Gabbard: No regrets about meeting Syria's Assad
by Michael Burke, The Hill, Jan 20, 2019
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), who is running for president in 2020, said Sunday that she does not regret meeting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2017.
Gabbard told CNN's "State of the Union" that it's important "to be willing to meet with others, whether they be friends or adversaries."
"It continues to be very important for any leader in this country to be willing to meet with others, whether they be friends or adversaries or potential adversaries, if we are serious about the pursuit of peace and securing our country," she said.
She added that the "only alternative" to meeting with dictators like Assad is "more war."
(Clue: False dichotomy.)
"It's why I have urged and continue to urge President Trump to meet with people like Kim Jong-un in North Korea, because we understand what's at stake here. And the only alternative to having these kinds of conversations is more war. It's more suffering. It's more lives lost, more destruction," Gabbard said.
Gabbard, who earlier this month announced she would seek the presidency in 2020, has come under fire for the meeting with Assad, which she has described as a "fact-finding" mission.
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