Bloomberg reports Tony Blinken will be Joe Biden’s nominee for Secretary of State.
SAM HUSSEINI, samhusseini@gmail.com, @samhusseini
Senior analyst with the Institute for Public Accuracy, Husseini said today: “During the runup to the invasion of Iraq, Biden — with Blinken’s critical help — oversaw hearings many criticized for effectively propagandizing on behalf of the planned invasion. In 2007, I questioned Biden about his record and he responded that he ‘did ask the necessary questions’ and cut off further questioning. Blinken then effectively ran interference and claimed that ‘every hard question was answered.’ Blinken also claimed without evidence: ‘He [presumably Biden] said there was no yellowcake. … He said there was no aluminum tubes.’” Earlier this year, Husseini wrote the piece “Joe Biden won’t tell the truth about his Iraq war record — and he hasn’t for years” for Salon. He is currently writing a piece about Blinken.
STEPHEN ZUNES, zunes@usfca.edu
Zunes is professor of politics at the University of San Francisco and wrote a piece on Biden’s Iraq record for The Progressive. He said today: “Tony Blinken served as Democratic Staff Director for the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee under Chairman Biden during the critical months leading up to the invasion of Iraq. Under their leadership, the Committee limited hearings to only a day and a half and stacked the witness list with war supporters, refusing to call leading Mideast scholars and former UN inspectors who would have testified that Iraq had already disarmed and that an invasion would have disastrous consequences. This refusal to listen to experts or allow for the airing of diverse opinions, and the willingness to push for an illegal, unnecessary, and predictably disastrous war is not the kind of leadership we need at the Department of State.” Zunes was featured in the mini-doc “Worth the Price? Joe Biden and the Launch of the Iraq War.”
MARIAMNE EVERETT, [in France], mariamne.everett@mycit.ie, @
Everett recently wrote the piece “Biden: A War Cabinet?” She is an intern at the Institute for Public Accuracy and radio presenter with World Radio Paris where she hosts the podcast “Hidden Paris.” Her piece includes quotes from Blinken, noting he has “had immense influence over Biden in his role as Deputy National Security Advisor, helping formulate Biden’s approach and support for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Blinken seems to be of the view that it is up to the U.S., and only the U.S., to take charge of world affairs.”