Gabbard: I don’t regret my meeting with Assad
US Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard said President Bashar Al Assad is the president of Syria and stressed that dialogue with him is necessary for any possible peace agreement.
Democratic party representative of the state of Hawaii Tulsi Gabbard, who announced her ran for the presidency recently, don’t regret her meeting with Syrian President Bashar Al Assad.
Gabbard who served in US are and participated in the war in Iraq, stressed that she was fighting for peace because she knew from her experience directly the cost of war and that she still insisted on the importance of “any US president meeting with other leaders, regardless of whether they are friends of foes or potential adversaries” she said.
“I was and I still invite President Trump to meet people like North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, because we know that much is at stake”.
“We know the cost of the war and our troops and who pays the price.
You know that I served in the National Guard for 15 years and continued to serve, and served in two publications in the Middle East, and I’ve seen the cost of war, and that’s why I’m fighting hard for peace, that’s the reality of the situation we’re facing here”.
“Whatever your opinion on President Assad, the truth is that he is the president of Syria, for any peace agreement, for any possibility of a viable peace agreement, there must be a dialogue with him”, she said.
On January 17, 2017, Gabbard headed a US delegation that visited Damascus and Aleppo.
The US delegation included former Democratic congressman Denis Kucinich and others.
US President Donald Trump also met with them after his victory in the US presidential elections and Gabbard was considered close to him.
Gabbard who decided to run for the US presidency in 2020, met President Assad during her visit to Syria in 2017.
“I didn’t plan to meet him first, but when I had the chance, I did it”, Gabard said at the time.
“As long as we say that we care about the Syrian people and their suffering, it’s important to be able to meet anyone if there is a chance to achieve peace”.
During the visit, Gabbard toured the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo after the terrorists had left.
She also visited the citadel of Aleppo and toured the city’s metropolitan as well as the Jabrin refugee camp from the towns of Fu’aa and Kafriya, west of the city.
In previous statements, Gabbard stressed that the US government has over the years provided direct and indirect support to armed groups allied with terrorist organizations such as Al Qaeda and called or subscribed under its banner in Syria, and called on the US administration to stop supporting the terrorist organizations calling it Washington called it “moderate opposition”.
Gabbard, who in principle rejected the policy of military intervention in the affairs of sovereign countries, was criticized for her meeting with Syrian president Bashar Al Assad in 2017.
