Tensions escalate after a heated feud between former President Donald Trump and Rep. Ilhan Omar over her Somali roots. As the dispute gains national attention, an old video has resurfaced showing Omar in a tense exchange with Elliot Abrams, the U.S. special envoy to Venezuela. In the clip, Omar sharply criticizes past U.S. foreign policy actions and questions Abrams’ credibility, saying, “I fail to understand why members of this committee or the American people should find any testimony you give today to be truthful.” The resurfacing of the video has reignited debate about U.S. policy history, accountability, and Omar’s outspoken criticism of American interventions. The original exchange occurred during a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing.
00:00Whether you under your watch a genocide will take place and you will look the other way because American interests were being upheld is a fair question because the American people want to know that anytime we engage a country that we think about what our actions could be and how we believe our values are being farthered.
00:30That is my question.
00:31Ms. Omar.
00:34Thank you, Chairman.
00:38Thank you all for being here and thank you for your testimonies.
00:41Mr. Adams, in 1991, you pleaded guilty to two counts of withholding information from Congress regarding your involvement in the Iran-Kortra affair,
00:55for which you were later buttoned by President George H.W. Bush.
01:01I fail to understand why members of this committee or the American people should find any testimony that you give today to be truthful.
01:14If I can respond to that.
01:18It wasn't a question.
01:20It was an attack.
01:21That was not a question.
01:23I reserve the right to my time.
01:27It is not right.
01:29That was not a question.
01:30Members of this committee can attack a witness who is not permitted to reply.
01:34That was not a question.
01:35Thank you for your participation.
01:37On February 8, 1982, you testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about U.S. policy in El Salvador.
01:47In that hearing, you dismissed as communist propaganda report about the massacre of El Masote,
01:57in which more than 800 civilians, including children as young as two years old, were brutally murdered by U.S.-trained troops.
02:07During that massacre, some of those troops bragged about raping a 12-year-old girl before they killed them, girls before they killed them.
02:20You later said that the U.S. policy in El Salvador was a fabulous achievement.
02:28Yes or no, do you still think so?
02:31From the day that President Duarte was elected in a free election to this day, El Salvador has been a democracy.
02:42That's a fabulous achievement.
02:44Yes or no, do you think that massacre was a fabulous achievement that happened under our watch?
02:54That is a ridiculous question.
02:56Yes or no?
02:57No.
02:58I'm sorry, Mr. Chairman.
02:59I will take that as a yes.
03:00I am not going to respond to that kind of personal attack, which is not a question.
03:05Yes or no, would you support an armed faction within Venezuela that engages in war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide,
03:15if you believe they were serving U.S. interests, as you did in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua?
03:24I am not going to respond to that question.
03:27I'm sorry.
03:27I don't think this entire line of questioning is meant to be real questions, and so I will not reply.
03:34Whether you, under your watch, a genocide will take place and you will look the other way because American interests were being upheld is a fair question.
03:45Because the American people want to know that any time we engage a country that we think about what our actions could be and how we believe our values are being farthered.
04:04That is my question.
04:05Will you make sure that human rights are not violated and that we uphold international and human rights?
04:17I suppose there is a question in there, and the answer is that the entire thrust of American policy in Venezuela is to support the Venezuelan people's effort to restore democracy to their country.
04:34That's our policy.
04:35I don't think anybody disputes that.
04:39The question I had for you is that the interest, does the interest of the United States include protecting human rights and include protecting people against genocide?
04:53That is always the position of the United States.
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