Tulsi Gabbard calls out Trump’s troubling double standard on Al-Qaeda
Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard marked 9/11 by pointing out that Donald Trump paid tribute to the victims of Al-Qaeda even while protecting the terrorist group's last stronghold in Syria – sparking a range of responses online.
In a tweet written on the seventeenth anniversary of the tragic terrorist attacks, Gabbard noted that “while President Trump & VP Pence give 9/11 speeches about how much they care about the victims of al-Qaeda’s attack on our country, they are simultaneously acting as protectors of AQ in Syria/Idlib, threatening Russia and Syria that if they attack al-Qaeda, we will punish them.”
While President Trump & VP Pence give 9/11 speeches about how much they care about the victims of al-Qaeda’s attack on our country, they are simultaneously acting as protectors of AQ in Syria/Idlib, threatening Russia and Syria that if they attack al-Qaeda, we will punish them.
— Tulsi Gabbard (@TulsiGabbard) September 11, 2018
The tweet sparked a dizzying range of responses, with some praising the Democratic congresswoman and others resorting to all-caps-lock condemnations.
“At least one person in Congress gets it. I am a libertarian and wouldn't mind seeing @TulsiGabbard run for the White House in 2020. A refreshing breath of fresh air,” one Twitter user wrote. “Thank you Tulsi. You are a genuine beacon of hope and change in Washington,” said another.
READ MORE: 17 years after 9/11, Al-Qaeda rebranded by US government & media as besieged rebels
“Hello Americans, hello, did you understand this? Reread it and think on it. Get it yet?” one seemingly impatient Twitter user asked.
But the congresswoman was also peppered with accusations of whitewashing the “real” bad guys in Syria.
Gabbard may have been the only lawmaker to draw attention to the troubling contradiction, but similar observations found fertile ground across social media.
“I’ll never reconcile how the biggest post-9/11 hawks turned into the biggest boosters of the jihad in Syria,” professor Max Abrahms noted in his own tweet marking the anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon.
I’ll never reconcile how the biggest post-9/11 hawks turned into the biggest boosters of the jihad in Syria.
— Max Abrahms (@MaxAbrahms) September 11, 2018
Others highlighted how western media outlets, following the example of the US government, had rebranded Al-Qaeda as “rebels” under siege in Syria. The New York Times went so far as to praise the terrorist group as "a de facto governmental authority, facilitating trade across the long border with Turkey and organizing aid deliveries."
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