Tulsi Gabbard to Congress: We ought to stop Netanyahu
Hawaii Congresswoman has already left an indelible mark on the warmongers, ethnic cleansers, and blood-sucking politicians both in the United States and Israel. She doesn’t like perpetual wars, and she sure doesn’t like any entity that pushes for perpetual wars.
…by Jonas E. Alexis
Hawaii Congresswoman has already left an indelible mark on the warmongers, ethnic cleansers, and blood-sucking politicians both in the United States and Israel. She doesn’t like perpetual wars, and she sure doesn’t like any entity that pushes for perpetual wars. Gabbard is also in favor of the two-state solution.
Last year, Gabbard fleshed out a legislation entitled, “Stop Arming Terrorist Act.” She declared then that the legislation itself sought to:
“prohibit the U.S. government from using American taxpayer dollars to provide funding, weapons, training, and intelligence support to groups like the Levant Front, Fursan al Ha and other allies of Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, al-Qaeda and ISIS, or to countries who are providing direct or indirect support to those same groups.”
Gabbard is an Iraq war veteran, and she knew what happened to her fellow soldiers who died for Israel, the Neocon war machine, and the military industrial complex. She also seems to be aware that the war in Iraq alone will cost American taxpayers at least six trillion dollars.[1] She is almost certainly aware of the fact that at least “360,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans may have suffered brain injuries.”[2]
Gabbard is smart enough to realize that the Neocon path leads to death, chaos, and destruction. She knows that virtually nothing good has come out of the Israeli narrative in the Middle East—a narrative which has brought America on the brink of collapse in the Middle East. Therefore, she is asking for a U-turn.
Gabbard has recently stepped up to the plate and challenged the war machine again, namely, Benjamin Netanyahu and his puppy Donald Trump. Of course, Gabbard doesn’t specifically mention Netanyahu, but we know she must have had him in mind when she fleshed out a frontal attack on those who want to go to war with Iran. Gabbard argued:
“Make no mistake – the authorization in Section 1225 of the underlying bill authorizes our U.S. military to go to war with Iran, which is one of the main reasons why I voted against this bill in committee. This provision authorizes the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of State to ‘develop and implement a strategy with foreign partners to counter the destabilizing activities of Iran.’
“The provision does not define what destabilizing activities they want our troops and taxpayer dollars to counter. It does not define a clear objective or end-state for our troops to achieve. In addition, this provision shuts the American people out from this decision entirely by circumventing Congress’s constitutional responsibility to declare war and giving unilateral power and unending authorization to ‘counter Iran’ to this and future Administrations – without defining in any way, shape, or form what the objective really is.”
Gabbard concluded with this powerful message:
“For too long, the US has engaged in military adventurism and interventionist wars, sending our troops overseas, with no clear objective or end state. ‘Countering Iran’ is not an end state that our military or diplomats can achieve. Without a clear objective, you end up in endless war.
“So what is the objective of this authorization for war? Is it regime change in Iran? Regime change in Syria? More war against Iran in Syria? Yemen? I strongly urge my colleagues to consider the serious consequences of Section 1225 being enacted because it would authorize any or all of these actions.
“It is Congress’s responsibility and constitutional role to declare war. The American people have a right to a real debate on such a declaration. I urge my colleagues to support the passage of my amendment.”
Gabbard said last year:
“Under U.S. law, it is illegal for you or me, or any American, to provide any type of assistance to al-Qaida, ISIS or other terrorist groups. If we broke this law we’d be thrown in jail.
“Yet the U.S. government has been breaking this law for years, directly and indirectly supporting allies and partners of groups like al-Qaida and ISIS with money, weapons, intelligence, and other support in their fight to overthrow the Syrian government.”
This was and still is a pointed rebuke to Benjamin Netanyahu, who obviously thinks that he can lead the United States into another disaster with Iran. The mad man in Tel Aviv wants blood. He also wants US dollars in his ideological coffin. E.S. Shimron, I. Molho, Persky& Co, a law firm which is closely connected to Netanyahu, recently got a $150,000 check “during the period in which the U.S. Embassy in Israel was moved from Tel Aviv to the Arnona neighborhood in Jerusalem.”[3]
How many decent Americans are suffering because they cannot make ends meet? How many of them wish that they could afford a decent college for their sons and daughters? How many of those young and aspiring people are drowning in debt? Listen to this:
“It’s 2018 and Americans are more burdened by student loan debt than ever. In fact, the average student loan debt for Class of 2017 graduates was $39,400*, up six percent from the previous year.”
The total student debt was about $1.3 trillion in 2016, when the average debt was $30,000.[4] Well, the average debt is now $39,400. Do the math. In 2014, “millennials” were living at home in order “to save on college costs.”[5]
The simple question is this: Why are Netanyahu and his henchmen telling America and those young people to give more to Israel when those young people are largely living with their parents? Shouldn’t we hold Netanyahu and Trump accountable? If the answer is yes, then we all ought to support Tulsi Gabbard for voicing her opinion about perpetual wars in the Middle East.
- [1] Ernesto Londono, “Study: Iraq, Afghan war costs to top $4 trillion,” Washington Post, March 28, 2013; Bob Dreyfuss, The $6 Trillion Wars,” The Nation, March 29, 2013; “Iraq War Cost U.S. More Than $2 Trillion, Could Grow to $6 Trillion, Says Watson Institute Study,” Huffington Post, May 14, 2013; Mark Thompson, “The $5 Trillion War on Terror,” Time, June 29, 2011; “Iraq war cost: $6 trillion. What else could have been done?,” LA Times, March 18, 2013.
- [2] “360,000 veterans may have brain injuries,” USA Today, March 5, 2009.
- [3] Noa Landau and Chaim Levinson, “U.S. paid Netanyahu confidant’s firm $150k while embassy was being moved to Jerusalem,” Haaretz, May 27, 2018.
- [4] Derek Thompson, “The Scariest Student Loan Number,” Atlantic, July 19, 2016.
- [5] Kate Ashford, More Millennials Living At Home To Save On College Costs,” Forbes, August 8, 2014.
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