Tulsi Gabbard: Trump and His ‘Chickenhawk Cabinet’ Have Led to Brink of War with Iran

Questioned at the first presidential debate on whether the Iran nuclear deal should address Iran’s support for Hezbollah, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) launched into a conversation about how a war with Iran would be detrimental to America.

“Let’s deal with the situation where we are,” Gabbard responded to MSNBC’s Lester Holt. “This president and his chickenhawk cabinet have led us to the brink of war with Iran. I served in the war in Iraq, at the height of the war in 2005, a war that took over 4,000 of my brothers and sisters in uniforms’ lives.”

“The American people need to understand that this war with Iran would be far more devastating, far more costly, than anything that we ever saw in Iraq,” Gabbard continued. “It would take many more lives, it would exacerbate the refugee crisis, and it wouldn’t be contained in just Iran. This would turn into a regional war.”

Gabbard then concluded her argument, without answering the initial question, and claimed America needs “to get back into the Iran nuclear agreement.”

“This is why it’s so important for every one of us, every single American to stand up and say no war with Iran. We need to get back into the Iran nuclear agreement and we need to negotiate how we can improve it,” Gabbard added. “It was an imperfect deal. There are issues like their missile development that needs to be addressed.”

Asked about her “red line” for military action against Iran, Gabbard insisted a response would be necessary if an attack on American troops occured.

“Look, obviously if there was an attack against the American–our troops, then there would have to be a response,” Gabbard stated. “My point is, and it’s important for us to recognize this, is Donald Trump and his cabinet: Mike Pompeo, John Bolton, and others are creating a situation that just a spark would light off a war with Iran.”