A Democrat in the U.S. Congress has not only turned her back on President Barack Obama but accused him of undertaking an "illegal" and "counter-productive" policy in the Middle East that could lead to a military conflict with Russia leading to World War III.
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, said Obama's policy of trying to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power is "arming our enemies which are radical Islam," including the globally despised Islamic State (ISIS), WND.com reported.
Gabbard defended Assad for leading the fight against Islamist extremist forces that have taken a chunk of land from his country.
Since Russian President Vladimir Putin is fully supportive of Assad who Obama wants to get rid of, the U.S. and Russia are on a collision course that could result in World War III if not de-escalated, the female lawmaker from Hawaii told CNN in a recent interview.
Asked by CNN's Wolf Blitzer how that collision could be avoided, Gabbard answered: "Very simple. The U.S. and the CIA should stop this illegal and counter-productive war to overthrow the Syrian government of Assad and should stay focused on fighting against who our enemy is, the Islamic extremist groups.
"Because right now we're seeing why this is counter-productive, by working towards that end, by working toward the overthrow of Assad we are not only strengthening our enemy, the Islamic extremists, who will walk in and take over all of the country Syria, right now they have about half of the country under their control, but it also puts us in that position of a potential direct head to head conflict with Russia which brings us to the brink of a potential larger conflict, a potential World War III situation."
Gabbard is considered on international conflict being a member of the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs committees and a combat veteran of the Iraq War.
She described Obama's effort to remove Assad as illegal since the U.S. Congress has not authorised the president to overthrow a sovereign head of state.
"So the American people have not had a chance to speak their voice, that hasn't happened. Therefore it's illegal," she said.
Unlike Obama who still refuses to utter the word "Islamic" or "Islamic terrorism," Gabbard said those words several times during the CNN interview.
She said Obama's policy is also "counterproductive" because the weapons being given by the U.S. military to Syrian rebels who want to overthrow Assad are actually falling into the hands of America's enemies such as al-Qaeda, al-Nusra and other extremist groups. "These are the same groups who attacked us on 9/11 and who supposedly we're trying to defeat and yet at the same time supporting them with these arms to overthrow the Syrian government," Gabbard said.
"It's a very simple concept in my mind that you can't defeat your enemy if you're arming them and helping them at the same time. It makes no sense whatsoever," she said.
Gabbard also spoke in behalf of the persecuted Christians of Syria, who she said were being victimised by Obama's policy.
She pointed out that the people the Russians are attacking on the ground are in fact "the same people who attacked us on 9/11."
As such, Putin is actually doing the U.S. a favour by bombing these Sunni rebel groups.
