[Peace] Rep. Tulsi Gabbard Introduces Legislation to Stop Arming Terrorists

Fri Dec 9 14:44:30 UTC 2016

We've been encouraging Congressional offices to co-sponsor this bill. It
has always been our view that if the President can legally bomb a group
under the 2001 AUMF, then the CIA should not be allowed to give guns to
that group.

https://gabbard.house.gov/news/press-releases/video-rep-
tulsi-gabbard-introduces-legislation-stop-arming-terrorists
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard Introduces Legislation to Stop Arming Terrorists
December 8, 2016
Press Release

*Washington, DC*—Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (HI-02) introduced the Stop Arming
Terrorists Act today. The legislation would prohibit the U.S. government
from using American taxpayer dollars to provide funding, weapons, training,
and intelligence support to groups like the Levant Front, Fursan al Ha and
other allies of Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, al-Qaeda and ISIS, or to countries
who are providing direct or indirect support to those same groups.

The legislation is cosponsored by Reps. Peter Welch (D-VT-AL), Barbara Lee
(D-CA-13), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA-48), and Thomas Massie (R-KT-04), and
supported by the Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) and the U.S. Peace
Council.

*Video of Rep. Tulsi Gabbard’s speech on the House floor is available here
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKV1sTw8zOc>*

*Rep. Tulsi Gabbard said*, “Under U.S. law it is illegal for any American
to provide money or assistance to al-Qaeda, ISIS or other terrorist groups.
If you or I gave money, weapons or support to al-Qaeda or ISIS, we would be
thrown in jail. Yet the U.S. 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.[i
<https://gabbard.house.gov/news/press-releases/video-rep-tulsi-gabbard-introduces-legislation-stop-arming-terrorists#_edn1>
]

“The CIA has also been funneling weapons
<http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/25/world/middleeast/arms-airlift-to-syrian-rebels-expands-with-cia-aid.html>
 and money
<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/24/world/middleeast/us-relies-heavily-on-saudi-money-to-support-syrian-rebels.html>
 through Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar and others who provide direct and
indirect support to groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda. This support has allowed
al-Qaeda and their fellow terrorist organizations to establish strongholds
throughout Syria, including in Aleppo.

“A recent New York Times article
<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/12/world/middleeast/donald-trump-syria.html?_r=0>
confirmed
that ‘rebel groups’ supported by the U.S. ‘have entered into battlefield
alliances with the affiliate of al-Qaeda in Syria, formerly known as
al Nusra.’ This alliance has rendered the phrase ‘moderate rebels’
meaningless. Reports
<https://consortiumnews.com/2016/10/22/washingtons-new-lock-step-march-of-folly/>
confirm
that ‘every armed anti-Assad organization unit in those provinces
[of Idlib and Aleppo] is engaged in a military structure controlled by
[al-Qaeda’s] Nusra militants.’

“A recent Wall Street Journal article
<http://www.wsj.com/articles/syria-rebels-draw-closer-to-al-qaeda-linked-group-1475197943>
reported
that many rebel groups are ‘doubling down on their alliance’ with al Nusra.
Some rebel groups are renewing their alliance, while others, like
*Nour** al-Din
al-**Zinki*, a former CIA-backed group and one of the largest factions in
Aleppo are joining for the first time. “The Syria Conquest Front—formerly
known as the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front—is deeply intermingled with armed
opposition groups of all stripes across Syria’s battlefields.”

“The CIA has long been supporting
<http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-cia-pentagon-isis-20160327-story.html>
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
<http://carnegie-mec.org/diwan/57605?lang=en> 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.

“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.

“That is why I’ve introduced the Stop Arming Terrorists bill—legislation
based on congressional action during the Iran-Contra affair to stop the
CIA’s illegal arming of rebels in Nicaragua. It will prohibit any Federal
agency from using taxpayer dollars to provide weapons, cash, intelligence,
or any support to al-Qaeda, ISIS and other terrorist groups, and it will
prohibit the government from funneling money and weapons through other
countries who are directly or indirectly supporting terrorists,” *concluded
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.*

*Stephen Kinzer, a senior fellow at the Watson Institute for International
Studies at Brown University, and award-winning author and journalist said*,
“The proposal to stop sending weapons to insurgents in Syria is based on
the principle that pouring arms into a war zone only intensifies suffering
and makes peace more difficult to achieve. Congress made a decision like
this about the Nicaraguan contras during the 1980s. Aid to the contras was
cut off by the Boland Amendment. The result was a peace process that
finally brought an end to wars not only in Nicaragua, but also in El
Salvador and Guatemala. This is the example we should be following. Cutting
off arms shipments forces belligerents to negotiate. That is what we
achieved in Nicaragua. It should be our goal in Syria as well.”

