User:Humanengr/Foreign policy §

Gabbard criticizes what she describes as a push by the "neoliberal/neoconservative war machine" for U.S. involvement in "counterproductive, wasteful foreign wars", saying they have not made the United States any safer and have started a New Cold War and nuclear arms race. She describes herself as a hawk “[w]hen it comes to the war against terrorists,” but "when it comes to counterproductive wars of regime change, I'm a dove."

Counterterrorism and Islamic extremism
Gabbard's views on Islamic terrorism distinguish her from mainstream Democrats. In 2016, she spoke out against Islamism, "a radical political ideology of violent jihad" shared by ISIS and Al-Qaeda "aimed at establishing a totalitarian society governed by … a particular interpretation of Islam.” Gabbard has said she is mindful that most Muslims are not extremist, but criticized the Obama administration for refusing to say that "Islamic extremists" are waging a war against the United States.

Gabbard has said "When it comes to the war against terrorists, I'm a hawk", but "when it comes to counterproductive wars of regime change, I'm a dove," and has spoken in favor of a "very limited use of drones" in situations where the "military is not able to get in without creating an unacceptable level of risk."

Nuclear weapons and arms race
Gabbard decries powerful politicians who "beat the drums of war and ratchet up tensions" between the U.S. and nuclear-armed countries", dragging the country toward a New Cold War arms race and has expressed disappointment that no moderators at the 2020 Democratic presidential primary debates "raised the issues or asked a question related to the most existential threat we face in this country."

Refugees and immigration
In 2015, with Duncan Hunter (R-CA), she sponsored a bill to prioritize accepting refugees such as Christians and Yazidis targeted by Islamic State who "face forced conversions to Islam, mass abductions, sexual enslavements, and executions." After the 2015 ISIS terrorist attacks on Paris, Gabbard voted with Congressional Republicans in favor of "extreme vetting" of Iraqi and Syrian refugees.

In 2017, in response to an expected order by President Trump's to ban refugees, Gabbard said, "We shouldn’t ban refugees from entering our country" but we should instead "address the root cause that is making people flee their homes— regime-change wars."

Gabbard also sees the "root cause of mass immigration" on the southern border of the U.S. being the history of "US military intervention in Latin America that left countries destroyed." She believes that immigrants should be assessed as individuals and for what they can contribute rather than by their nationality and background.

Regime change interventions
Gabbard has been outspoken in criticizing U.S. involvement in regime change  as not making the U.S. any safer and as being counterproductive to defeating ISIS, Al-Qaeda, and other terrorist organizations.

In her February 2, 2019 campaign launch, Gabbard called on everyone to take a stand against what she described as the "neolibs and neocons" from both parties promoting regime change.

Rolling Stone columnist Matt Taibbi remarked that Gabbard is "not an isolationist. She’s simply opposed to bombing the crap out of, and occupying, foreign countries for no apparent positive strategic objective, beyond enriching contractors".

In 2019, she introduced the No More Presidential Wars Act to make starting or joining a war without Congressional approval an impeachable "high crime and misdemeanor".

Sanctions
Gabbard voted in 2016 in favor of sanctions regarding Iran, but has since condemned the act of "starving [other nations] with draconian sanctions". In December 2020, she introduced H.Res.1270 to ensure no taxpayer dollars are used to impose sanctions that inflict suffering on civilian populations.

Specific nations and regions
Afghanistan

In 2011 and repeatedly after, Gabbard has called for "a safe and immediate withdrawal" of U.S. troops from the war in Afghanistan.

At the Democratic primary debate on July 31, 2019, Gabbard accused Trump of walking back his plans to withdraw from Afghanistan, adding that she would bring would be "to do the right thing" and "bring our troops home within the first year in office and end the wasteful regime change wars …."

After The Washington Post reported the US government had systematically misled the American public about the progress of the Afghanistan war, Gabbard accused the military-industrial complex of profiting from "a scam that ripped the US taxpayers off over a trillion dollars since 9/11 in Afghanistan alone."

India

Gabbard supports a strong US-India relationship that includes "everything from fighting terrorism to combating climate change to promoting renewable energy, and much more".

Critics charge she is too close to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). She disputes claims that she is partial to any political party in India.

