We cannot continue to see the Middle East in the context of 9/11. We must see it in the context of 2011.
John F. KerryI accept that friends of ours have decided that the President's non-strike has somehow impacted perceptions of us. But I believe they are dead wrong and I think the critics are dead wrong, and here's why. The President [Barack Obama] made his decision to strike. He announced his decision to strike publicly. And the purpose of the strike was to get the chemical weapons out of Syria. That's the purpose.
John F. KerryIf you don't have two states, you have one state, already the non-Jewish population outnumbers the Jewish population in one state.
John F. KerryAt every step of the way, George W. Bush has put the narrow interests of the few ahead of the interests of most Americans.
John F. KerryWe achieved a deal with the Russians that didn't wind up in two days of strikes that would have sent a, quote, "message," but would not have removed the weapons. We struck a deal to get all of the declared weapons out of Syria. Never before in a conflict has that ever happened, that during the conflict weapons of mass destruction are taken out of the zone of conflict. And thank God we did that, because if we hadn't done that, today ISIL would have those chemical weapons in large parts of the country.
John F. Kerry