Protesters crash panel on US defense

Pro-peace group Code Pink interrupted a panel discussion on Wednesday with Representative Adam Smith, a leading Democratic proponent of arming Ukraine. Smith was invited by the Washington-based think tank Brookings Institution to talk about US military policy.

Smith, the ranking member of his party on the House Armed Services Committee, explained his ideas for boosting US military capability during the panel. He urged mothballing large weapon systems that he believes to be obsolete and focusing on those required for the “modern fight.” The US needs to apply “lessons that we are learning from the fighting in Ukraine,” he said.

However, during the event members of the left-wing anti-war advocacy group Code Pink walked on to the stage to rebuke the administration of US President Joe Biden for pumping weapons into Ukraine and ignoring the path of negotiations. Such an approach increases the risk of nuclear war, the group’s co-founder, Medea Benjamin, argued.