Gabbard was critical of the U.S. decision to deny Modi a visa over allegations of his involvement in the 2002 Gujarat riots, calling it a "great blunder" that could have undermined the U.S.-India relationship. In 2013 she joined some of her colleagues on the House Foreign Affairs Committee in opposing a House resolution that called for continuing the ban on Modi and for "religious freedom and related human rights to be included in the United States-India Strategic Dialogue and for such issues to be raised directly with federal and state Indian government officials". The bill admonished India to protect "the rights and freedoms of religious minorities" with specific reference to the Gujarat riots. Gabbard, in opposing the resolution, expressed both her concern that the hearing on the resolution was timed to interfere with upcoming Indian elections and the need for the U.S. to stand for religious freedom "for all people in all countries".

Iran

In 2015, despite initial criticizing it, Gabbard voted for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to impose restraints on Iran's nuclear program in exchange for lifting sanctions against Iran.

In 2018 and again in 2019, Gabbard to amend the National Defense Authorization Act to prevent the President from starting a war with Iran without Congressional approval.

In 2019, she opposed the Trump administration's decision to withdraw from the JCPOA,    said that as president she would reenter the agreement and "find a diplomatic way to de-escalate tensions", warned about the danger of a potential war with Iran, and criticized the Trump administration for elevating tensions.

In January 2020, she denounced Trump's Baghdad International Airport airstrike which killed high-level Iranian General Qasem Soleimani as an act of war against Iran without Congressional declaration of war that would complicate the effort to fight ISIS and Al-Qaeda. In her view, President Trump's actions showed a lack of basic understanding and foresight in national security. She said she would deescalate tensions with Iran by ending the "crippling" economic sanctions and reentering the JCPOA to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapon capability.

In January 2020, Gabbard spoke in favor of H.Con.Res.83, a resolution to reassert Congressional authority to declare war and specifically direct the President to terminate the use of U.S. Armed Forces to engage in hostilities in or against Iran.

Israel

In March 2015, after Benjamin Netanyahu's controversial address to the U.S. Congress, Gabbard remarked "It’s unfortunate that an issue as important as preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons has been muddled by partisan politics." In January 2017, Gabbard voted against a House resolution condemning the U.N. Security Council resolution on Israeli settlements built in the West Bank but said, "I share the Obama administration's reservation about the harmful impact Israeli settlement activity has on the prospects for peace." In May 2018, she criticized Israel's use of live ammunition along the Gaza fence.

In July 2019, Gabbard voted for a House resolution that opposed the Global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement, reaffirmed support for a two-state solution, but which also affirmed the right of citizens to protest or criticize the policies of the U.S. or foreign governments. She also co-sponsored House Resolution 496, introduced by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), to affirm "that all Americans have the right to participate in boycotts in pursuit of civil and human rights at home and abroad, as protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution".

Saudi Arabia

In 2016, Gabbard opposed a $1.15 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia. In 2018 she supported invocation of the War Powers Resolution of 1973 to stop U.S. involvement in the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen, saying the U.S. was complicit in a humanitarian disaster. Also in 2018, she tweeted at Trump, "being Saudi Arabia's bitch is not 'America First’" after Trump indicated the U.S. would not sanction Saudi Arabia over the killing of Jamal Khashoggi.

In October 2019, Gabbard requested the Trump administration end all aid to Saudi Arabia until the investigation into possible Saudi involvement in the September 11 attacks was concluded and made public.

Syria

In 2013, Gabbard opposed the Obama administration's proposed military strikes against Assad in Syria. She characterized any effort to overthrow Assad as counterproductive in that "it actually helps ISIS and other Islamic extremists achieve their goal of … taking control of all of Syria—which will simply increase human suffering in the region, exacerbate the refugee crisis"

In October 2015, when CNN's Wolf Blitzer asked Gabbard: "Does it not concern you that … Assad's regime has [killed] at least 200,000, maybe 300,000 of its own people?," Gabbard responded: "the same things … said about Assad … were said about" Muammar Gaddafi and Saddam Hussein. If the U.S. intervenes and overthrows Assad, she continued, "we will end up with a situation far worse than we're seeing today ... with far greater human suffering, … persecution of religious minorities and Christians … and our enemy will be far stronger."

In November 2015, she introduced legislation to block CIA activities to train Al-qaeda affiliates in Syria and U.S. military action against Assad.

