Tulsi Gabbard invokes military service in ad going after ‘regime change wars’
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), who announced her presidential campaign earlier this month, cited her military service in a new ad ripping past administrations’ “regime change wars.”
We are being torn apart, with divisions that seem too deep to heal. But when we are united in the spirit of love, there is no challenge we cannot overcome. Join me in building a movement for peace to create a bright future for all. https://t.co/NmMa4BpqOW pic.twitter.com/PGd9FHUxwS
— Tulsi Gabbard (@TulsiGabbard) January 24, 2019
“Every time we launch these interventionist regime change wars, it is not only our veterans who pay the price for them. Every single one of us pays the price,” Gabbard, an Army National Guard veteran, says in an ad over several images of her in a military uniform.
{mosads}“We have spent trillions of your taxpayer dollars to pay for these wars, taking those dollars away from our communities and our people who need them right here at home.”
Gabbard, who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, is the only military veteran to declare her candidacy thus far and could be relying on her two tours in the Middle East to differentiate her in a crowded Democratic primary field that could have as many as 30 candidates.
However, the Hawaii Democrat’s foreign policy is likely going be featured heavily in attacks from both Republicans and Democrats. Gabbard made waves in 2017 when she met with Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad, who is accused of killing hundreds of thousands of civilians in his country’s brutal civil war.
She said Sunday that she does not regret having the meeting.
“It continues to be very important for any leader in this country to be willing to meet with others, whether they be friends or adversaries or potential adversaries, if we are serious about the pursuit of peace and securing our country,” Gabbard said on CNN’s “State of the Union,” claiming that the “only alternative” is “more war.”
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