During his testimony Tuesday before the Senate about the U.S. intervening in Syria, as Secretary of State John F. Kerry finished his opening statement, Code Pink’s Medea Benjamin started an intentional ruckus, shouting, “Secretary Kerry, the people do not want” war with Syria! As security hauled her out, Kerry talked about how he agreed with her “the first time I testified before this committee” when he was 27-years old, forty-two years ago.
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You know the first time I testified before this committee, when I was 27 years-old, I had feeling very similar to that protester … and I think we can all respect those who have a different point of view, and we do.
The testimony Kerry referred to was his 1971 appearance before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee where the former Vietnam Veteran blistered America’s military involvement in a far off civil war. Kerry accused American servicemen of horrific crimes — the random killing of civilians; rape, torture, and corpse mutilation “reminiscent of Genghis Khan.” He added that these were “not isolated incidents, but day-to-day” events.
Kerry also described America’s intervention in this far-off civil was as fighting for “the biggest nothing in history.”
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