. … ISIS has spread across the region, and the world. ”
Before Clinton: ISIS was al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), which launched a bloody campaign against Iraq’s Shiite Muslim majority and U.S. troops. AQI faded into obscurity after an increase in U.S. troops in 2007 teamed up with Sunni Arab tribes to combat the group.
Clinton’s role: Obama’s withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq in 2011 and the start of the Syrian civil war that same year created turmoil that allowed AQI to re-emerge. Obama rejected Clinton’s advice to take a more aggressive approach toward Syria to protect civilians and empower moderate and secular rebels to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad’s brutal regime. She also saw the war as an opportunity to sever Syria’s close alliance with Iran. It’s not clear if Clinton’s approach would have prevented AQI from re-emerging and later branding itself as the Islamic State.
After Clinton: Over the next three years, ISIS took advantage of growing instability in Syria to seize territory there, but it did not gain international notoriety until it occupied portions of neighboring Iraq in June 2014, more than a year after Clinton left State. The group has since plotted or inspired followers to launch terrorist attacks around the world.
LIBYA
Trump said: “Libya was cooperating. … Libya is in ruins, and our Ambassador and his staff were left helpless to die at the hands of savage killers.”
Before Clinton: Libya and its strongman leader, Moammar Gaddafi, renounced the country’s nuclear weapons program in 2003 and allowed the United States and Britain to destroy its nuclear weapons infrastructure. Libya earlier renounced terrorism as well, turning over terror suspects and paying compensation to the victims of Pan Am Flight 103, which exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988, killing all 259 aboard.
Clinton’s role: When the Arab Spring uprisings in neighboring Tunisia and Egypt spread to Libya in 2011, Gaddafi sought to put the revolt down by force. Clinton helped develop the NATO campaign to stop him. Libya’s rebels gained momentum and overthrew Gaddafi. The ensuing power vacuum gave rise to militias, including al-Qaeda, which launched a terrorist attack that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans at a U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi on Sept. 11, 2012. In the following days, Clinton and the White House wrongly blamed the attack on a protest over an anti-Islam video, and only later acknowledged there was no protest and it was a planned terrorist attack. Obama and Clinton had a plan for stabilizing Libya after Gaddafi’s fall, but Libya’s transitional government rejected any role for foreign troops.
After Clinton: Multiple investigations by Clinton’s State Department and congressional panels found that State did not provide enough security at the diplomatic post in Benghazi, but little more could have been done to protect the Americans once the attack began. Libya’s warring factions formed a government this year, opening the door to U.S. assistance to defeat the Islamic State, which took advantage of the chaos to grab territory in parts of the country.
Then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the US mission in Benghazi, Libya, on Jan. 23, 2013.
EGYPT
Trump said: “Egypt was peaceful. … Egypt was turned over to the radical Muslim Brotherhood, forcing the military to retake control.”
Before Clinton: Egypt had been ruled for almost 30 years by President Hosni Mubarak, a former general who crushed opponents but cooperated with the United States and its ally Israel on counterterrorism and other regional issues.
Clinton’s role: When the Arab Spring spread to Egypt in 2011, Mubarak was ousted by his military. Clinton said in her memoir, Hard Choices, that she counseled Obama to proceed with caution toward Egypt, but he was swayed by idealism to support the democratic movement that unseated Mubarak. Under her leadership, the State Department sought to work with various post-Mubarak political parties, including the Muslim Brotherhood, a previously outlawed group that tried to impose hard-line Islamic rule in a country used to a secular government. In 2012, the first democratic elections brought to power a political party that represented the Muslim Brotherhood.
After Clinton: In July 2013, five months after Clinton’s departure, the Egyptian military, backed by millions of demonstrators and the political opposition, overthrew the government of Mohamed Morsi and installed a new general who was later elected president in voting that international monitors considered rigged.
IRAQ
Trump said: “Iraq was seeing a reduction in violence. … Iraq is in chaos.”
