Chanting “No more war!” a cadre of anti-war protesters Wednesday at the Democratic National Convention disrupted former U.S. Secretary of Defense and CIA Director Leon Panetta’s speech Wednesday to denounce U.S. militarism.
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In a prime time address, Panetta praised the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, as the only one to have a solid plan to defeat the Islamic State group. But only a few minutes in, Panetta was interrupted by a chorus of Bernie Sanders' delegates in the crowd.
Alexis Edelstein, a Sanders delegate from California told Democracy Now! that Sanders delegates from Oregon began the chanting, and soon all 57 states with his delegates joined in.
“The DNC shut off the lights as a way to silence them,” he said.
When asked why he and others began to audibly protest against the former Pentagon chief’s speech, Edelstein explained that Clinton is “supporting foreign wars and initiating drone wars.”
“Hillary Clinton is a warmonger, Hillary Clinton wants to continue all the wars in the Middle East, Hillary Clinton is with Israel on the Palestine (occupation) issue,” he explained further.
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He also mentioned Clinton’s role in the coup in Honduras, stating that being from Argentina, he is “very sensitive to Latin American issues” – as in Argentina itself there occurred a military dictatorship supported by former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who Clinton is friendly with.
Soon after the chants began, however, they were drowned out by another faction of the crowd yelling “USA! USA! USA!” underscoring the stark divide within both the Democratic Party and the United States overall.