As Elites Trash Gabbard for Assad Meeting, They Just Hung Portrait of John Kerry in State Department
The recent portrait unveiling of former Secretary of State John Kerry by the Biden management drew attention to past controversies surrounding his interactions with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.During the event, both Kerry and current Secretary of State Antony Blinken celebrated the fall of Assad’s regime, while neglecting to mention Kerry’s previous attempts to engage with Assad to advance U.S. interests.
Kerry had numerous meetings with Assad, advocating for Syria’s role in Middle Eastern peace efforts, despite Syria’s support for militant groups and its alliance with Tehran. Critics highlight inconsistencies in Kerry’s stance, as he shifted from engaging Assad to condemning his use of chemical weapons.
In contrast, former congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard’s meeting with Assad in 2017 has been characterized by critics as disqualifying for her role as a national intelligence director nominee. gabbard argues for a consistent non-interventionist approach, aligning with President Trump’s views on U.S. involvement in Syria. She asserts that U.S.regime change strategies have caused significant suffering and destabilization in the region.
The narrative surrounding both Kerry and Gabbard underscores the complexities of U.S. foreign policy towards Syria and the scrutiny faced by politicians based on their past diplomatic engagements. Gabbard’s consistent perspective is seen as deserving of the same consideration afforded to Kerry when he was confirmed as Secretary of state.
The Biden administration’s State Department feted former Secretary of State John Kerry with a portrait unveiling Tuesday.
And both current Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Kerry took the opportunity to celebrate the fall of the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria.
What was omitted from their remarks is Kerry’s multiple meetings with Assad and the former secretary’s efforts to enlist the Syrian leader’s support for U.S. policy goals in the region.
BREAKING: A John Kerry portrait has been put up at the U.S. State Department.
pic.twitter.com/d9KxV3mXzw— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) December 10, 2024
Meanwhile, the left-wing media and those in Washington are trying to scuttle former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard’s appointment as director of national intelligence by, in part, pointing to a meeting she had with Assad in 2017 as disqualifying.
The Independent reported in 2013 that Kerry met with Assad at least six times, including in February 2009, while he was chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
“President Barack Obama’s administration considers Syria a key player in Washington’s efforts to revive the stalled Middle East peace process,” Kerry said at a news conference in Damascus. “Syria is an essential player in bringing peace and stability to the region.”
— JTTCOTM 🇺🇸 (@JTTCOTM) December 10, 2024
The Wall Street Journal reported in April 2010 that Kerry met with Assad again.
“President Al-Assad and I had a very positive discussion on the formidable challenges facing this region, and we found agreement on a number of ways in which both of us and other countries can contribute significantly to changing the dynamics that exist today,” he said in a statement afterward.
The Journal noted, “Engagement with Syria has become a central tenet of the Obama administration’s Mideast policy. Washington believes Syria is key to any concerted push to resume comprehensive Mideast peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.”
The news outlet also pointed out that Assad had ignored requests from the administration “to break its alliance with Tehran, and to revoke its support of Hezbollah and Hamas, the militant group in the Gaza Strip.”
The Journal recounted that while Kerry had co-sponsored the 2003 Syrian Accountability Act, imposing economic sanctions on Syria, he had “since pushed for engagement with Syria, including the loosening of U.S. sanctions.”
The senator also advocated for Obama to re-open diplomatic relations with Syria by sending an ambassador to Damascus, which the administration did.
Kerry did change his tune after Assad used chemical weapons against those Syrians fighting against his regime.
He also later lamented in 2016 that Assad crossed Obama’s “red line” of using the weapons, but the president then did not authorize military strikes against the dictator.
So Kerry’s views on Assad and Syria have been all over the map.
Meanwhile, Gabbard, during a trip to Syria in 2017 as a congresswoman to view conditions on the ground during the nation’s civil war, agreed to take a last-minute meeting with Assad.
“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 said, the Associated Press reported at the time.
“Gabbard said her trip included stops in Aleppo and Damascus, Syria’s capital. She also visited Beirut during the trip, which began in mid-January. Gabbard said she also met with refugees, Syrian opposition leaders, widows and family members of Syrians fighting alongside groups like al-Qaeda, and Syrians aligned with the Assad regime,” according to the AP.
Gabbard criticized what she characterized as the U.S. “wars of regime change” in Iraq, Libya, and Syria, saying each has resulted “in unimaginable suffering, devastating loss of life, and the strengthening of groups like al-Qaeda” and the Islamic State group.
“My visit to Syria has made it abundantly clear,” she said, “our counterproductive regime change war does not serve America’s interest, and it certainly isn’t in the interest of the Syrian people.”
The AP reported Tuesday that Gabbard’s views on Syria faced “fresh scrutiny” following the fall of Assad.
Unlike Kerry, her view has been consistent, and she took the position that Trump has: The U.S. should stay out of the events unfolding in Syria now.
Director of National Intelligence nominee @TulsiGabbard: “I stand in full support and wholeheartedly agree with the statements that President Trump has made over these last few days with regards to the developments in Syria.” pic.twitter.com/gBhwFwjudP
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) December 9, 2024
Trump said on social media, “Syria is a mess, but is not our friend, & THE UNITED STATES SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT. LET IT PLAY OUT. DO NOT GET INVOLVED!”
Far from being disqualifying, Gabbard’s views regarding Syria are consistent and in line with her soon-to-be commander-in-chief.
If meeting with Assad is disqualifying, Kerry should have been disqualified many times over, but he was not. Instead, he was approved in 2013 as Obama’s secretary of state by a vote of 94 to 3.
As Trump’s DNI nominee, Gabbard deserves the same deference.
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