Written by Stephen Shaheen   

In the space of one week, two of modern history’s most hawkish Secretaries of State were cited as supporters of Hillary Clinton—one, surprisingly, by the Democratic frontrunner herself. “I was very flattered when Henry Kissinger said I ran the State Department better than anybody had run it in a long time,” Clinton boasted at Thursday night’s Democratic debate in New Hampshire. Perhaps she was speaking to millennials, trying to suffuse her candidacy with a sense of gravitas by referencing a familiar historical name. Baby boomers, however, whose disproportionate support Clinton cannot afford to weaken at this moment in her campaign, will recall Kissinger’s horrific, criminal tenure in the State Department.

Then, just two days later, Madeleine Albright came out swinging for Clinton. Again, anyone who was politically aware in the 90’s (read: Clinton’s strongest voting demographic) will recall Albright as the former Secretary of State who famously said “the price is worth it,” when asked in 60 Minutes whether the deaths of up to 500,000 children in Iraq justified American-imposed sanctions, and who orchestrated the aerial punishment of Yugoslavia because the Serbs “needed a little bombing to see reason.” Albright’s moral compass, however, prioritizes other travesties: “There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help each other,” she said to admonish the deluded females who might dare to vote for Bernie Sanders in the Democratic Primaries.

While Albright may not have been speaking at Clinton’s direct request, the alignment adds to a general suspicion that her handling of foreign affairs as president would not eschew hostility. Clinton is too smart to be unaware of Kissinger’s controversial record, and she is too savvy to be blinded by flattery; his invocation, therefore, remains a perplexing tactical error. Unless, of course, the truth is much simpler: Clinton is an unabashed Hawk. If that is the case, she couldn’t have picked a worse issue (besides taking millions of dollars from Wall St.) to undermine her claim to Progressivism.