I have been following Rep. Ilhan Omar closely since she defeated a 22-term incumbent in the DFL primary to run for the state legislature representing the West Bank/Little Mogadishu neighborhood of Minneapolis in August 2016. The first time I became aware of Omar’s claim to be a victim of PTSD, however, was just last year, in Benjamin Wallace-Wells’s idiotic March 27, 2019 New Yorker profile. W-W snagged an interview with Omar for the profile and quoted her: “You know, I have P.T.S.D. around, like, guns and ammunition and bombs.” According to the account Omar delivered to W-W, Omar’s PTSD dates back to her childhood in Somalia.
That was a new one on me, but several elements of Omar’s interview with W-W represent classic Omar. One recurring element of Omar’s public face struck me in particular. Any expression of gratitude to the United States for taking her and her family in as refugees to the United States was in short supply (i.e., absent).
As I noted over the weekend, Omar has a habit of making up her life stories as she goes along. Yaakov Apelbaum took a deep dive into Omar’s compulsive fabrications here this past August.
Omar was back at it yesterday, this time in the context of President Trump and our struggle with Iran. David Aaro’s FOX News story “Omar claim of PTSD ‘offensive’ to US veterans, Indiana congressman says” lays it out in its absurd detail
Omar spoke during a press conference with other Democrats yesterday at which she said she “felt ill” because of “everything that is taking place” in the Middle East — a reference to the recent U.S. tensions between the U.S. and Iran, including last week’s U.S. airstrike in Baghdad and Iran’s missile attacks early Wednesday against airbases in Iraq where U.S. service members are stationed.
“And I think every time I hear about … I hear of conversations around war, I find myself being stricken with PTSD,” she said. “And I find peace knowing that I serve with great advocates for peace and people who have shown courage against war.”
In the video embedded in the tweet below we can see Omar struggling with her PTSD later in the Wednesday press conference as she giggles and chats her way through Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee’s discussion of casualties during the Iraq War.
Absolutely shameful.
WATCH→ @IlhanMN and other @HouseDemocrats make light of American lives lost overseas.
Our brave men and women in uniform deserve our utmost respect and applause for their service and sacrifice — not mockery and laughter.pic.twitter.com/Lee0tmfGDa
— Rep. Jody Hice (@CongressmanHice) January 8, 2020
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