University of Richmond Professor Doesn't Like "Monsters" Statement

Congressional Record ^ | 4/22/71

[dannyboy72]

"...The country doesn't know it yet, but it has created a monster, a monster in the form of millions of men who have been taught to deal and to trade in violence..."

John Kerry stated in front of the Congress that America, and more directly the military, have turned the young men fighting in Vietnam into monsters. Recently he has been quoted as saying that he didn't mean the 'Swift Boat' veterans, but the other guys. But, his testimony seems to indicate that anyone who did their duty in Vietnam was a monster; that everyone in Vietnam was a monster.

Mr. Kerry can write this off to an overly zealous youth who was exaggerating to increase the 'shock' value. But, the question then becomes - what of our soldiers fighting the war on terror? Is it monstrous to drop a 500lb bomb on an area thought to be an enemy stronghold knowing that innocent civilians may be killed? Is it monstrous when our troops use M16's and body armor against a force equipped with throwback weaponry? Is it monstrous when a soldier fires his pistol next to the head of a suspected enemey to learn of an impending ambush? Is it monstrous for our soldiers to detain suspects becuase of a mere suspicion? Is it monstrous for our soldier's to fire every last bullet they have into a building from which they have received fire?

NO

In Mr. Kerry's mind, these are the actions of monsters. These are men (and women) who have been taught to kill the enemy. They have been taught to defend themselves and their tasks at any cost. They have been taught how to kill in close combat, how to kill at long range, and how to destroy the enemy without mercy.

Monstrous? Maybe.

But, if I'm an American mother with a small child attending school, growing up under the auspices of Terror, who do you want fighting for you? Who do you want fighting the enemy monsters? And if I see my child grow up and join that fight, I want my military to teach my son or daughter how to be a monster, how to defend themselves and their country, and do it with pride.

So I ask this simple question - If the men and women of our Armed Forces are in a fight, a fight which may be long and costly both in time and blood, whom do you believe they will want as their commander in chief?

a) Someone who believes that those warriors are monsters by their very nature; who believes that the fight they're in isn't worth the money it's costing; who believes that the allies they fight with were bribed or coerced; and someone who returned from war only to call his fellow warriors 'monsters';

- OR -

b) A commander in chief who steadfastly believes in the mission and the ability of our troops to accompish this mission; a President who has never questioned the honor of their task or the methods by which they are performed; a President who continues to tout the progress you have made and the good things that you have done for over 30 Million people without complaining that it's taking too long; a man who has never proclaimed to be a hero, but was heroic in the days after 9-11; and a man who has never questioned the integrity of the British, the Italians, the Australians, the Polish and the other nations fighting by your side.

I think any person who makes an honest assessment on this upcoming election knows what the men and women of the military will answer. And I think it is our duty to provide our military with the commander they want when it's time to fight.

Are we really going to elect an Anti-War Protester to be the Commander-In-Chief of our War Machine? That would be like putting PETA in charge of the Meat Packers Union.