>> I had visions of Colin Powell's testimony, not the final vote

Likewise. FWIW I had a lot of time for Powell but that whole episode was a bit like the release of Trump's boasting. The US took a hit from which it is yet to recover its self-assurance.

Meanwhile a US military vessel is about to visit NZ for the first time in decades, since NZ declared itself Nuclear-Free in the 1980s and the US punished it by suspending treaty obligations and shutting NZ out of formerly close military ties between Australia, NZ and the US. Subsequently NZ was the first Western nation to sign a Free Trade Agreement with China. NZ also is part of the newer Trans-Pacific Partnership to liberalize trade between Pacific nations including the US and allies, but both US presidential candidates say they'll oppose the TPP. Sanders was opposed to it as well.

Geopolitics is a strange game. Google "Rainbow Warrior" if you're interested in an act of war by France against NZ and how NZ's "allies" reacted.