LOS ANGELES.–Ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee Mark Warner (D-Va.) said he would reject former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Ha.) because she refused to call classified docs thief Edward Snowden a traitor, a feeble excuse for how Democrats reject Gabbard no matter what. President Donald Trump, 78, has been winning most of Cabinet confirmation on party line votes where Republicans have a three-vote majority in the Senate. When it came to Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi, one of the most qualified Attorney General nominees in history, Democrat still voted on party lines to reject Bondi. So, when Warner said he rejects Gabbard for refusing to denounce Snowden as a traitor, it was just another feeble excuse. Many Democrats at the time Snowden fled the countries with his digital files said he was a legitimate whistleblower saying they would show tolerance if he returned home.
Snowden never returned to the United State fearing he would receive a long jail sentence but, even former President Barack Obama was hesitant to condemn Snowden as a traitor for fleeing the country to escape legal consequences for stealing classified government documents. “We get about half our intelligence from our allies around the world. There’s no requirement that she share that with us. They share that on trust. If this individual can’t say Edward Snowden, who shared our secrets and other secrets is a traitor, will these other countries, or Five Eye partners around the world—will Israel’s Mossad share that information that information with use on an ongoing basis . . .” Warner said. U.S. allies know that Snowden was an aberration, one person deciding the government was wrong to spy and collect sensitive data on U.S. citizens.
Gabbard showed a stiff spine in the hearing, wanting Democrats to know why she bolted the Democrat Party and joined Trump 2024 campaign. If Warner were truthful, he’ admit the Democrat caucus felt betrayed by Gabbard, a courageous, patriotic and competent member of Congress who watched what Obama did funding proxy war against Syrian President Bashar-al Assad. Warner and other Democrats criticized Gabbard for meeting with al-Assad in 2017, trying to find a solution for the Syrian civil war that killed 500,000 Syrians, drove 15 million into exile and fueled the Brexit movement, breaking off the U.K. form the European Union [EU]. Gabbard was that lone Democrat voice that saw the utter destruction cause by the U.S. support terror groups affiliated with ISIS and al-Qaeda, all with the goal of toppling al-Assad. Gabbard saw Russian President Vladimir Putin save al-Assad.
When Trump ran for President in 2016, he opposed Obama’s actions in Syria, saying they created more terrorism and destabilized the Middle East. Gabbard finally has someone who agreed that Obama’s Syrian proxy war with Turkey created the biggest humanitarian crisis since the end of WW II. Exodus from Syria created millions of refugees who sought asylum in Europe, driving a wedge in the EU, when countries like Hungary, Czech Republic and Poland told Brussels that they would not accepted quotas of refugees like France and Germany. Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel took over one million refugees in 2017. So, Gabbard saw clearly that Obama’s proxy war practically broke the EU but certainly drove the U.K. out because of the refugee problems. When Trump ran for president in 2016, he backed U.K.’s Nigel Farage’s Brexit movement.
Gabbard always gave the unvarnished truth of how she saw U.S. foreign policy. Warner’s feeble excuse of not backing Gabbard can’t deny that Gabbard evolved a skeptical stance on interventionist U.S. foreign policy, spending billions seeking regime change in various places. That’s why she visited al-Assad to see what could be done to stop the reckless, destructive and costly civil war. “If you’re not willing to stand up for them, if you’re not willing to send out a signal—this role of director of national intelligence, you’ve got 18 agencies, $100 billion. If you’re not will to call our Edward Snowden as a traitor, you should not have that job,” Warner said. Warner knows that the DNI doesn’t have much clout at all when it comes to matter of war and peace, that’s something in the hands of the president. Gabbard is certainly entitled to a different opinion than warmongering.
Warner was Biden’s big backer in the Ukraine proxy war against the Kremlin. Warner sees nothing wrong with Biden tossing out decades of diplomacy, détente and arms control, working with Russia as a cooperative partner. Warner and Gabbard disagree about the Ukraine War, with Gabbard saying the war must end. Warner backed Vice President Kamala Harris who would have kept the Ukraine War going indefinitely, something Gabbard strongly opposes. So, when Warner dredges up Edward Snowden, it’s a smokescreen, because he was Biden’s biggest backer for war with the Kremlin. Gabbard agrees with Trump that the Ukraine War destabilizes peace in Europe and pushes the world to the brink of WW III. Warner and other Democrats should be ashamed of themselves targeting Gabbard when she’s an independent thinker when it comes to U.S. national security.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.