The Tulsi Gabbard Controversy

(c) by Mark Dempsey

In a bizarre twist, a DSA (Socialist) former university professor posted a (Republican) Lincoln Project video critical of Tulsi Gabbard. The video calls her a traitor, Putin's stooge, and a supporter of dictators like Assad in Syria, etc. Worst of all, she's been critical of the US role in the war in Ukraine. How dare she!

But the US provoked the Ukraine war and made dictators like Assad and Castro take extraordinary measures to deal with CIA sabotage. The cruelty, torture, and incarceration were a response to well-funded sabotage campaigns. And yet, the per-capita incarceration in even these tortured countries does not approach US rates, which are now five times the world's per-capita average.

It's not often mentioned, but the G.H.W. Bush administration promised Gorbachev that NATO would not expand "one inch to the east" in return for allowing Germany to reunite. Clinton and Bush 43 promptly broke that promise, expanding NATO up to Russia's borders. Russia protested but didn't attack.

The US also spent $5 billion in "democracy promotion" in Ukraine leading up to the "Orange Revolution" in 2014--a coup to replace the elected Ukrainian leader with one Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland selected. No need for those pesky elections! Neocon Nuland will select! You may also remember the neocons as those cheerleading the war crime known as the invasion of Iraq.

The proximate cause of both Gulf Wars was Saddam's invasion of Kuwait. Rarely mentioned in accounts of Gulf Wars: the Kuwaitis were slant drilling to steal oil from Iraqi territory near their border, and Saddam wanted to punish the thieves. He even asked the US ambassador to Iraq if the US would object. "We have no opinion about that" was the response, so he invaded, and then the US responded by attacking Iraq claiming (falsely) Saddam had WMDs.

Eastern Ukraine protested the coup when Nuland's chosen Ukrainian leader was installed, and Kyiv responded by shelling those protesting, leading to roughly 14,000 casualties. Yet Russia still tried to negotiate for peace in Minsk (1 & 2) and Istanbul. German Prime Minister, Angele Merkel, has admitted NATO negotiated in bad faith to delay as settlement so Ukraine could arm itself. The US and UK sabotaged any peace agreement. Russia still did not attack.

As a side note, one might remember the strategic importance of Ukraine (and part of Belarus)--it's the avenue Europeans used to invade Russia. Both Napolean and Hitler came through this territory.

So when Tulsi Gabbard points out that Russians had legitimate security concerns about Ukraine, she was more accurate than the "Eeek! The Russians just attacked for no reason!" crowd. Yet this makes her a treacherous "Putin's stooge"!

Please believe me when I say I'm no fan of Trump or most of his appointments, but Ms. Gabbard might rein in the military-industrial-spook complex that keeps provoking these "nation-building" wars. And such wars are commonplace. Between 1798 and 1994 the US is responsible for 41 changes of government south of its borders. And that's just in this hemisphere! No need to mention Iran, Iraq, Vietnam, Syria, and Libya where the US practiced violence in the service of its empire.

For a more authoritative take on the US' responsibility for the Ukraine war, see John Mearsheimers' description of how the Ukraine war is the responsibility of the West.

Or read Naomi Klein's description of "disaster capitalism" ("Baghdad Year Zero") describing US policy in Iraq.

Warlord capitalists are running our foreign policy show, creating disasters for the sake of economic advantage. 

Or see Michael Hudson's Super Imperialism to see how long this has been going on.

Of the 250+ military attacks since WWII, the US is responsible for just over 80%. The US thrives on stirring up conflicts.

Anyway, I'm no great fan of Trump or his appointments, but to see someone who actually promoted peace criticized by someone whose business was being informed was disappointing.