http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/27/barbara-lee-congresswoman-interview
Congresswoman Barbara Lee: once the lone voice against the Afghanistan war
In 2001, Lee was the only vote in Congress against the war, just days after 9/11. Eleven years later, she’s not gloating
With her voice cracking and the nation still in mourning Barbara took to the floor of the House of Representatives on 14 September 2001, in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, to give the sole speech and deliver the sole vote in Congress against the Afghanistan war.
Immediately afterwards friends in Congress followed her to the cloakroom to tell her: ‘I think you made a mistake, you better go and change your vote.’ She wouldn’t. In the days following, with smoke still rising from lower Manhattan and the nation on a war footing she would field death threats, accusations of treason and, for a time, need 24-hour protection from the Capitol police.
Almost 11 years on, Lee’s speech sounds incredibly prescient.
Read article and view interview here