section_path: Foreign policy positions/Islamist militancy (al-Qaeda, ISIS); Egypt's Sisi; Iran
section_name: Islamist militancy (al-Qaeda, ISIS); Egypt's Sisi; Iran
paragraph_text: Islamist militancy (al-Qaeda, ISIS); Egypt's Sisi; Iran
  
  During her time in U.S. Congress, Gabbard took strong stances in opposition to Islamist political movements and organizations in the Middle East. In some of her appearances on Fox News between 2013 and 2017, she faulted President Obama over his refusal to refer to the Islamic State 's beliefs and terrorism as " Islamic extremism " or "radical Islam". In a 2015 interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Gabbard criticized the Obama administration for "refusing" to say that the "real enemy" of the United States is Islamic extremists. Gabbard expressed reservations about the U.S. involvement in Syrian civil war, and said that "We must end our war to overthrow the Syrian government and focus our attention on defeating al-Qaeda and ISIS".
  
  In 2015, Gabbard met with Egyptian dictator 'Abd al-Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo. After the meeting, she issued a statement expressing her commendation of Sisi as a ruler who showed "great courage and leadership" in his regime's war against " Islamist ideology". Her close engagement with Sisi, an Arab autocrat responsible for the killing of more than 800 people in the Rabaa massacre, was met with widespread criticism. Journalist Evan Hill summarized Gabbard's foreign policy as rooted in " authoritarianism cloaked as counter-terrorism, nationalism cloaked as anti-interventionism", and an open espousal of Islamophobia.
  
  On December 20, 2019, the Stop Arming Terrorists Act that she introduced in 2017 became law as part of National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020, § 1228 to prohibit the Department of Defense from "knowingly providing weapons or any other form of support to Al Qaeda " or other terrorist groups or any individual or group affiliated with any such organization.
  
  Gabbard was critical of the U.S. military's 2020 Baghdad International Airport airstrike, which targeted and killed high-level Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, as an act of war by U.S. president Donald Trump and a violation of the U.S. Constitution, arguing that Trump did not have congressional authorization for this act.
  
  During her time in U.S. Congress, Gabbard took strong stances in opposition to Islamist political movements and organizations in the Middle East. In some of her appearances on Fox News between 2013 and 2017, she faulted President Obama over his refusal to refer to the Islamic State 's beliefs and terrorism as " Islamic extremism " or "radical Islam". In a 2015 interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Gabbard criticized the Obama administration for "refusing" to say that the "real enemy" of the United States is Islamic extremists. Gabbard expressed reservations about the U.S. involvement in Syrian civil war, and said that "We must end our war to overthrow the Syrian government and focus our attention on defeating al-Qaeda and ISIS".
  
  In 2015, Gabbard met with Egyptian dictator 'Abd al-Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo. After the meeting, she issued a statement expressing her commendation of Sisi as a ruler who showed "great courage and leadership" in his regime's war against " Islamist ideology". Her close engagement with Sisi, an Arab autocrat responsible for the killing of more than 800 people in the Rabaa massacre, was met with widespread criticism. Journalist Evan Hill summarized Gabbard's foreign policy as rooted in " authoritarianism cloaked as counter-terrorism, nationalism cloaked as anti-interventionism", and an open espousal of Islamophobia.
  
  On December 20, 2019, the Stop Arming Terrorists Act that she introduced in 2017 became law as part of National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020, § 1228 to prohibit the Department of Defense from "knowingly providing weapons or any other form of support to Al Qaeda " or other terrorist groups or any individual or group affiliated with any such organization.
  
  Gabbard was critical of the U.S. military's 2020 Baghdad International Airport airstrike, which targeted and killed high-level Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, as an act of war by U.S. president Donald Trump and a violation of the U.S. Constitution, arguing that Trump did not have congressional authorization for this act.