On Wednesday, as Dem. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee spoke at a presser with her colleagues about the causalities of the war in Iraq and how they allegedly relate to President Trump’s recent actions against Iran, one of her colleagues chose to act like a dunce.
Instead of listening to Lee’s words, that colleague, Rep. Ilhan Omar, used her time to hobnob with her congressional pals, including fellow antisemitic Muslim Rep. Rashida Tlaib, and laugh repeatedly over some joke, the BPR reported.
“I’m very glad to say that I was part of the 132 and also the vote for [Rep.] Barbara Lee’s amendment, but I think that the point of that is that that is the same war that we’re dealing with today,” Lee could be heard saying in the video.
“We never solved any problems with AUMF [the Authorization for Use of Military Force], we left four thousand plus, maybe even forty-four hundred dead, and over sixty thousand who came back injured in some form and the war never ended.”
As Rep. Lee spoke about being “part of the 132” House Republicans and Democrats who voted in 2002 against authorizing the use of military force against Iraq, Rep. Omar and her younger colleagues briefly exchanged a smile.
After Rep. Omar’s colleagues returned to listening to Lee continue her speech, she for some reason chose to seemingly ignore it altogether.
She turned around and started what appeared to be a humorous conversation with Rep. Tlaib. Later, she turned to the colleague on her right to speak with her as well. Then again to Rep. Tlaib. Throughout the whole ordeal, she giggled and smiled.
It is unclear what the congresswoman found funny regarding the thousands who died or were injured during the Iraq War. It was also very odd what the congresswoman chose to say when her time at the podium arrived.
“I feel ill a little bit because of everything that is taking place, and I think every time I hear conversations around war, I find myself being stricken with PTSD,” Rep. Omar claimed.
“And I find peace knowing that I serve with great advocates for peace and people who have shown courage against war,” she added.
People on social media took offense to the notion of her suffering from PTSD.
“Rep. Ilhan Omar complained she’s ‘stricken with PTSD’ because of recent events in the Middle East,” Republican Rep. Jim Banks, a military veteran, tweeted in anger.
“This is a disgrace and offensive to our nation’s veterans who really do have PTSD after putting their life on the line to keep America safe.”
It is fair to ay that, Rep. Omar immigrated to the U.S. as an ungrateful refugee during the height of the still-ongoing Somalian Civil War in 1992. That year alone, an estimated 350,000 Somalians reportedly died of disease, starvation or war.
That said, even if she really has been suffering from PTSD, why would she then giggle and laugh during a discussion about the American lives lost during the Iraq War, some people wondered.
Rep. Ilhan Omar responded to the critics on social media complaining about her PTSD.
“I survived war as a child and deal with post-traumatic stress disorder — much like many who have served or lived through war. It’s shameful that you as a member of Congress would erase the PTSD of survivors,” she tweeted to Banks on Wednesday.
By the same token, people would argue that it’s “shameful that YOU as a member of Congress would” laugh, giggle during a discussion about the thousands of Americans who died during the Iraq War. Fair is fair.
