February 12, 2004
Vietnam-Era Kerry Saw a Military Led by U.N.
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
ASHINGTON, Feb. 11 ? The student newspaper at Harvard University has unearthed a 34-year-old interview with Senator John Kerry, in which Mr. Kerry, then fresh out of Vietnam and an underdog candidate for Congress, suggested that he would cede authority over the military to the United Nations and rein in, or perhaps eliminate, the C.I.A.
"I'm an internationalist," Mr. Kerry told the newspaper, The Harvard Crimson, on Feb. 18, 1970. "I'd like to see our troops dispersed through the world only at the directive of the United Nations."
The Crimson, which published a recap of the 1970 article on Wednesday, reported that Mr. Kerry also said he wanted to "almost eliminate C.I.A. activity."
"The C.I.A. is fighting its own war in Laos," he said, "and nobody seems to care."
David Wade, a spokesman for Mr. Kerry, said the comments, which are at odds with the senator's current statements, reflect the sentiments of "a 26-year-old Vietnam veteran angry at the Nixon White House's indifference to soldiers dying on the front lines thousands of miles away."
As a presidential candidate, Mr. Kerry has said that "American security must never be ceded to any institution or to another institution's decision," and has not called for cutting back the C.I.A.
Still, the article is generating attention among Republicans, some of whom cite it as evidence that the senator has been inconsistent on national defense.
"His rhetoric and his record often are canyons apart," said Scott Stanzel, a spokesman for the Bush re-election campaign.
Mr. Kerry, who had overwhelming victories in Tuesday night's primaries in Virginia and Tennessee, is spending Wednesday and Thursday at his home in Washington, with no public appearances scheduled, before heading off on Friday to campaign in Wisconsin and Las Vegas.
"The man needs some rest," Mr. Wade said.
