Gabbard's track record as a disruptor of conventional wisdom not only needs no introduction, it practically speaks for itself. Over the last decade, she's been a lone voice, often drowned out by the cacophony of Washington's establishment, yet she's consistently been on the mark with her foreign policy assessments. She was right on Ukraine. She was right on Syria. She is right on war. In short, she refuses to echo a party line, or to pretend the world is as the political class wants it to be. Instead, she is determined to understand the world as it actually is, and in that capacity, her critique of U.S. foreign policy has been spot-on, something I've highlighted repeatedly.
Which brings me to what makes Gabbard's potential role as DNI so transformative: her outsider status. She's not a product of the same system that has led us into one misadventure after another. She's not a stooge for defense contractors, or the sort of person who treats a security clearance as a class marker. She might have been such a person in another life: her military service and her time in Congress, especially on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is ample preparation for it. That combination of on-the-ground experience and legislative insight would ordinarily be prized by official Washington, if not for one thing: the fact that Tulsi Gabbard isn't afraid to challenge the status quo.
If you doubt that, look no further than the backlash from within the intelligence community to her nomination. If the CIA and other agencies are up in arms about Gabbard's nomination, as I've noted, it's because they fear the light she might shine on their operations. They're scared of what she could uncover, which is precisely why she's needed. We've seen too much of a culture that protects itself rather than the American people. Gabbard represents a chance to realign our intelligence efforts with the nation's true interests.
And as for anyone who calls her a Russian asset? Well, I'd like to see them say that to the faces of the countless veterans who love her, including voices like former Secretary of Defense Chris Miller and Bernard Hudson, former CIA counterterrorism chief. If that's not credibility, I don't know what is. People like Miller and Hudson aren't just politicians endorsing a fellow traveler; they've lived the consequences of flawed intelligence. They're supporting Tulsi Gabbard because they know how badly we need her, not just for the sake of American national security, but for the sake of American lives. And make no mistake, Tulsi Gabbard is for American lives. Her approach to foreign policy, particularly her stance on engagements in the Middle East and her skepticism of narratives that lead to unnecessary conflicts, says that loud and clear. She doesn't just repeat bromides about "peace through strength;" she's lived it, and she understands the cost of our current policies.
In sum, Tulsi Gabbard's nomination is a call for a sea change in U.S. national security. It's about bringing in someone who has the courage to ask the hard questions, to challenge the entrenched interests, and to refocus our intelligence efforts on protecting America, not just the interests of a few. As we stand at this critical juncture, Gabbard represents the change agent we need to truly secure our nation's future. And this week, the Senate will have an opportunity to see just how true that is.