Posted on 02/18/2004 7:02:43 PM PST by jmstein7
Tell NBC To Release The John Kerry "War Crimes" Tape NBC Has Suppressed
On Meet The Press, 5/6/01, John Kerry was played an audiotape from 1971, where he said the following:
(Audiotape, April 18, 1971):
MR. CROSBY NOYES (Washington Evening Star): Mr. Kerry, you said at one time or another that you think our policies in Vietnam are tantamount to genocide and that the responsibility lies at all chains of command over there. Do you consider that you personally as a Naval officer committed atrocities in Vietnam or crimes punishable by law in this country?
SEN. KERRY: There are all kinds of atrocities, and I would have to say that, yes, yes, I committed the same kind of atrocities as thousands of other soldiers have committed in that I took part in shootings in free fire zones. I conducted harassment and interdiction fire. I used 50 calibre machine guns, which we were granted and ordered to use, which were our only weapon against people. I took part in search and destroy missions, in the burning of villages. All of this is contrary to the laws of warfare, all of this is contrary to the Geneva Conventions and all of this is ordered as a matter of written established policy by the government of the United States from the top down. And I believe that the men who designed these, the men who designed the free fire zone, the men who ordered us, the men who signed off the air raid strike areas, I think these men, by the letter of the law, the same letter of the law that tried Lieutenant Calley, are war criminals.
(End audiotape)
Note that this is, indeed, Senator John Kerry -- I am not confusing him with Senator Bob Kerrey (who also committed war crimes in Vietnam).
If this video from Meet The Press was released, it would be extremely damaging for the Kerry campaign. Fortunately for John Kerry, NBC has refused to release the tape -- NBC is clearly protecting Senator Kerry from having his "War Hero" moniker tarnished. John Kerry has made his war record an issue -- therefore, the public deserves to know all the details of Senator Kerry's war record (including whether he committed war crimes). President Bush has released his service records and incidental information -- Kerry should do the same. NBC has breached the public trust and its fiduciary duty to inform the public -- i.e. committed journalistic malpractice be censoring the news to favor one candidate and ideology over another.
This must not stand.
Please send the following email to NBC and the other addresses below:
NBC has breached the public trust and committed an outrageous act of media bias.
On "Meet the Press" on May 6, 2001, Tim Russert played for Senator John Kerry an audiotape of John Kerry in 1971. On the tape, Kerry said, inter alia:
. . . yes, I committed the same kind of atrocities as thousands of other soldiers have committed in that I took part in shootings in free fire zones. I conducted harassment and interdiction fire. I used 50 calibre machine guns, which we were granted and ordered to use, which were our only weapon against people. I took part in search and destroy missions, in the burning of villages. All of this is contrary to the laws of warfare, all of this is contrary to the Geneva Conventions . . .
NBC has refused to release this tape. The only explanation for such a refusal is that NBC is impermissibly shielding Senator Kerry from public scrutiny. Senator Kerry has held himself out as a war hero, and this tape casts doubt on that claim (it is not possible to be both a war hero and a war criminal). If John Kerry committed war crimes, the public needs to know. This is nothing short of journalistic malpractice on the part of NBC.
I demand that NBC fulfill its fiduciary duty to the public and release and air this tape.
Sincerely,
YOUR NAME & TOWN
Send this email (or your own email) to:
1) The editor of your local newspapers (click here).
2) To NBC: imus@msnbc.com,letters@MSNBC.com,World@MSNBC.com
3) Call NBC at 212-664-4444 (ask for NBC News).
4) Alert Fox News (they tend to investigate such bias):
Afterhours@foxnews.com,Foxreport@foxnews.com,
Atlarge@foxnews.com,Hannity@foxnews.com,Beyondthenews@foxnews.com,
Colmes@foxnews.com,Bullsandbears@foxnews.com,Heartland@foxnews.com
,Cash@foxnews.com,Ontherecord@foxnews.com,Cavuto@foxnews.com,
Patsajakweekend@foxnews.com,Dayside@foxnews.com,Special@foxnews.com,
Forbes@foxnews.com,Studiob@foxnews.com,Friends@foxnews.com,
Beltway@foxnews.com,Foxmagazine@foxnews.com,Myword@foxnews.com,
Comments@foxnews.com,Oreilly@foxnews.com,Comments@foxnews.com,
Warstories@foxnews.com,FNS@foxnews.com,Cavuto@foxnews.com,
Newswatch@foxnews.com
5) To Drudge. Go to http://www.drudgereport.com/ and paste the email into the box (scroll down, on the right) that says "SEND NEWS TIPS TO DRUDGE"
6) Send this email to your Senator. Find their contact info HERE.
7) Anybody else you can think of (like, perhaps, rush@eibnet.com )
Please PING your PING lists if you have them!
It was The Hague Conventions that established the rules for 'civilized warfare' after WWI. The Geneva Conventions deal with the human handling of prisoners, among other issues.
I'm asking this question sincerely: WHY? It is a matter of documented public record that the US government did employ the tactics described by Kerry, so the truth of that portion of the statement isn't an issue. I suppose it's debateable now whether or not those tactics did, in fact, violate international law at the time, but is that the issue you think the public should be debating? "Were the free fire zones in the Mekong Delta during the Vietnam War violations of the Geneva convention?" I seriously don't see conservatives winning that argument as a political tactic to weaken Kerry. I could be wrong.
My feelings exactly! ! !
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