Humane Foreign Policy - Kat for Illinois
As with regard to Taiwan, the United States must continue to support Taiwan in the face of increasing Chinese aggression and attempts to undermine Taiwan’s internationally recognized status as a state of its own.
Kat Abughazaleh, Democratic candidate for Illinois 9th Congressional District - Chicago Sun-Times
I want to codify passive support to sell Taiwan weapons, and prevent the president from overruling it unilaterally. If China invades Taiwan, we need to step in militarily to defend Taiwan. We have to use all our assets in the region, to defend the island from illegal aggression. I envision a two-part credible deterrence plan that turns Taiwan into a “porcupine” too costly for the PRC to invade, by providing them with weapons to defend themselves and committing to actually defending the island if they do invade.
Drop Site (@DropSiteNews): "⭕️ LEAKED Email | XCancel
“interventionist,” foreign policy adviser says Kat Abughazaleh, a socialist Democratic candidate in Illinois’ 9th District and one of the only Palestinian-Americans seeking office in 2026, was described by her national security adviser as “firmly an interventionist” who “won’t stop until Russia is made to pay for its crimes,” in written responses detailing her foreign policy vision, obtained by Drop Site.
Ben Mermel wrote in an email to a Washington-based progressive foreign policy activist that Abughazaleh believes “the world is better off when America takes a leading role” and that the U.S. has “an obligation to support pro-democracy movements around the world, from Iran to Venezuela.” He added that “Kat wholly supports the National Endowment for Democracy, as well as its affiliated organizations (NDI, IRI, and the AFL-CIO’s Solidarity Center),” and said Congress should expand tools “from sanctions to NGO support” to advance those efforts without always resorting to “kinetic force.”
The DC-based activist had written to Mermel saying he had noticed unusually hawkish language on the campaign website related to Ukraine and Taiwan and was looking for clarification.
In his response, Mermel said that on Taiwan she would amend the Taiwan Relations Act by “dropping our strategic ambiguity” and make clear the U.S. would counter Chinese aggression “with force,” arguing the region now requires “a firmer hand.”
On Ukraine, Mermel wrote she would “hold the line,” support “funding the Ukrainian war effort to the hilt,” back long-range strikes on Russian strategic targets, deploy additional U.S. “air, naval, and ground assets” to NATO’s front line, and that “She supports the seizure and redistribution of Russian assets in Europe and the United States, for the purpose of financing the war effort.”
Abughazaleh did not respond to a request for comment, but a source close to the campaign told Drop Site that the adviser’s email did not accurately represent her views, saying, “Kat is committed to taking on authoritarianism but is vehemently against the military industrial complex and the continuation of failed US intervention approaches.” Abughazaleh has consistently argued against U.S. support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza and, at a recent forum, said she opposes U.S. strikes on Iran.
Mermel in 2024 attended a pro-Israel protest held to counter the encampment at George Washington University. He has been Abughazaleh’s National Security Adviser since July 2025, according to Legistorm.
Just for the record, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is a CIA organization:
National Endowment for Democracy - Wikipedia
In a 1991 interview with the Washington Post, NED founder Allen Weinstein said: "A lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA."[24]
The People’s Forum is WHOLLY funded, staffed, and controlled by PSL, whose office is in the same building upstairs. (more below and in linked tweet)
For once there's actually better resources on Reddit than here
u/wob_nobbler
"As a PSL organizer, I can say her imperialist views are [not] reflected in the PSL's Party line
She was brought on the panel alongside other people too with varying views, and it consisted entirely of domestic policy discussion.
I agree she has terrible views on Taiwan and NATO more generally. But her advocacy for Palestine and (relative) popularity brought more viewership to the People's forum. Ultimately their board decides who gets invited, even if they are propped up by the PSL."
u/odd_insurance_7140
"Being propped up by an org is not the same as being controlled by that org. TPF certainly relies a lot of the PSL, and vice versa. That’s how close partnerships are. But the TPF’s autonomy is not subordinated to the PSL. It’s like you ignored the part of their comment that said ”Ultimately the board decides who gets invited”.
