Fret not, people of the over 80 countries where the US has interfered in elections – it was done in your “best interests,” according to former head of US Intelligence James Clapper.
Clapper, who famously lied about the NSA mass surveillance program before it was revealed by Edward Snowden, is back in the media spotlight, promoting his new book ‘Facts and Fears.’
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The tome promises readers ‘Hard truths from a life in intelligence.’ However, perhaps the more interesting insights are on Clapper’s reflections on the so-called Russiagate scandal and investigations into the alleged hacking of the US presidential election.
In an interview with Bloomberg’s Tobin Harshaw, Clapper is asked about the US’ own history of election interference. ‘I guess the way I think about that is that through our history, when we tried to manipulate or influence elections or even overturned governments, it was done with the best interests of the people in that country in mind.’ It appears Clapper justifies these actions by claiming US motives are based purely on a “traditional reverence for human rights.”
US actions of overthrowing foreign powers has long been the subject of academic discussions and debate, with over 80 instances of it between 1946 and 2000 documented in Dov Levin’s report ‘When the Great Power Gets a Vote’ alone.
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