*Donna Smith, Executive Director of Progressive Democrats of America said*,
"Progressive Democrats of America believes that it is fundamentally wrong
for the United States to fund those groups or individuals aligned with
al-Qaeda, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, ISIS, or other terrorist/extremist
organizations.  The 'Stop Arming Terrorists' bill authored by Rep. Tulsi
Gabbard, of Hawaii's 2nd Congressional District, would help bring an end to
the human tragedy unfolding in Syria where the haunting eyes of the
innocent children of Aleppo call on us all to stop supporting those who
threaten and kill them with ferocious intention. War is war, and terrorism
is terrorism whether waged by the state or from external forces. PDA
supports this measure."

*Alfred Marder, President of the U.S. Peace Council said,* “The U.S. Peace
Council is honored to endorse and support the ‘Stop Arming Terrorists Bill’
as a major contribution to peace. This legislation will serve to galvanize
the anti-war movement and the opposition to regime change policies that
characterize our present foreign policy.”

*Background:* The Stop Arming Terrorists bill prohibits U.S. government
funds from being used to support al-Qaeda, ISIS or other terrorist groups.
In the same way that Congress passed the Boland Amendment to prohibit the
funding and support to CIA backed-Nicaraguan Contras during the 1980’s,
this bill would stop CIA or other Federal government activities in places
like Syria by ensuring U.S. funds are not used to support al-Qaeda, Jabhat
Fateh al-Sham, ISIS, or other terrorist groups working with them. It would
also prohibit the Federal government from funding assistance to countries
that are directly or indirectly supporting those terrorist groups. The bill
achieves this by:

   1. Making it illegal for any U.S. Federal government funds to be used to
   provide assistance covered in this bill to terrorists. The assistance
   covered includes weapons, munitions, weapons platforms, intelligence,
   logistics, training, and cash.
   2. Making it illegal for the U.S. government to provide assistance
   covered in the bill to any nation that has given or continues to give such
   assistance to terrorists.
   3. Requiring the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) to determine
   the individual and groups that should be considered terrorists, for the
   purposes of this bill, by determining: (a) the individuals and groups that
   are associated with, affiliated with, adherents to or cooperating with
   al-Qaeda, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, or ISIS; (b) the countries that are
   providing assistance covered in this bill to those individuals or groups.
   4. Requiring the DNI to review and update the list of countries and
   groups to which assistance is prohibited every six months, in consultation
   with the House Foreign Affairs and Armed Services Committees, as well as
   the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
   5. Requiring the DNI to brief Congress on the determinations.

###

------------------------------

[i]
<https://gabbard.house.gov/news/press-releases/video-rep-tulsi-gabbard-introduces-legislation-stop-arming-terrorists#_ednref1>
Levant
Front (U.S. backed, via the MOC in Turkey) is working under an Ahrar al
Sham led umbrella group: http://www.understandingwar.org/sites/
default/files/December%202%20EDITS%20COT_2.pdf ; U.S. support for Levant
Front: http://carnegie-mec.org/diwan/57605?lang=en ; CIA groups cooperated
with Jayesh al-Fateh http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/
2016/01/19/the-cia-s-syria-program-and-the-perils-of-proxies.html; U.S.
weapons arriving in Syria through covert, CIA-led program, via Saudi Arabia
and Turkey; CIA can provide support http://www.reuters.
com/article/us-usa-syria-obama-order-idUSBRE8701OK20120802
Issues:
Protecting Our National Security Interests & Defense
<https://gabbard.house.gov/issues/national-security-and-defense>

===

Robert Naiman
Policy Director
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org
naiman at justforeignpolicy.org
(202) 448-2898 x1 <(202)%20448-2898>
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