Chris Butler, using the pen name Bo Zhongyan (
柏忠言
), coauthored anti-Western books in China with his wife Wai Lana (Zhang Huilan,
张蕙兰
). They described Westerners as
"no more than dogs"
and dedicated their 1986 book to
"the great and magnificent Chinese nation"
—
这个伟大，壮丽国家的全体中国人民.
Source
Note: Thousands of decrypted documents and emails from Butler's secret political operation have been independently examined by the Washington Post. The content on this website is attributed solely to the site's author.
One of Tulsi Gabbard's most recognizable positions, that America's Gulf "allies" like Saudi Arabia are the real funders of terrorism, was not her own discovery. Her guru's project office wrote it for her.
Tulsi Gabbard's political brand rested on a manufactured image of independence: the veteran willing to break with Washington and name America's Gulf "allies," above all Saudi Arabia, as the secret funders of the terrorism the United States claims to fight. That image became a centerpiece of her identity.
The forensic archive of the political project office run by her guru, "Jagad Guru" Chris Butler, shows the position was written for her, from the overall framing down to the individual talking points. What looked like an independent conviction was a script.
China benefits when the U.S. alienates its Gulf allies
Pushing Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states away from Washington indirectly strengthens the China-Russia axis, and that drift is already underway: Saudi Arabia has joined the BRICS bloc, deepened a "comprehensive strategic partnership" with China, and inched toward settling oil trade in Chinese yuan rather than U.S. dollars. 7
Given that Tulsi Gabbard's guru has maintained close Chinese Communist Party ties for more than 40 years, it is deeply disturbing that he held such total influence over the foreign policy she pushed.
Butler directed: "penalize these countries"
In the May 2014 master "issues" brief that laid out positions across every topic, Butler dictated a hard line on the Gulf monarchies in his own voice.
"[They] should be cut off from any trade with the United States, should be cut off from any relationships. We need to penalize these countries, whether it's Saudi Arabia or anybody else."
Chris Butler, SIF master issues brief, "TG ISSUES," May 20, 2014 1
The script: Saudi Arabia and Qatar "are funding ISIS"
By June 2014, the project office had turned that directive into ready-made talking points under her name, naming the Gulf states as the money behind ISIS and al-Qaeda.
"Qatar and other Sunni-led allies (Kuwait, Saudi Arabia) are funding ISIS."
SIF talking-points summary prepared for Tulsi Gabbard, June 19, 2014 2
"Radical Sunni extremists, ISIS and Al Qaeda, are supported by wealthy businessmen in Saudi Arabia and other countries; they use this money to fund madrassas that create fanatical Sunni jihadists."
SIF talking-points summary prepared for Tulsi Gabbard, June 19, 2014 2
"Our so-called friends and allies"
The office returned to the theme again and again, casting the entire alliance structure as the secret obstacle to defeating ISIS.
"The answer is because our so-called friends and allies, the Saudi, Qataris, Gulf States, and Turkey don't want us to defeat ISIS, al-Qaeda."
SIF political transcript 3
What the script became: her signature causes
This was not abstract messaging. It hardened into the two initiatives Tulsi Gabbard is best known for. In January 2017 she introduced the Stop Arming Terrorists Act
(H.R. 608), to bar U.S. funds from reaching al-Qaeda, ISIS, and the countries supporting them; Senator Rand Paul introduced a Senate version weeks later. 4
And she became a prominent voice pushing to declassify the "28 pages"
of the 9/11 inquiry dealing with possible Saudi government links to the hijackers. 5
Both causes flow directly from the frame Butler dictated in 2014: that the Gulf "allies," above all Saudi Arabia, are the real sponsors of the terrorism America fights.
To be clear: the view that Gulf money has fueled extremism is a serious one, shared by many analysts and lawmakers across the spectrum. The issue this piece raises is not whether the claim has merit. It is that this was not Tulsi Gabbard's independent conviction. It was a position authored for her, in advance, by a private religious leader who controlled her messaging.
One guru's political agenda, recited by a U.S. Congressmember
The same project office that wrote "Saudi Arabia… are funding ISIS" also wrote her pro-Assad Syria line, her defense of India's Modi, and decades of pro-Beijing propaganda authored by Butler himself. Read together, they are not separate convictions held by a thoughtful veteran. They are the worldview of one man, "Jagad Guru" Chris Butler, placed in the mouth of a woman who would go on to serve as Director of National Intelligence.
When the head of U.S. intelligence has spent a decade reciting a foreign policy written for her by someone else, the question is no longer what she believes. It is who was holding the pen.
