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The latest round of Trump tweets threatening military action in response to attacks on Saudi Arabia prompted a fiery response from a Democratic presidential contender.

Representative Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) has been an outspoken opponent of U.S. military intervention in conflicts surrounding regime change.

She slammed the president in a tweet, writing: “Trump awaits instructions from his Saudi masters. Having our country act as Saudi Arabia’s bitch is not ‘America First,'” wrote Gabbard.

 

 

Yemen’s Houthis, who are allied with Iran, claimed responsibility for the attack, which disrupted 5 percent of the world’s oil supply.

Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company Aramco is one of the largest producers of oil in the world, with the kingdom being responsible for about 10 percent of the current daily global supply.

The attack was carried out by drones, which set the kingdom’s oil fields ablaze.

Trump was quick to place the blame solely on Iran.

 

Iranian officials dismissed the accusation, saying it was a “maximum falsification” and “maximum deceit” to blame Iran.

“In international relations, even ‘hostility’ [should have] a minimum degree of credibility and logical frameworks, but the U.S. officials have ignored even such minimum principles,” Abbas Mousavi, a spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, said in a Sunday statement.

Saudi Arabia has been leading a coalition against Yemen’s Houthis since 2015, when the group ousted the country’s government.

The U.S. has continued to support the coalition, despite significant bipartisan opposition in Congress, which has been blocked by Trump.

The kingdom’s malign activities, particularly the grisly murder of Washington Post journalist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi last year by Saudi agents, and the large number of civilian casualties, as well as an ongoing humanitarian crisis in Yemen, have led many Republicans and Democrats to oppose continued U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition.

Gabbard has attacked Trump’s relationship with Saudi Arabia before, using a similar insult in November.

Her policy platform includes ending the US’s alliance with Saudi Arabia.

Gabbard’s own Middle East policy has also been attacked, particularly her choice in 2017 to meet Syrian President Bashar Assad, a foe of Saudi Arabia who’s been accused of war crimes.

Many national-security experts also shared Gabbard’s criticism.

Ben Rhodes, who was President Barack Obama’s deputy national security adviser for strategic communications, tweeted on Sunday: “Just the President saying he will do whatever the Saudis want, including potentially going to war on their behalf.”

Tamara Cofman Wittes, a senior fellow at Brookings Institution’s Center for Middle East Policy, also said that Trump’s tweet suggested that “we are now subcontracting our national security policy to the crown prince of Saudi Arabia,” referring to the de facto ruler of the kingdom, Mohammed bin Salman.

The historian and Princeton University professor Kevin M. Kruse tweeted sarcastically: “As everyone knows, Article I of the US Constitution clearly states that the power to declare war is vested with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”

Trump has defended Saudi Arabia recently, in part because he’s done millions of dollars worth of business there.

Son-in-law Jared Kushner also has a massive amount of business dealings in Saudi Arabia.

Trump registered eight companies during his presidential campaign that were tied to hotel interests in that country.

The companies were registered under names such as THC Jeddah Hotel and DT Jeddah Technical Services, according to financial disclosure filings.

During a rally in 2015, the day Trump created four of those companies, he said he gets along well with Saudi Arabia.
“They buy apartments from me. They spend $40 million, $50 million. Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much.”

After his election, Trump said on Fox News he “would want to protect Saudi Arabia.”

Gabbard is veteran of the war in Iraq and continues to serve in the National Guard.

 

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