Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) tweeted Tuesday that war with Iran is “exactly what” President Trump wants.
“Trump says he doesn’t want war with Iran, but that’s exactly what he wants, because that’s exactly what Saudi Arabia, Netanyahu, al-Qaeda, Bolton, Haley, and other NeoCons/NeoLibs want,” the 2020 presidential candidate tweeted Tuesday. “That’s what he put first–not America.”
{mosads}Gabbard’s tweet comes shortly after a report Tuesday that acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan presented White House officials with a proposal, backed by national security adviser John Bolton, to send 120,000 troops to the Middle East in the event that Iran attacks American forces or accelerates the development of nuclear weapons.
Tensions with Iran have heightened in recent weeks, with Bolton announcing the deployment of a U.S. carrier strike group and a bomber task force to the Middle East in response to what he called “a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings” from Iran.
Asked Monday about the possibility of seeking regime change in Iran, Trump responded, “We’ll see what happens with Iran. If they do anything, it would be a very bad mistake.”
Last week, Shanahan said he approved the deployment due to “indications of a credible threat” from Iran. “We will hold the Iranian regime accountable for any attack on US forces or our interests,” Shanahan tweeted.