Aspiring spy boss Tulsi Gabbard defended most of her controversial foreign policy takes during a lively Senate hearing Thursday, including her meeting with former Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad and her prior doubts about the legitimacy of US intelligence on his use of chemical weapons against his own people.

Critics blasted the meeting as legitimizing Assad four years after he used lethal chemical weapons on Syrian civilians. "It was common knowledge that Assad was gassing the civilian population,

The new government of Syria has demanded that the aggressor country of russia extradite former Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, who fled the country in

Syrian leader al-Sharaa reportedly also demands reparations as Moscow delegation seeks to secure strategic power bases.

Russia deployed troops to Syria in 2015 to support Assad regime's brutal crackdown against anti-government forces.