An Open Response to the Honorable Secretary of State John F. Kerry

Dear Secretary Kerry:

I just listened to most of your speech in which you laid out your case for doing something with regard to the alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria.

This is my question to you: How many times, in your lifetime, has an American Secretary of State or President laid out the case for entering into a war, only for the American people to learn, years later, that the facts of that were not true?

How many times, in your lifetime, was this country lied to in order to justify a war?

How many times were the "facts" embellished? How many times was contradictory evidence overlooked, ignored, not reported, denigrated, or those pointing out the holes in the Administration's case called "weak-kneed" or worse? How many times has opponents of a war been castigated as lining up on the side of evil?

Here is a hint: The number is not "zero".

Do you understand that we will not be swayed by a nice speech?

Do you understand that evidence produced by our own intelligence community (and that of the Brits) will be regarded with skepticism, because they have been involved before with ginning up false grounds for war?

Do you understand that "trust me" is the wrong answer?