Before Clinton: Four years after President George W. Bush ordered the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the presence of 145,000 U.S. troops finally reduced violence from an anti-U.S. insurgency. Obama pledged during his 2008 presidential campaign to bring the troops home, and he did in 2011.
Clinton’s role: Clinton sought unsuccessfully to mediate between the Baghdad government and opposition groups to head off sectarian divisions. The State Department also failed to reach an agreement with Iraq’s government on a law that would provide legal protection for a small contingent of U.S. forces that would remain to help keep the peace. Violence flared again, as Iraq’s elected government, dominated by the country’s Shiite majority, pursued policies that alienated the country’s Sunni Arab and Kurdish minorities.
After Clinton: As a result, Sunni tribes that had helped the U.S. military defeat al-Qaeda welcomed the Islamic State fighters when the fellow Sunnis swept into Iraq from neighboring Syria in 2014.
Obama then agree to send military trainers and advisers back to Iraq. More than 4,000 are there now.
IRAN
Trump said: “Iran was being choked by sanctions. … (Now) Iran is on the path to nuclear weapons.”
Before Clinton: Iran was selling oil at a relatively steady rate and pursuing a nuclear weapons research program during the George W. Bush presidency, according to the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency.
Clinton’s role: Obama and Clinton pursued a dual-track policy of strengthening international sanctions against Iran, while secretly pursuing a diplomatic solution to Iran’s nuclear threat. New U.S. sanctions imposed by Congress and European sanctions urged by Clinton created severe economic hardship in Iran. China and Russia joined the international sanctions, removing huge markets for Iranian petroleum. Iran expanded its nuclear program during this time, but its crude exports dropped in 2012 to their lowest level since 1986.
After Clinton: Secret and overt overtures by Obama and Clinton began soon after Obama became president. Formal negotiations under Clinton’s successor, John Kerry, led to a final agreement between Iran and six world powers in July 2015. It called for limits on Iran’s nuclear program in return for lifting sanctions. Implementation began in January, and Iran has kept its nuclear program peaceful — so far, according to the U.N.
Sanctions relief has made tens of billions of dollars available to fund the political agenda of Iran’s anti-U.S. leaders, but Iran has yet to enjoy the economic relief it had hoped for because many U.S. sanctions remain in place, and international businesses remain wary of doing business with Iran.
SYRIA
Trump said: “Syria was under control. … Syria is engulfed in a civil war and a refugee crisis that now threatens the West.”
Before Clinton: Syria was a brutal dictatorship led by Assad, the president belonging to a minority Shiite sect and a close ally of Iran.
Clinton’s role: The Arab Spring uprising in Syria led to civil war in 2011 after Assad’s military opened fire on unarmed democracy demonstrators. Clinton saw the uprising as an opportunity to disconnect Syria from the destabilizing influence of Iran. The U.S. ambassador to Syria encouraged democracy protesters. Clinton and other top advisers urged Obama to increase U.S. support to moderate, secular Syrian rebel groups and to impose a no-fly zone in Syria to prevent Assad’s air force from targeting civilians. But Obama rejected the advice. The precursor to the Islamic State first formed as a militant army that took control of areas in Syria vacated by retreating Assad troops.
After Clinton: The Islamic State grew exponentially after Obama failed to follow through on his 2012 “red line” warning to Assad not to use chemical weapons. Assad used them against rebels in 2013, but the United States did not retaliate, a signal to the rebels that the U.S. would not come to their aid. After Clinton left office, Obama agreed to help train Syrian rebel groups to fight the Islamic State but not Assad.
The civil war continues, with 250,000 to more than 400,000 people dead so far, according to varying estimates, most at the hands of Assad and his allies. About half of Syria’s pre-war population of 22 million fled to neighboring countries, and hundreds of thousands entered Europe, creating a migrant crisis along with fears that a wave of Islamic State-inspired terrorism in Europe could worsen.