In March 2016, Gabbard was one of three members of Congress to vote against condemning Assad for war crimes, saying that though Assad was a "brutal dictator," the resolution was "a thinly veiled attempt to use the rationale of 'humanitarianism' as a justification for overthrowing the Syrian government". In November 2016, she met with Trump to convince him of her point of view.

In December 2016, Gabbard introduced the Stop Arming Terrorists Act to prohibit the Department of Defense from "knowingly providing weapons or any other form of support" to Al Qaeda or other such terrorist groups. This became law as part of National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020, § 1228.

In January 2017, Gabbard went on a one-week "fact-finding mission" to Syria and Lebanon, during which she met political leaders, religious leaders, and displaced persons, and had two unplanned meetings with Assad. She said that the Syrian people's message was "powerful and consistent: there is no difference between 'moderate' rebels and al-Qaeda (al-Nusra) or ISIS—they are all the same". She described the Syrian conflict as "a war between terrorists under the command of groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda and the Syrian government". She cited US "regime-change" involvement as a source of the Syrian refugee crisis.

In April 2017, Gabbard expressed skepticism about claims Assad used chemical weapons against civilians in Khan Shaykhun and said "there is evidence to suggest that the attacks may have been staged by opposition forces for the purpose of drawing the United States and the West deeper into the war." She said, "a successful prosecution of Assad … will require collection of evidence from the scene of the incident", and called for a U.N. investigation into the attack and prosecution of Assad by the International Criminal Court should he be found responsible.

After Trump ordered the 2017 Shayrat missile strike targeting the Syrian airfield believed to be the source of the attack, Gabbard called the strike reckless "without care or consideration of the dire consequences" of not "waiting for the collection of evidence from the scene of the chemical poisoning." Her statements were sharply criticized both by former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean and Center for American Progress President Neera Tanden.

In a 2018 interview with The Nation, Gabbard said the United States had "been waging a regime change war in Syria since 2011, and that the U.S., along with its allies Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Qatar, has been providing direct and indirect support to terrorist organizations like Al Qaeda".

In an August 2019 interview, she said of Assad: "He's a brutal dictator. Just like Saddam Hussein. Just like Gadhafi in Libya. The reason that I'm so outspoken on this issue of ending these wasteful regime-change wars is because I have seen firsthand this high human cost of war and the impact that it has on my fellow brothers and sisters in uniform".

In August 2019, Eliot Higgins described Gabbard's views on chemical weapons usage in the Syrian Civil War, as expressed on her campaign website, as a "contradictory error-filled mess".

In September 2019, Gabbard told The Washington Post: "It is in our national security interests to end our regime change war in Syria. That war is prolonging the suffering of the Syrians, preventing Syrian refugees from returning home, strengthening al-Qaeda and Iran’s influence."

In October 2019, Gabbard introduced legislation invoking the War Powers Resolution of 1973 to remove all troops from Syria which have no Congressional authorization for deployment. The legislation specifically opposed Trump's announcement to militarily "secure the oil" in Syria, and Secretary of Defense Esper's announcement to deny Syrian forces access to the oil. Gabbard called the US government's action in Syria "the next step of the modern day siege that has been happening in Syria since 2011. It deprives the Syrian people of the resources they need to survive and to rebuild their lives." Gabbard also called for an end to arming terrorist groups and an end to the "draconian" sanctions against Syria that prevent "the most vulnerable people" in Syria from getting "power, food and medicine".

Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kurds

In October 2019, Gabbard described Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as a "radical Islamist megalomaniac" and accused his government of supporting the Al-Qaeda and Islamic State terror organizations. She described the method by which Trump partially withdrew troops from northeastern Syria as "laying out a red-carpet, a green light for Erdoğan and Turkey to launch an ethnic cleansing and offensive against the Kurds."

In 2017, Azerbaijan blacklisted Gabbard for taking part in a visit to Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed breakaway region of which is populated and governed by ethnic Armenians. In October 2020, she accused Turkey of encouraging and inciting the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, and called on the U.S. Senate and Trump to officially recognize the mass killings of Armenians in 1915 as a genocide.

Ukraine

In 2022, she blamed the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine on the Biden administration's foreign policy and argued against economic sanctions on Russia. Gabbard stated that the United States is trying to turn Ukraine into another Afghanistan.

Venezuela

In the wake of the 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis, Gabbard said the United States needed to stay out of Venezuela and let that nation choose its government.