Why isn't security tighter in the hallways of the Congress?
In a press conference just before the briefing, Hunter called on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to “resign his position” because Reid had said that the “war is lost” last week. Reid has refused to back down in face of White House criticism for his remark.
Hunter and other Republicans also criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for not attending the briefing, although Pelosi did speak with Petraeus by phone for about 30 minutes on Tuesday.
But just as Hunter made his call for Reid to step down, anti-war protestors who had staked out the hallway of the Rayburn House Office Building, where the Petraeus briefing was taking place, began to shout him down, screaming at Hunter, “What does success look like in Iraq?”
They followed Hunter, who is seeking the 2008 GOP presidential nomination, down the hallway to the Armed Services Committee, all the while berating him.
About a dozen anti-war protestors, including several members of the group “Code Pink,” as well as Cindy Sheehan, who lost a son in Iraq, berated lawmakers and military officials as they went into briefing.
One protestor blocked Negroponte, screaming that the former U.S. ambassador to Iraq was a “war criminal.” Negroponte briefly reversed course and walked away from the committee rooms before being escorted inside by police and his security team.
Other protestors tried to grab lawmakers’ arms while urging them to “Bring the troops home now.” Protestors latched onto Petraeus himself, but his security detail quickly ushered the general into the committee’s offices.
