To help Refugees, Stop Arming Terrorists – Rep. Tulsi Gabbard

US Representative Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) © / RT

Representative Tulsi Gabbard called again for the US to stop aiding terrorists like Al-Qaeda and ISIS, while her guest at the presidential address to Congress, a Kurdish refugee activist, called for an end to the US policy of “regime change in Syria.”

While many Democrats invited immigrants as their guests for President Donald Trump’s speech to the joint session of Congress on Tuesday, Gabbard, a Democrat from Hawaii, hosted Tima Kurdi, whose 3-year-old nephew drowned on the shores of Turkey in September 2015. Photos of Alan Kurdi’s body quickly became the symbol of Syrian refugees’ plight – and led the US to step up efforts to overthrow the Syrian government, actually magnifying their suffering.

On Wednesday, Tima Kurdi joined Gabbard at a press conference on Capitol Hill and called on Trump “to end the regime change in Syria.”

“The most important question is, how do we address the cause of these people fleeing their homes,” said Gabbard, pointing to the bill she submitted in this session of Congress. Her “Stop Arming Terrorists Act,” or HR 608, would ban the use of US taxpayers’ funds to aid terrorist groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda or Islamic State.

“For years, our government has been providing both direct and indirect support to these armed militant groups, who are working directly with or under the command of terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda and ISIS, all in their effort and fight to overthrow the Syrian government,” Gabbard told RT.

Gabbard traveled to Syria in January on a fact-finding mission, meeting with President Bashar Assad. She also visited Aleppo, liberated in December from Islamist rebels led by Jabhat Fatah Al-Sham, a re-branded Al-Qaeda affiliate formerly known as Jabhat Al-Nusra.

The Pentagon’s $500 million effort to train and equip “moderate” Syrian rebels to fight against IS and Damascus met with disaster in 2015, as the majority of the fighters either surrendered or defected to Al-Nusra, with all of their US-funded weaponry. In the end, the program produced only “five or six” trainees, to the consternation of Congress.

Of course, there were way more than 5 or 6 trainees, most of those who were trained and equipped ended up fighting the American supported groups. Another example of America providing weapons to both sides of a war.

With that fiasco in mind, Gabbard proposed the first draft of her bill in December 2016. Her subsequent trip to Syria was met with outrage from the US foreign policy establishment and in the mainstream media, who denounced her as “Assad’s mouthpiece.”

Of course, the US establishment likes war - it keeps the inventory of death moving.

Representative Tom Garrett (R-Virginia), a US Army veteran, spoke out in support of HR 608 and said that the goal of US policy in Syria should be peace.

Iconic photo of little Alan Kurdi changed everything

“Tulsi understands that arming the so-called ‘rebels’ in Syria has only led to more bloodshed, more suffering, and created more refugees,” Tima Kurdi said in a statement on Tuesday. “A military solution in Syria is not the answer. I hope that President Trump will stop arming terrorists and commit to a political solution in Syria—it is the only way to restore peace.”

Supporting this bill is so easily the 'right thing to do' but with Congress in the pockets of arms merchants, its likelihood of passing seems pretty remote.

video 5:40

Establishment Outraged at Rep Tulsi Gabbard for Fact-Finding Trip to Syria

US Representative Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) © Mike Segar / Reuters

Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii has stirred up the US foreign policy establishment by going on a private fact-finding mission to Syria. Gabbard has opposed the US policy of regime change in Syria and championed a bill to stop arming terrorists there.

Gabbard’s trip to Syria and Lebanon was made public on Wednesday by Foreign Policy, a magazine close to the very interventionist establishment in Washington long criticized by the Hawaii Democrat.

A veteran of the Iraq War and major in the Hawaii National Guard, Gabbard “has long been committed to peace and ending counterproductive, interventionist wars,” her spokesperson Emily Latimer said in a statement Wednesday.

Gabbard has been a vocal critic of outgoing President Barack Obama’s policy of demanding the ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assad and blaming his government for the bloody war with Islamist rebels.

"As a member of the Armed Services and Foreign Affairs Committees, and as an individual committed to doing all she can to promote and work for peace, she felt it was important to meet with a number of individuals and groups including religious leaders, humanitarian workers, refugees and government and community leaders," Latimer said in a statement.

Middle East pundit Charles Lister, among others, dubbed Gabbard an “Assad apologist,” while Washington pundits wondered aloud if she met with the Syrian leader.

Latimer did not provide any details of Gabbard’s itinerary to the media, citing security concerns.

One of the stops on the trip was Aleppo, AFP reported on Thursday, citing the Syrian daily Al-Watan. According to the paper, the US delegation that included Gabbard visited the historic citadel and eastern parts of the city that were held by Islamist rebels until December 22.

The surfing congresswoman famously resigned as the deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee last year and endorsed Bernie Sanders for the party presidential nomination.

In November, she accepted an invitation from President-elect Donald Trump to discuss Syria and the US efforts to fight Al-Qaeda and Islamic State, sparking speculation that he might appoint her to a Cabinet post.

“Where I disagree with President-elect Trump on issues, I will not hesitate to express that disagreement,” she said at the time. “However, I believe we can disagree, even strongly, but still come together on issues that matter to the American people and affect their daily lives.”

On December 8, Gabbard introduced the Stop Arming Terrorists Act, which would prohibit the US government from arming and funding “Sunni militant groups working to overthrow the Assad regime, such as the Levant Front, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham [Al-Nusra Front], and al Qaeda,” in the words of Foreign Policy.

Gabbard may be the only honest voice in America regarding the war in Syria. She seems to be right-on. It's easier for her to critique America's position and involvement in Syria since she represents a state that does not manufacture weapons, etc. 

This woman has the nerve and the intelligence to be a candidate for the next president although she seems to be burning some bridges behind her which would make that objective much more difficult to reach. Still, can you imagine a female, Samoan-American who practices Hinduism as the next POTUS? Almost as much fun as Donald Trump!