WASHINGTON -- Protesters disrupted an event featuring Dick Cheney, his wife Lynne and their daughter Liz on Monday, saying that the former vice president needed to be held accountable for the war in Iraq.
"Dick Cheney -- war criminal!" one woman holding a pink sign and handcuffs shouted just minutes into the event, which was sponsored by Politico and held at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C.
In response, Lynne Cheney began laughing, and Liz Cheney jokingly started chanting, "Four more years! Four more years!"
Politico's Mike Allen, who moderated the panel, tried to move on, but the woman continued shouting, "You destroyed Iraq, you'll destroy this country!" and "Dick Cheney should be arrested!"
Watch part of the protest above.
A couple of minutes later, a protester interrupted the event again.
"I wondered why the line was so long," Lynne Cheney quipped, as the protester continued to shout.
Anti-war group Code Pink took responsibility for the protest. Founder Medea Benjamin and other Code Pink activists were photographed outside the event.
Code Pink intern Anastasia Taylor, who was at the event, said she was very happy with the way the protest turned out.
"It was a success because we had so much time where it was focused on us and we actually interrupted the speech," she said. "Dick Cheney and his family were cracking jokes at us to try to defuse [the situation] because it was so awkward for them, it was so awkward for everybody."
The Cheneys largely stuck to their usual talking points during the discussion, criticizing President Barack Obama and defending the war in Iraq.
As violence has started increasing in the nation once again, Dick and Liz Cheney have been visible media presences. When Allen noted that many people -- who are perhaps still upset that the George W. Bush administration lied to the American public in order to justify invading Iraq -- wonder why they should listen to the Cheneys now, Liz defended the administration's record.
"Right now as we sit here today, I think there is complete agreement, frankly -- or almost, as much as what passes for complete agreement in Washington -- that in 2009, when Barack Obama took over, Iraq was stable. Even Barack Obama and Joe Biden said publicly many times that Iraq was in good shape."
She said that withdrawal and the fact that the United States "walked away from Iraq" under Obama is what's causing the current instability.
Liz Cheney, of course, is ignoring the fact that between 2003 to 2008, more than 4,000 U.S. service members and more than 105,000 Iraqi civilians died in the conflict. In 2009, which was significantly calmer than the previous years, there were still 149 U.S. deaths and 5,175 Iraqi deaths.
Kasey Varner contributed reporting.
This post has been updated to include a quote from Code Pink intern Anastasia Taylor.
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