Those words were just said by Secretary of State John Kerry during his opening statement before the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s hearing on the Authorization for Use of Military Force in Syria. I guess that depends what his definition of “is” is. To me, firing multiple cruise missiles at another nation is, indeed, war.
I went back to watch the John Kerry of 1971 who testified at the Winter Soldier hearings as a representative of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, eloquently explaining that our actions were wrong. I urge you to watch his testimony as a reminder of who he used to be.
I find it hard to reconcile the fact that that man, 43 years later, is calling for us to bomb a country that has done nothing to us.
Marcy Wheeler of Emptywheel joined me in the second hour of the show to recap yesterday’s hearing and talk more about what we do know.. and what we don’t know.
Tomorrow, we’ll recap today’s hearing – and Congressman Alan Grayson, who sits on the House Foreign Affairs committee will join us to tell us what, if anything, he learned. In the meantime, sign on to his Don’t Attack Syria petition.
Also on the show today, I spoke with Ben Pollara, campaign director of United for Care, the organization that’s working to garner enough signatures to get a Medical Marijuana constitutional amendment on the ballot in 2014. If you’d like to sign the petition, gather signatures, or volunteer for the effort, visit unitedforcare.org.