Secretary of State John Kerry and Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) had a brief exchange of ego Tuesday at the hearing about military intervention in Syria, with the former needling McCain that he thought all his questions were "important" after McCain cut off the long-winded Kerry's slamming of government leaks.
The two longtime senators have previously bonded over their failed presidential campaigns.
McCain chastised Kerry at the beginning of his questioning about giving the Syrians too much warning about a potential attack:
KERRY: By the way, can i add something, Senator? On the warning issue, I don't disagree with you about warning. In fact, the general wouldn't disagree with you either. And we are all --
MCCAIN: But the general said it would be just as easy --
KERRY: No, no, we're deeply --
MCCAIN: Let's not get into that.
KERRY: John, all I want to say to you, there were leaks, which are the bane of everybody's existence, and the fact is the newspapers began to carry stories about a strike and targeting well before any decisions were made, and that began a process of of moving. So now there is at least --
MCCAIN: Ok, I got it. I really would like to move on to some more important questions, if you don't mind.
KERRY: I thought all your questions were important, John.
MCCAIN: Thank you, John, that's good. I'll try to remember that. The president said today that the purpose of the military action in Syria is not just to respond to Assad's use of chemical weapons, but to degrade his military capabilities as part of a broader strategy to change his momentum on the ground and as the president said, 'allow Syria ultimately to free itself.' Do you agree with that assessment, John?
KERRY: I said up-front, I've said several times here, they will automatically be, as a result of degrading his ability for chemical weapons, there will be downstream impact which will have an impact on his military capacity. I agree with the president.