Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, one of the only veterans on stage during Wednesday’s debate, corrected Rep. Tim Ryan after he claimed that the Taliban committed the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Ryan said that the U.S. must stay engaged in the Middle East or “the Taliban will grow and they will have bigger, bolder terrorist acts.”
But Gabbard, who served in Iraq and Kuwait with the National Guard, was quick to respond.
She noted that the Taliban were there before the U.S. sent troops to Afghanistan.
“When we weren’t in there, they started flying planes into our buildings,” Ryan responded.
“The Taliban didn’t attack us on 9/11,” Gabbard shot back. “Al-Qaeda did.”
“That’s why I and other people joined the military,” she continued, “to go after Al Qaeda. Not the Taliban.”
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