No Script

Please Wait...

Ramadan Kareem...

US Congresswoman: US Must Stop Supporting Terrorists, Fueling War

US Congresswoman: US Must Stop Supporting Terrorists, Fueling War
folder_openUnited States access_time7 years ago
starAdd to favorites

Local Editor

A US official who met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on a secret fact-finding trip to Syria said that "the US must stop supporting terrorists" and stop "fueling the war".

US Congresswoman: US Must Stop Supporting Terrorists, Fueling War

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, announced Wednesday that she had returned to Washington, DC, after a weeklong "fact-finding" trip to Syria and Lebanon.

Gabbard's office said in a press release that the Army veteran met specifically with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during her trip, as well as Lebanon's newly elected President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister Saad Hariri, the US ambassador to Lebanon, nonprofit workers and clergy.

The high-profile Democrat said she went to Syria earlier this month but initially hadn't planned on meeting with Assad.

"Originally, I had no intention of meeting with Assad, but when given the opportunity, I felt it was important to take it. I think we should be ready to meet with anyone if there's a chance it can help bring about an end to this war, which is causing the Syrian people so much suffering," Gabbard said in a statement.

"My reason for going to visit Syria was really because of the suffering of the Syrian people that has been weighing heavily on my heart," she said. "I wanted to see if there was in some small way that I could express the love and the 'aloha' and the care that the American people have for the people of Syria and to see firsthand what was happening there."

She went on to say: "My visit to Syria has made it abundantly clear: Our counterproductive regime change war does not serve America's interest, and it certainly isn't in the interest of the Syrian people."

According to Gabbard's statement, the congresswoman was in Syria for four days. The nonprofit Arab American Community Center for Economic and Social Services [AACCESS]-Ohio sponsored the trip.

Obama administration officials had repeatedly insisted that Assad must step down. But the US hadn't directly intervened to bring an end to his brutal rule.

In her statement, Gabbard said that she returned to the US "with even greater resolve to end our illegal war to overthrow the Syrian government."

Gabbard had been a vocal opponent of the Obama administration's calls for Assad to relinquish power. On December 8, she introduced to Congress the Stop Arming Terrorists Act, which would prohibit the US government from funding or arming extremist groups like Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, al-Qaeda, and Daesh [Arabic acronym for "ISIS" / "ISIL"].

"When the opportunity arose to meet with [Assad], I did so because I felt it's important that if we profess to truly care about the Syrian people, about their suffering, then we've got to be able to meet with anyone that we need to if there's a possibility that we could achieve peace," Gabbard said. "And that's exactly what we've talked about."

When CNN's Jake Tapper noted the crimes Assad has been accused of, Gabbard defended her choice to meet with him.

"Whatever you think about President Assad, the fact is that he is the president of Syria," she said. "In order for any peace agreement, in order for any possibility of a viable peace agreement to occur, there has to be a conversation with him. The Syrian people will determine his outcome and what happens with their government and their future."

Gabbard also repeated a line that the Assad government had long pushed - that there are no so-called "moderate opposition" left in Syria.

"Every place that I went, every person that I spoke to, I asked this question to them [about arming ‘moderate rebels'], and without hesitation they said, 'There are no "moderate rebels",' 'Who are these "moderate rebels" that people keep speaking of?'" Gabbard said. "Regardless of the name of these groups, the strongest fighting force on the ground in Syria is al-Nusra or al-Qaeda and ‘ISIS'. That is a fact."

Gabbard ended her statement with a plea.

"The US must stop supporting terrorists who are destroying Syria and her people," she said. "The US and other countries fueling this war must stop immediately. We must allow the Syrian people to try to recover from this terrible war."

Gabbard visited Damascus, Syria's capital, while she was inside the country. She also visited Aleppo, a major city that has been the scene of intense fighting between the Syrian Army and extremist militants in recent months.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team

Comments