Secretary of State John Kerry erupted at Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC) after the congressman charged that the Obama administration cannot be trusted to carry out an attack on Syria due to mistakes made in Benghazi and controversies involving the IRS and NSA programs.
"I cannot discuss the possibility of the U.S. involvement in the Syrian civil war without talking about Benghazi," Duncan said, questioning Kerry at a Wednesday hearing.
"The administration has a serious credibility issue with the American people, due to the unanswered questions surrounding the terrorist attack in Benghazi almost a year ago. When you factor in the IRS targeting of conservative groups, the AP and James Rosen issues, Fast and Furious and NSA spying programs, the bottom line is that there is a need for accountability and trust-building from the administration," he said. "The American people deserve answers about Benghazi before we move forward in Syria's civil war."
That set off Kerry, who forcefully condemned Duncan for his claims.
"I'm not going to sit here and be told by you that I don't have a set of -- a sense of what the judgment is," he said. "We are talking about people being killed by gas and you want to go talk about Benghazi and Fast and Furious."
As Kerry spoke, Duncan held up a photo of what he said was a man named Victor who was killed in Benghazi.
"We don't deserve to drag this into yet another Benghazi discussion," Kerry said, "when the real issue here is whether or not the Congress is going to stand up for international norms with respect for dictators that have only been broken twice until Assad: Hitler and Saddam Hussein."
Watch parts of the exchange below.
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