I think you are being a bit too idealistic and harsh here in your attempt to bash the PSL. But this is why the PSL, like any effective revolutionary party, doesn’t aim to simply organize the left. Its base is too unforgiving and petty at times, and not large enough to be effective on its own."
u/wob_nobbler
"The People's forum is attached to our "PSL Action Network" which essentially is the outreach/public news front of our organizing bodies. This isn't the first time they invitd a liberal/progressive candidate on nor will it be the last.
The PSL itself is firmly anti-imperialist, favoring peaceful reunification of Formosa/Taiwan back into China. Having Abugazalegh on for a panel doesn't change our consistent position since 2004. "
Personally I'm fine with both criticizing PSL and People's Forum for this but context is necessary and to disavow them as a party for this is a bit extreme, especially considering the aforementioned party line is still the same.
To use an extreme historical parallel, if I may, someone gave a speech to the comintern calling the founder of the futurist movement a revolutionary. I'll quote this in a minute [since the source I have is physical only]
Edit 2:
-Antonio Gramsci
Edit:
u/oracleofthewest
"Omg yall are insanely sectarian on your politics. This grifter sucks but immediately calling ALL of the PSL “opportunist” and “liberal” is the most insane online leftist take I’ve heard. Please get out there and actually organize with your local socialist organization instead of nitpicking every single panelist on an BIG TENT educational platform for baby socialists. This panel is definitely a miss for me, I don’t think they should’ve had it, but TPF does some of the coolest Marxist classes I’ve ever been a part of and they’re rad as fuck GENERALLY.
For context, I’ve been an organizer with my local branch of the PSL for five years now. My comrades are some of the most dedicated, educated, and compassionate people I’ve ever met in my life, and they dedicate hundreds of hours every month to going out on the streets and actually organizing members of the working class from a genuine Marxists Leninist framework of political engagement.
These sort of broad, all encompassing takes in which an organization like the PSL is branded as evil and opportunist at the slightest disagreement in tactics is genuinely hurtful to the movement for socialism broadly.
Please for the love of god go out in your cities and actually talk to people about socialism instead of slandering other genuine Marxist organizations online."
These are some fair responses and an important clarification about what the People's Forum is. I would say that context does make a difference in this case. And the commenters are right to point out that it is not helpful to immediately jump to denunciation, hostility and accusations toward the PSL who, as far as i know, have a pretty solid anti-imperialist platform. It's fine to criticize mistakes, and i still think inviting her was a mistake, but we should try to resist the urge to throw the baby out with the bathwater when it comes to a party that has so far been overall very positive. It's not like there is an abundance of better options in the US.
Reality check: this is not twitter and hordes are not going to come to ratio people you disagree with. Be respectful and be ready to go through things in detail.
I already put forth mine many times, and there’s not much more to see especially if you’re across all 3 of these mentioned sites discussing this.
Chasing me around the thread doesn’t make you look smarter, you’re just coping about PSL’s liberal tailism strategy. Appealing to the center is not going to work.
Then you can say nothing at all if you have nothing further to say. Rather than trying to dunk on people like this is twitter. You aren't obligated to reply to every comment in the thread. You are expected to be respectful to people here.
I had my own argument on the bottom, I just didn't want to repeat what other people had already said as well. This response really characterizes you
I was in the PSL too and I’m not going to continue falling for their trap. Hope you see through it too.
Don't worry about the pushback, Westerners have to go through a learning curve.
I know you're getting a lot of pushback in this thread but if you were to do a writeup I would definitely read it. Applied for PSL fairly recently and still trying to evaluate them in terms of substantive critique.
One could ask if bourgoisie electoralism were to become sophisticated enough to allow for pressure valve for discontent (let's say including against the genocides and the jingoisim against Russia, China, Iran and Venuzeula) for even budding marxists what would that look like and how does the PSL differentiate themselves from that?
This sounds like something you should expand into a general post