Washington, Jan 31 (IANS): Tulsi Gabbard told US Senators at a hearing to confirm her as the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) that she has "no love for Assad or Gaddafi or any dictator" as her critics have said, "I just hate Al Qaeda."

Gabbard has faced some tough questioning from Senators, both Republicans, who control the US Senate, and Democrats, on several issues on which she has spoken before, taking positions contrary to that of the administration.

She denied Assad had used chemical weapons on his own people and said it was a mistake to help in the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya and Hosni Mubarak in Egypt.

She also faced questions about her past defence of Edward Snowden, the NSA intelligence contractor, who leaked a large number of classified documents and currently lives in Russia. And her positions on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

She lashed out against her critics in her opening remarks.

"Those who oppose my nomination imply that I am loyal to something or someone other than God, my own conscience, and the Constitution of the US, accusing me of being Trump's puppet, Putin's puppet, Assad's puppet," she said.

"I have no love for Assad or Gaddafi or any dictator," she added.

"I just hate al Qaeda. I hate that we have leaders who cozy up to Islamist extremists, minimising them to so-called rebels."

Gabbard is a military veteran who continues to serve in the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the army reserve and served several terms in the House of Representatives as a Democrat.

She also ran for the Democratic presidential nomination, losing it to Joe Biden in 2020. She has since supported and endorsed President Donald Trump's second run for the White House and after his victory, she accepted his nomination to be the Director of National Intelligence, whose office oversees the US intelligence community made of 18 agencies and organisations such as the CIA, NSA, FBI, and Defence Intelligence Agency.

Listing a series of intelligence failures such as the Iraq war and politicisation and weaponisation of the intelligence community such as the investigation of President Trump's first campaign, Gabbard said, "President Trump's re-election is a clear mandate from the American people to break this cycle of failure, end the weaponisation and politicisation of the intelligence community and begin to restore trust in those who've been charged with the critical task of securing our nation."

"If confirmed as DNI," she added, "I will do my very best to fulfill this mandate and bring leadership to the intelligence community with a laser-like focus on our essential mission, ensuring the safety, security, and freedom of the American people as the President's principal intelligence adviser."

Gabbard also lashed out against those who have targeted her religion. She is Hindu.

"Unfortunately, they're once again using the religious bigotry card, but this time trying to foment religious bigotry against Hindus and Hinduism. If anyone is sincerely interested in knowing more about my own personal spiritual path of Hinduism, I welcome you to go to my account on X where I'll share more on this topic."