Rand Slams Kerry: 'How Can You Ask a Man to Be the First One to Die for a Mistake?'

Appearing on Meet The Press on Sunday, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) slammed Secretary of State John Kerry on his willingness to intervene militarily in Syria by twisting his most famous words against him.

“I would ask John Kerry, How can you ask a man to be the first one to die for a mistake?” Paul said, in reference to Kerry’s famous words against the Vietnam War to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1971. 

Kerry, as a part of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, famously said then in calling for an end to the Vietnam War, “How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?”

Kerry served in Vietnam but was subsequently accused of distorting the conduct of American soldiers in Vietnam and the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth famously cast doubt on whether Kerry deserved the medals he received for serving in Vietnam. 

Paul said he did not believe American interests were involved in either side of the Syrian war. 

In a sign he may be courting the religious right in a future 2016 presidential run, Paul acknowledged that Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, though he was not an American ally, “has protected Christians for a number of decades.” He said the Islamic rebels are attacking Christians, and Americans would presumably be supporting al-Qaeda with military strikes. Paul said there was not a “clear-cut American interest,” the situation was “murky” and whichever side emerges as the victor would ultimately not be an American ally.