C-Span & Jason Ditz / AntiWar.com & RT News – 2016-12-09 00:19:59
Bipartisan Bill Would Forbid US Funding ISIS, al-Qaeda Affiliates
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard Introduces Legislation to Stop Arming ISIS, al-Qaeda Affiliates
C-Span
On December 8, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawai’i) introduced the Stop Arming Terrorists Act.
Bipartisan Bill Would Forbid US Funding ISIS, al-Qaeda Affiliates
Gabbert-Rohrabacher Bill Would Effectively End CIA Program Arming Syrian Rebels
Jason Ditz / AntiWar.com
(December 8, 2016) — The Stop Arming Terrorists Act (SATA) has been introduced today in the House of Representatives by Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI). The bill is a bipartisan effort, co-sponsored by Reps. Peter Welch (D-VT), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), and Thomas Massie (R-KY) which would forbid the US government from using taxpayer dollars to arm, fund, or train terrorist organizations.
Rep. Gabbard noted that it has been against the law for years for individual Americans to fund terrorist organizations, but that the US has been routinely doing so for years in Syria, providing arms to many terrorist-linked groups within Syria’s rebellion.
The bill appears aimed primarily at ending the CIA program smuggling arms to Syrian rebels, something President-elect Donald Trump has also expressed support for. The bill singles out ISIS, al-Qaeda, and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (the “rebranded” version of al-Qaeda’s Nusra Front) and forbids support to them, their allies, or foreign nations who are themselves providing support for the groups.
The part prohibiting funding of foreign nations involved in backing the groups could be hugely impactful, as it would include nations like Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, which have openly backed a number of the rebel groups targeted.
SATA would compel the Director of National Intelligence to provide a list of all the groups affiliated with or cooperating with those three organizations, as well as the countries providing assistance to them to several House committees. This could potentially be an obstacle as reports have suggested Trump does not intend to appoint a Director of National Intelligence.
‘Madness Must End’: US Lawmakers Introduce
Bill to Cut Aid and Funding for Terrorists
RT News
(December 9, 2016) — American lawmakers have introduced a so-called Stop Arming Terrorists Act that aims to protect US taxpayers’ dollars from being spent on supporting and arming international terrorist groups through covert operations and third states.
Introduced to the House on Thursday by Democrat Tulsi Gabbard from Hawaii, the legislature aims to put an end to the widely reported US practice of indirectly sponsoring terrorism. In particular, the act seeks to make it illegal for any US government agency to assist extremist groups directly or indirectly in any way shape or form, be it through the sale of weapons, field training, or intelligence assistance.
Furthermore, the act, which is being supported by the Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) and the US Peace Council, wants to make it illegal for Washington to provide assistance to any third nation that sponsors terrorists.
The submitters of the legislation argue that any nations or individuals cooperating with Al-Qaeda, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (formerly Al-Nusra Front), or Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL), should be barred from US funding.
On the technical side, the legislature calls on the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) to compile a list of specific individuals, nation states and terrorist groups which would fall within the terms of the act.
Taking the House floor to present the legislature Rep. Gabbard said that it is illegal for America to provide terror groups with money or assistance.
“If you or I gave money, weapons or support to Al-Qaeda or ISIS, we would be thrown in jail. Yet the US government has been violating this law for years, quietly supporting allies and partners of Al-Qaeda, ISIL, Jabhat Fateh al Sham and other terrorist groups with money, weapons, and intelligence support, in their fight to overthrow the Syrian government,” Gabbard said.
The 35-year-old went on to accuse the CIA of providing weapons and money to terrorist groups all over the world through covert operations with the help of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Qatar, amongst others. She referred to recent articles by the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal to back up her claims.
“The CIA has long been supporting a group called Fursan al Haqq, providing them with salaries, weapons and support, including surface to air missiles. This group is cooperating with and fighting alongside an Al-Qaeda-affiliated group trying to overthrow the Syrian government.
“The Levant Front is another so-called moderate umbrella group of Syrian opposition fighters. Over the past year, the United States has been working with Turkey to give this group intelligence support and other forms of military assistance. This group has joined forces with Al-Qaeda’s offshoot group in Syria,” she said.
“This madness must end. We must stop arming terrorists. The government must end this hypocrisy and abide by the same laws that apply to its citizens,” she concluded.
RAW: Moment RT journalists were attacked
by US TOW anti-tank missile in Syria
(November 27, 2015) — Two RT journalists and a TASS reporter suffered various injuries when their press convoy was shelled by an anti-tank missile in Syria. The following video was posted online and shows that a US TOW anti-tank missile used to attack a convoy. RT’s Roman Kosarev recognized the area and the sequence of events.
Speaking with CNN host Jake Tapper on Thursday evening Gabbard called for the US to end its cycle of intervention abroad, supporting President-elect Donald Trump’s “America First” policy.
“We need to stop the destruction that has been caused by our country continuously getting involved in these counterproductive regime change wars that not only end up strengthening our enemy, groups like ISIS and Al-Qaeda,” the Hawaiian Representative told CNN.
TOW missile v T-90, direct hit: Probably first-ever footage from Syrian battleground
She argued that such US foreign policies cause “more suffering” to the human population in conflict zones such as in Libya, Syria, and Iraq, than before the US stepped in.
Gabbard also noted that during her meeting with Trump earlier, she urged the president-elect to stop the regime change agenda in Syria and halt sponsorship of Gulf countries that do not support Bashar Assad.
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