Gabbard defends meeting Syrian leader

U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard defended her trip to Syria and meeting with President Bashar Assad on Wednesday, saying that it’s impossible to broker any kind of peace deal without talking to the country’s leader, who has been accused of war crimes and human rights violations by lawmakers and human rights organizations.

Gabbard also provided the media with further details about her covert trip, which included travel to Lebanon and meetings with numerous dignitaries, fighters on both sides of the civil war and humanitarian workers.

Gabbard has been an outspoken opponent of the United States’ involvement in the conflict, which has killed hundreds of thousands and created millions of refugees, arguing that U.S. aid to rebel groups is bolstering Islamic terrorist groups and heightening unrest. She has opposed the overthrow of Assad, arguing that his ouster would create a leadership void that Islamic terrorist groups would fill.

Gabbard said her trip to the region strengthened her “resolve to end our illegal war to overthrow the Syrian government” and urged support for her proposed bill, called the Stop Arming Terrorists Act.

“My visit to Syria has made it abundantly clear: Our counterproductive regime change war does not serve America’s interest, and it certainly isn’t in the interest of the Syrian people,” she said in a news release.

“As I visited with people from across the country, and heard heartbreaking stories of how this war has devastated their lives, I was asked, ‘Why is the United States and its allies helping al-Qaeda and other terrorists groups try to take over Syria? Syria did not attack the United States. Al-Qaeda did.’ I had no answer.”

Gabbard said that she had initially not planned to meet with Assad.

“Originally, I had no intention of meeting with Assad, but when given the opportunity, I felt it was important to take it,” she said in a statement. “I think we should be ready to meet with anyone if there’s a chance it can help bring about an end to this war, which is causing the Syrian people so much suffering.”

Gabbard’s views of the Syrian Civil War and her meeting with Assad have angered some who are advocating for greater U.S. involvement in the region, including the Syrian American Council, which describes itself as a grassroots Syrian community organization.

Last week, the group condemned the trip “in the strongest terms possible,” saying that Gabbard’s view of the conflict was fundamentally flawed.

Bassam Rifai, a spokesman for the group and a first-generation Syrian-American, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Wednesday that news of Gabbard’s meeting with Assad was troubling.

“That sort of trip has been quite unprecedented, to go and meet with a foreign leader who is essentially a state sponsor of terrorism,” said Rifai. “And it also undermines our secretary of state and negotiations that might currently be ongoing, like peace talks in Turkey.”

Rifai said that Gabbard oversimplified a “multifaceted and nuanced war,” and that her impressions during the trip were likely skewed.

“She had mentioned that every Syrian she had met supported Bashar al-Assad. Well, of course every Syrian you meet is going to support Bashar al-Assad when you are on a tour guided by Bashar al-Assad,” said Rifai.

Rifai said he didn’t have firsthand knowledge of how the trip was organized, but given the areas the congresswoman visited and who she met with, he said the trip appeared to be overseen by the president in some way.

Rifai said the majority of rebels fighting against Assad are moderates and that the majority of the country wants a “free, democratic and pluralistic Syria.”

Asked to respond to the claims, Gabbard’s office said by email that “the Syrian American Council has no information about the congresswoman’s trip beyond what our office has shared publicly today, so their claims are baseless.”

GABBARD also disputed the idea that most rebels are moderates, calling it “completely false.” She said in Aleppo, for instance, al-Qaeda was the lead rebel organization, with other groups fighting alongside them.

“In short, the groups that the United States is funneling arms, money, and weapons to work directly, hand-in-hand, with al-Qaeda,” she said by email. “This is what my bill, the Stop Arming Terrorists Act, is meant to put an end to. If these people were moderates, they would not be allied with al-Qaeda. We are at war with al-Qaeda and should not be providing weapons and money to their allies. It is as simple as that.”

Gabbard’s office declined to respond to media inquiries during the congresswoman’s trip about who funded and organized the trip, citing security concerns. On Wednesday, officials disclosed that the trip was sponsored and organized by the Arab American Community Center for Economic and Social Services, also known as AACCESS-Ohio, based in Cleveland.

It wasn’t immediately clear what type of work AACCESS-Ohio does, or who funds the organization. The organization’s website appears to be defunct, and while the group was registered as a nonprofit, it hasn’t filed a financial disclosure form since 2007, according to the nonprofit database Guidestar.

Gabbard’s office declined to provide further details about the organization when asked about its funding and leadership.

“The trip was sponsored and planned by AACCESS. The appropriate information will be released in compliance with post-trip filing forms, which you’ll be able to reference,” said Erika Tsuji, a spokeswoman for Gabbard, by email. “Any other questions about the organization should be directed to them.”

The office was closed for the day when the Star-Advertiser called its listed phone number.