Kamala Harris says US lead based on strategic interests, 'not charity'

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
16 Feb 2024 18:31

At the Munich Security Conference, Vice President Kamala Harris emphasized that the foundation of US "global leadership" is driven not by charity but by strategic interests.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, Friday, Feb. 16, 2024 (Kai Pfaffenbach/Pool via AP)

At the Munich Security Conference on Friday, US Vice President Kamala Harris said that the foundation of the so-called US's "global leadership" doesn't arise from acts of charity but rather from the pursuit of strategic interests.

"Please, do understand our approach is not based on the virtues of charity. We pursue our approach because it is in our strategic interest," Harris said. "I strongly believe America's role of global leadership is to the direct benefit of the American people".

Harris affirmed the US's commitment to pursue active global involvement in upholding what it claims to be a "rules-based order", as well as promoting democratic principles both at home and abroad.

US leadership, she says, "keeps our homeland safe," adding that the commitment to build and sustain alliances has helped the US "become the most powerful and prosperous country in the world."

The US has historically expanded its influence through militarism and the reinforcement of ultra-nationalist and extremist ideologies, such as Zionism and Wahhabism. It has been responsible for much of the destruction of civilizations across the Global South and the erosion of progressive ideologies, such as pan-Arabism and pan-Africanism.

US complicity in Gaza genocide

Since the establishment of the Israeli occupation, the regime has been provided with $158 billion in military aid from the US. In 2016, during the Obama administration, the US agreed to provide "Israel" with a yearly amount of $3.8 billion yearly for ten years.

With the start of the war on Gaza, the US bolstered its support through various means, including the provision of Iron Dome interceptors, artillery shells, bombs, guided missile launchers, and even advanced F-35 fighter jets.

November witnessed further reinforcement as a Republican-led plan, greenlit by the US House of Representatives, allocated a substantial $14.5 billion in military aid specifically for "Israel," along with bombs, ammunitions, and artillery shells.

On December 9, the Pentagon expedited the sale of approximately 14,000 tank shells amounting to $106.5 million to "Israel" under emergency authority, bypassing the customary congressional review process.

As the month drew to a close, the US swiftly facilitated another transaction, selling artillery shells and related weaponry worth $147.5 million to replenish "Israel's" diminishing weapons stockpile.

Reputation Under Scrutiny

It is worth noting that Harris' reputation is tarnished both overseas and at home due to her hawkish support of military aggressions abroad as well as her controversial actions as attorney General in California such as unjustly incarcerating innocent individuals, supporting the death penalty, and shielding law enforcement officers accused of unjust killings.

In 2017, she co-sponsored a bill that enabled Trump to enforce sanctions on Iran, thereby breaching the JCPOA nuclear deal.

And in 2019, she, along with other 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, signed a letter calling for increased US occupation of Syria.

A group of nearly 400 members of the United States Congress called on President Trump to demonstrate American leadership in resolving the prolonged conflict in #Syria.

Read the bipartisan letter to the President here ⬇️https://t.co/fdy9zbkN23 pic.twitter.com/7pZUo6mbuk
— House Foreign Affairs Committee Dems (@HouseForeign) May 20, 2019

On Tuesday, amid concerns about Joe Biden's old age coupled with memory issues, Harris said she is ready to take over office from the US president if necessary, the Wall Street Journal reported.