Fact Check: Tulsi Gabbard is Correct, American Veterans Want the Endless Wars to End

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) said during the fifth Democrat presidential primary debate that American veterans are “calling for an end” to the “regime change wars” that have persisted with support from the Washington, DC, national security establishment.

“I’m running for president to be the Democratic nominee that rebuilds our Democratic Party, takes it out of their hands, and truly puts it in the hands of the people of this country,” Gabbard said.

“A party that actually hears the voices of Americans who are struggling … and puts it in the hands of veterans and fellow Americans who are calling for an end to this … policy doctrine of regime change wars, overthrowing dictators in other countries, needlessly sending my brothers and sisters in uniform into harm’s way to fight in wars that actually undermine our national security and cost us thousands of American lives,” Gabbard continued.

The most recent Pew Research Center survey reveals that Gabbard is correct in saying that American veterans who risked their lives in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars are increasingly opposing foreign interventionism.

About 64 percent of veterans say the Iraq War is “not worth fighting,” along with 62 percent of all American adults who agree. Only 33 percent of veterans say the Iraq War is worth fighting.

Likewise, nearly 60 percent of veterans and all American adults say the Afghanistan War was not worth the fight. Less than 40 percent say the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan was worth fighting.

Former President George W. Bush led the U.S. into war in Afghanistan and Iraq with more than 4,500 Americans dying in Iraq — including more than 3,500 killed in combat — and up to 205,000 Iraqi citizens dying in the war since March 2003. In total, Bush’s post-9/11 wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and intervention in Pakistan have resulted in the deaths of between 480,000 and 507,000 people — including nearly 7,000 American soldiers who had deployed to the regions.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.