U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard said she will vote against any resolution that authorizes U.S. force in Syria.
Gabbard outlined her stance in a written statement late Sunday after a week of committee hearings and a series of classified briefings with top Obama administration officials.
"I am sickened and outraged by the carnage and loss of lives caused by the use of chemical weapons in Syria," Gabbard said. "It is with gravity that I have carefully considered all the facts, arguments, and evidence and soberly weighed concerns regarding our national security and moral responsibility.
"As a result, I have come to the conclusion that a U.S. military strike against Syria would be a serious mistake."
Gabbard becomes the third member of Hawaii’s four-member, all-Democratic congressional delegation to take a position opposed to President Barack Obama, who has spent the past week pressing his case in Congress and to world leaders that a limited strike is needed to punish the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad for the alleged Aug. 21 use of chemical weapons against a civilian population.
U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa and U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz last week said they also would oppose a resolution calling for U.S. intervention in Syria’s civil war. U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono said she is weighing the evidence and considering her decision.
Gabbard, a captain in the Army National Guard and a combat veteran, said she remained unconvinced that the administration has made the case for intervention.
She added she does not believe Syria poses a direct security threat to the United States and that the U.S. should not get involved in a civil war.
"We should learn from history," she said. "We cannot afford to be the world’s policeman."
She added that she did not think a limited strike would eliminate Syria’s stores of chemical weapons, and a destabilization of the region could lead to such weapons falling into the hands of terrorist groups, including al-Qaida, that are intent on harming the United States.
