Tulsi Gabbard: Trump’s Actions on Iran ‘Undermined Our National Security’
Congresswoman and 2020 presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard tonight blasted President Donald Trump’s decision on taking out top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani.
Gabbard expressed concern to Fox News’ Martha MacCallum about the U.S. “speeding towards an all-out war with Iran,” asking, “All towards accomplishing what goal? What objective? That’s really at the crux of the decision that President Trump made to take out Soleimani, we’ve got to make sure the commander in chief is making decisions that are based on the best interest of the safety and security of the American people and their own national security and that’s not what’s happened here.”
She argued that the actions Trump has taken with respect to Iran have “undermined” America’s national security:
“These things began with Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear agreement, choosing to move away from diplomacy, further escalating tensions between the U.S. and Iran, escalating crippling sanctions, a modern day siege against Iran, sending more and more troops to the region, further escalating tensions, and designating Iran’s military as a terrorist organization, further escalating this conflict with Iran, something that’s never been done by any country anywhere in the world before. This is where he has not put the national security interest of our country first… There’s two main points here of how he has undermined our national security. Number one, every day that goes on that Iran is not in the nuclear agreement — and just yesterday announced there are no longer abiding by any restrictions that were part of that agreement — that means they are closer to developing a nuclear weapon capability, putting us and the world at risk and, number two, because our forces in Iraq for example are no longer going to be focusing on defeating and ensuring that al Qaeda and ISIS are not allowed a resurgence, our commander there yesterday said we’re not doing that anymore because now our troops have to focus on Iran, allowing ISIS and al Qaeda to create and mount a resurgence that further puts us and our national security at risk.”
MacCallum questioned her about the intelligence Trump administration officials have said detailed an “imminent threat” they had to ask on, asking Gabbard about the risk of being criticized in hindsight for not taking that action.
“The commander in chief should not be making decisions based on who is a bad guy or even who has blood on their hands,” Gabbard said. “The commander in chief needs to make a decision about what is in the best of the national security interest of our country. And I just gave you the two biggest examples of how Trump’s decision has undermined our national security and made the American people less safe.”
You can watch above, via Fox News.
