Presidential hopeful: U.S. misspends trillions on wars

PROVIDENCE — The capacity crowd at Brown University's List Art Center was silent Monday afternoon as U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, a candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, spoke of her focus on a "New Cold War," the trillions of dollars that the U.S. spends on wars, and the possibility of nuclear war.

When she spoke of Jan. 18, 2018, when Hawaiians received a false emergency alert about an incoming ballistic missile, a Brown student in the third row recalled those 38 minutes of her life.

"I was there when the text message went out," said Moriah Tom, a public policy major from Hawaii. "It  is hard to imagine war as being real, especially growing up here. But war is real, and now I know that.

"She is the only candidate talking about that."

Gabbard focused her remarks on her perception that the world in 2019 is a place in trouble.

"We gather here today during a time of crisis," Gabbard said. "This is both a crisis of instability and divisiveness that we experience here at home as well as crisis, instability and divisions abroad in our foreign policy.

"But here at home, unfortunately, we are in a place where as we look at our everyday lives and we look at how disconnected leaders in Washington are from the experiences and the challenges that people in this country face," she continued. "We see how unfortunate it is that the vision that our founders had for this country of a government of the people, by the people, and most importantly, for the people, is lost."

Gabbard, a veteran of the Iraq War, said that she sees a world facing a "New Cold War" and nuclear arms race and worries that money being spent on military operations could be better spent on infrastructure, education, health care, and social programs in the U.S.

"We need to redirect the trillions of dollars being directed to wars and weapons and redistribute that to our communities," she said. "[War] is paid for by our families."

Gabbard added, in a conversation with Stephen Kinzer, a Brown University Watson Institute senior fellow in international and public affairs, that she thinks her visibility is lower than other candidates because her message goes against the status quo.

"It is not only those in the foreign policy establishment. It is not only those in the military-industrial complex," she said. "It is also many of those in the media who continue to perpetuate these same failed policies and seek to squash the voices of those of us who are challenging the status quo with the truth."

It was a position she summarized in her speech's conclusion:

"The prospect of nuclear war is not a question of 'if' it will happen but when, should we continue down this path," Gabbard said. "It doesn't have to be this way. That is why I am running for president."

— kandrade@providencejournal.com

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