Patriot of the Month

War Protester Medea Benjamin of Code Pink interrupts al Maliki's Speech in Congress


(CBS/AP) - A heckler briefly disrupted Wednesday's speech to Congress by Iraq's prime minister.

At a joint meeting of Congress, Nouri al-Maliki was insisting that Iraq remains on the front line against terrorism, when a demonstrator began shouting, "Iraqis want the troops to leave" and "Bring them home now."

Al-Maliki paused and grimaced while the young woman was lifted from her seat and carried by officers from the House visitor's gallery.

Dressed in a pink T-shirt that read, "Troops Home Now," the woman repeatedly called back, "Listen to the Iraqis."

Al-Maliki's speech continued, with a petition for sustained U.S. support. The prime minister said the U.S. and Iraq "need each other."

CBS News' Phil Hirschkorn reports that the heckler is Medea Benjamin of Code Pink. According to the organization's Web site, Code Pink is a "women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end the war in Iraq." Benjamin has been arrested many times, Hirschkorn reports, including previously at the Republican National Convention in New York in 2004 and during at least one Congressional hearing.

This world needs more Medea Benjamins.

For more information on her organization, Code Pink, click here.