Trump's election triggers alarm Top US intelligence chief with Russian leanings?
Russia obviously likes the fact that future US President Trump wants to make ex-Democrat Tulsi Gabbard the top intelligence chief. There is a reason for this - and it reinforces critics' concerns.
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- Donald Trump has appointed former Democrat Tulsi Gabbard as the top US intelligence chief.
- It is probably his most controversial personnel decision to date.
- Gabbard is considered to have an affinity with Russia, which has already earned her praise on Russian state television.
- Security experts fear that her appointment could undermine Ukraine, weaken US national security and weaken intelligence links with America's closest partners.
Tulsi Gabbard, who Donald Trump now wants to make the top US intelligence chief, found it plausible what Russia used to justify its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, among other things. Moscow cited dozens of US-funded biolaboratories there for the production of deadly bioweapons that could be used against Russia as one of the main reasons - misinformation that was promptly seized upon by China and conspiracy theorists in the West. And by Gabbard.
The fact is, however, that these were public health facilities where dangerous pathogens were being researched, but to control disease outbreaks and prevent enemy use of bioweapons.
Gabbard later tried to backtrack, saying she was not suggesting that the US or Ukraine were up to no good. And she was concerned about the security of the facilities.
Willingness to parrot Russian propaganda
But critics in the US, including members of Congress from both parties, saw Gabbard's stance as a sign of a worrying willingness to parrot Russian propaganda - a tendency that has earned her praise on Russian state television.
The former Hawaii congresswoman turned Trump loyalist's earlier comments are now under fresh scrutiny by many - particularly Democrats and security experts who fear her appointment as Director of National Intelligence (DNI) could undermine Ukraine, weaken US national security and weaken intelligence ties with America's closest partners.
Earlier secret meetings between Gabbard and the Syrian president, a close ally of Russia and Iran, have also raised alarm bells.
Hand grenade "about to explode"
The post of DNI was created after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, to improve cooperation between the intelligence services. If the future Republican-dominated US Senate plays along, Gabbard will become the DNI chief coordinator of the US intelligence services and also the president's most important intelligence advisor.
Trump's former security adviser John Bolton considers it extremely dangerous to appoint Gabbard to the post. He compares her - like Trump's nominee for Attorney General, Matt Gaetz - to a hand grenade "about to explode". He urgently warned Republicans in the Senate not to back the nominee for Trump's sake.
Gabbard argues that American support for Ukraine is jeopardizing global security by enraging Russia. She has called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky corrupt and expressed sympathy for Russia's situation in light of Ukraine's pursuit of NATO membership. "This war and suffering could easily have been avoided if the Biden administration/Nato had simply recognized Russia's legitimate security concerns," she wrote on Twitter at the beginning of the Russian invasion in 2022.
Gabbard sees Trump as a "peacemaker"
Gabbard has explained her positions by saying that her more than 20 years of military service have made her skeptical of military interventions. She has always seen Trump's relationships with autocrats such as Putin as a sign of courage to "meet with adversaries, dictators, allies and partners alike to make peace".
Gabbard's own meetings with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2017 had infuriated many of her party colleagues - she was still a Democrat at the time. Her visit had helped to lend legitimacy to a leader who was accused of war crimes and who had served as a proxy for Russia and Iran in the Middle East.
Al-Assad had welcomed Russia's military to Syria in 2015 to help him put down a popular uprising. Russian forces and militias allied with Iran are still in the country. According to estimates, 500,000 people have been killed in the Syrian civil war so far.
Moscow calls Gabbard a "superwoman"
Gabbard ran for the US presidency herself in 2020, then gave up and campaigned for Democrat Joe Biden, who ultimately defeated Trump. In 2022, she left the party, became an independent and criticized her former colleagues as "elitist warmongers", among other things. She then campaigned for various prominent Republicans on the right-wing Fox News channel and launched a podcast.
Her comments about Russia did not go unnoticed in Moscow. Last Friday, the state news agency Ria Novosti published an article calling her a "superwoman" and referring to her previous appearances on Russian television - along with the comment that the Ukrainian secret service probably considers her a "Russian agent".
Her stance on Russia and Syria is likely to cause controversy in the Senate confirmation process. And America's allies will also be following the proceedings closely, concerned about the extent to which this change in US administration could affect cooperation and information sharing between intelligence agencies.
