"She credulously repeated the dictator's talking points" is the larger issue.

Just to be clear: Putin and bio-"weapons" labs is different than Assad and sarin. I believe you are referring to the Russian spin that Ukraine was doing bioweapons research. (I also don't believe Tulsi espouses that slant, despite being initially concerned.)

She's parroted more than just one talking point.

https://apnews.com/article/tulsi-gabbard-assad-syria-trip-dn...

> “Her response was, ‘How do you know it was Assad and Russia and not ISIS?’” Mustafa recalled of the exchange. “Ludicrous question: ISIS doesn’t have airplanes.” Henning, the spokeswoman for the Trump transition, denied the exchange occurred.

> Two years later, she echoed similar doubts about the Trump administration’s assessment that the Assad regime used sarin gas to attack civilians. A United Nations panel and numerous other foreign governments came to the same conclusion.

https://apnews.com/article/gabbard-trump-putin-intelligence-...

> “This war and suffering could have easily been avoided if Biden Admin/NATO had simply acknowledged Russia’s legitimate security concerns,” she posted on Twitter at the start of Russia’s invasion in 2022.

> Gabbard’s remarks about Russia haven’t gone unnoticed in Moscow, where state-run media have praised her and even jokingly referred to her as a Russian agent. An article published Friday in RIA Novosti, a major Russian state-controlled news agency, called Gabbard “superwoman” and noted her past appearances on Russian TV, claiming that Ukrainian intelligence views her as “probably an agent of the Russian special services.”

It sure is. Weakness is reminiscent of those leaders that met Hitler believing one can reason with monsters. Your ignorance is clearly a bliss though. I am reminded of those Ukrainian leaders that believed meeting Putin would prevent an invasion. These are not reasonable men, but absolute monsters. Meeting them makes Tulsi complicit. Maybe my morals just make me ill-suited to meet murderers (in a non-official capacity nonetheless). Giving legitimacy to these people is ridiculous. Good thing she will never come close to the presidency. Despite her treasons and her ignorance, she is also highly unlikeable and has the charm of a sponge. Only men lacking any morals or any critical reasoning could be mesmerized by a clown like Tulsi

> Meeting them makes Tulsi complicit.

What? That's simply not true even by a long shot. In no way shape or form is she condoning anything by being willing to engage with someone non-violently.

Go read my other response. I've quoted Tulsi talking about her trip to Syria. She's trying to find a way to end suffering. I'm not sure you really understand how much damage our own government has done to people and how we appear to others. Gabbard has more courage than you'll ever know.

> Maybe my morals just make me ill-suited to meet murderers (in a non-official capacity nonetheless).

So you're a pacifist. War is war. I'm not defending Assad I'm reminding you that people and countries do horrible things in war on both sides. The US, the atomic bomb, missiles from the sky in the middle east, collateral damage, killing families of terrorists. I think you'd have a hard time if you tried to apply your moral framework to "the good guys".

Painful as it may be, there are valid moral frameworks where ending suffering may be more important, immediate, and urgent than refusing to acknowledge another state's leader because they're horrible.

Of course your point about diplomacy to end suffering works in some instances. However, that was not her call to make, and she was NOT in a capacity to do so, for she was not the elected president nor was she sent on behalf of an elected administration. She legitimized dictators. Putin had agreed to never invade Ukraine for instance, and look at where we are now. Additionally, I agree wars do happen. But we must agree that some crimes are so heinous (nukes, chemical weapons etc), as to make the perpetrator shunned from society. We do it in prisons for heinous crimes. However, it seems a former KGB agent is "entitled" to more dignity from Tulsi than the victims of the war.