TULSI MEETS TRUMP: Neocons and their perpetual wars trashed

Tulsi Gabbard’s screw-the-neocons meeting with Trump sparks anger, derision, encouragement

Philip Weiss
MONDOWEISS

160228-tulsi-gabbard-mn-1040_23f4be54d4cba554b6968a396625d6db-nbcnews-ux-2880-1000

HI Rep. Tulsi Gabbard

Jonathan Tasini, former Sanders surrogate, slammed Gabbard for normalizing Trump’s bigotry and racism.

Neoconservative Bill Kristol at first had a hopeful reading of the meeting: “Tulsi Gabbard for VA?”

Then when reports came out he reversed course and had a similar take to the Times. Not very happy.

He added, “Because listening to the drumbeats of peace has worked out so well in Syria.”

Robert Parry, the former AP reporter and realist, had a hopeful reading of the meeting, at Consortium News.

By inviting in Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a Democrat hostile to “regime change” wars, President-elect Trump may be signaling a major break with Republican neocon orthodoxy and a big shake-up of the U.S. foreign policy establishment

Parry revisited Gabbard’s antiwar rise:

She starred in one of the strongest political ads of the campaign, a message to Hawaiians, called “The Cost of War.”

“Bernie Sanders voted against the Iraq War,” Gabbard says. “He understands the cost of war, that that cost is continued when our veterans come home. Bernie Sanders will defend our country and take the trillions of dollars that are spent on these interventionist, regime change, unnecessary wars and invest it here at home.”

In the ad, Gabbard threw down the gauntlet to the neocons and their liberal-hawk sidekicks, by accusing them of wasting trillions of dollars “on these interventionist, regime change, unnecessary wars.” Her comments mesh closely with Trump’s own perspective…

Parry said that Hillary Clinton might well have appointed Victoria Nuland as Secretary of State, Nuland whose husband Robert Kagan was one of the neoconservatives who flocked to Clinton. And he reads even Trump’s Mike Flynn national security adviser nod as a hopeful departure from a policy of drone attacks.

Taking on this Saudi-Israel nexus has long been regarded as political suicide, given Israel’s extraordinary lobbying power and Saudi Arabia’s exceptional wealth. But Trump may be assembling a team that is “crazy” enough to take on that mission.

So, while the fight over the future of U.S. foreign policy is far from over – the neocons will surely flex their muscles at the major think tanks, on the op-ed pages and inside the halls of Congress – the Trump transition is showing some creativity in assembling a national security team that may go in a very different direction.

Here is more on Gabbard’s track record, from NBC:

Gabbard abruptly resigned her spot as vice-chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee in February to endorse Sen. Bernie Sanders for president, accusing party leaders of rigging the presidential primary process for its eventual nominee, Hillary Clinton…

Tim Vandeveer, a Sanders supporter elected this year as chairman of the Hawaii Democratic Party, defended Gabbard’s decision [to meet with Trump].

“Given the reality that we’re facing now with President-elect Trump, and an administration that we’ve already seen is going to lean heavily on neoconservatives who are going to rattle the sabers of war, I think it’s a good idea for Democrats to engage and stand up for our values

She’s also a surfer, who is proud of her Polynesian heritage. From her twitter feed:

screen-shot-2016-11-30-at-7-37-01-am

 CNN reported that Gabbard was under consideration for Secretary of State or Secretary of Defense. The NYT said she was under consideration for Ambassador to the U.N.

Gabbard dismissed the speculation:

I did not meet with President-elect Trump seeking a job, nor did he offer me one.

___
http://mondoweiss.net/2016/11/gabbards-neocons-encouragement/#sthash.2VEwxtm1.dpuf

This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.