U.S. House of Representatives member Tulsi Gabbard has been receiving a lot of undue treatment by the mass media and by her colleagues in Washington D.C. over her recent trip to Syria. Despite the fact that she sits on both the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs Committees and has a responsibility to consider every ramification that her vote carries on these committees, the mainstream media and many of her fellow colleagues have made accusations against her that are not only unfair and full of omissions, but serve no other real purpose but to destroy her character and credibility as a legislator. The truth of the matter is, Congresswoman Gabbard's views on U.S. led regime change is seen as an existential threat to those who profit from the loss of life.

Congresswoman Gabbard introduced the bipartisan Stop Arming Terrorists Act. This bill if it becomes law will be the most effective way to bring an end to more than five years of suffering and bloodshed in Syria. The legislation would stop the U.S. government from using taxpayer dollars to directly or indirectly support groups who are allied with and supporting terrorist groups like ISIS and al Qaeda in their war to overthrow the Syrian government. The legislation, based on congressional action during the Iran-Contra affair to stop the CIA’s illegal arming of rebels in Nicaragua, is Syria's best chance for peace.

Those who are the loudest in their condemnation are the members of Congress and the media outlets who are loyal to the political establishment who stand to lose hundred of millions of dollars if we adopt a non-interventionist approach to global conflict as a whole.

We, as American citizens, who have volunteered to serve our country, who have seen our involvement in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, Somalia and Yemen cost thousands of American lives and hundreds of thousands of civilian lives, must take a stand and rally behind Congresswoman Gabbard.

We must show the mainstream media and the members of Congress who serve not the American people, but the Military Industrial Complex and the political establishment, that we support her and what she is doing.

We must point out the hypocrisy of Rep. Adam Kinzinger and Sen. John McCain, who as recently as 2014, met with some of these Syrian “moderate-rebels” in Turkey and pledged that the U.S. would support them. Ironically, many later defected to terrorist organizations in the region, taking American supplied weapons and ammunition with them, or fled the country completely.

Finally, we must educate those around us that this policy has never fared well for us as a nation. It was this policy that trained and armed the Mujahideen and Osama Bin Laden during the Afghan-Soviet war, and set the stage for the last 16 years of U.S. intervention in the Middle East.

We owe it not only to ourselves, but also to our future generations, to continue supporting actions that bring to a close to this bloody chapter in United States history. If we continue to provide arms and support for un-vetted forces who are “moderate” in name only, then we will continue to see atrocities like the ones that have occurred in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. Veterans, Foreign Service Officers, and Gold Star Families have carried a heavy burden during the conflicts we have been involved in over these last few decades, and it is time to put an end to this madness.

We must see to it that the Stop Arming Terrorist Act is passed so that American arms and equipment are no longer supplied to those who wish to do our nation, and fellow Americans harm.

Thank you Congresswoman Gabbard for always stepping up to lead when no one else will. We stand in solidarity with you not only as American citizens but also as people who believe in putting our country before party politics