Kerry's Denials at Odds With 1971 Book He Authored [Kerry denies calling vets war criminals]

Cybercast News Service ^ | February 20, 2004 | Marc Morano

[Jackson Brown]

Kerry's Denials at Odds With 1971 Book He Authored By Marc Morano CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer February 20, 2004

(CNSNews.com) - Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry has denied ever accusing American troops of committing war crimes in Vietnam. But his remarks during an interview on CNN Thursday are at odds with the excerpts of a book Kerry authored in 1971, a copy of which CNSNews.com obtained this week.

The New Soldier, which is currently so difficult to find that it was selling on the Internet for about $850, featured the following passage by Kerry about his experiences in Vietnam. "We were sent to Vietnam to kill Communism. But we found instead that we were killing women and children."

In the book, Kerry stated that Vietnamese citizens "didn't even know the difference between communism and democracy" and he instead blamed the United States for causing chaos in Vietnam.

"In the process we created a nation of refugees, bomb craters, amputees, orphans, widows, and prostitutes, and we gave new meaning to the words of the Roman historian Tacitus: 'Where they made a desert they called it peace,'" Kerry explained.

But when asked by CNN anchor Judy Woodruff on Thursday about allegations that he had accused "American troops of war crimes," Kerry issued a denial.

"No, I was accusing American leaders of abandoning the troops. And if you read what I said, it is very clearly an indictment of leadership. I said to the Senate, where is the leadership of our country? And it's the leaders who are responsible, not the soldiers. I never said that. I've always fought for the soldiers," he said.

Kerry was referring to his testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in April of 1971 as part of his involvement with the anti-war group Vietnam Veterans Against the War.

But The New Soldier reveals Kerry's direct criticism of American soldiers, including charges that they committed atrocities against the Vietnamese while on patrol.

In the book, Kerry said he "saw Vietnam ravaged equally by American bombs and search-and-destroy missions, as well as by Viet Cong terrorism..." He added that his combat duty in Vietnam irrevocably transformed his outlook on the military.

"Because of all that I saw in Vietnam, the treatment of civilians, the ravaging of their countryside, the needless, useless deaths, the deception and duplicity of our policy, I changed," Kerry wrote.

The cover of the book displays long-haired, bearded men carrying an upside down American flag in an apparent mockery of the famous planting of the American flag on Iwo Jima during World War II.

Kerry's former brother-in-law and current campaign adviser, David Thorne and documentary maker George Butler were credited with editing the book.

A defiant Kerry told CNN's Woodruff that he did not regret his anti-war activism, but also shifted the conversation to his activities on behalf of veterans many years after his own service in Vietnam, his anti-war activities and the publication of his 1971 book.

"In fact, not only did we oppose the war, but we proudly stood up and fought for the additions to the G.I. Bill so that vets would be able to use it. We fought for the V.A. Hospitals. I wrote the Agent Orange legislation with Tom Daschle. I helped with the post-Vietnam stress syndrome outreach centers," Kerry said.

"...The fact is if we want to re-debate the war on Vietnam in 2004, I'm ready for that. It was a mistake, and I'm proud of having stood up and shared with America my perceptions of what was happening," Kerry added.

[pttttt]

Here's a good website.

Lest one think he came up with it on his own - his 1971 Senate testimony was reportedly ghosted by leftwing speechwriter Adam Walinsky. It's a classic of anti-American propaganda. Kerry hasn't made a speech that "good" since.

[cake_crumb]

"Kerry was referring to his testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in April of 1971 as part of his involvement with the anti-war group Vietnam Veterans Against the War."

He did TOO say it...WHY do so few people bother to look it up?? It's no flipping secret!

"It is impossible to describe to you exactly what did happen in Detroit, the emotions in the room, the feelings of the men who were reliving their experiences in Vietnam, but they did, they relived the absolute horror of what this country, in a sense, made them do. They told stories that at times they had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam in addition to the normal ravage of war, and the normal and very particular ravaging which is done by the applied bombing power of this country.

"We call this investigation the Winter Soldier Investigation. The term 'winter soldier' is a play on words of Thomas Paine's in 1776 when he spoke of the Sunshine Patriot and summertime soldiers who deserted at Valley Forge because the going was rough."

Kerry organized Winter soldier, along with the rest of the VVAW and Jane Fonda and some guy who wrote a book of bogus interviews with bogus soldiers. Winter soldier was based on the book. Winter soldier was a proven scam, a lie. Hanoi John organized it. He KNEW it was a lie, he KNEW he was hurting his own former brothers in arms. He did it anyway.

[cake_crumb]

Oops...should known somebody would have posted that before me. But thanks. Too few people are paying attention to that. His testimony is the reason I detest him and have been out to get him for years.

[BunnySlippers]

•

[cake_crumb]

Oh, you read it right, all right. Kerry is about to discover just how many people remember what he really did and will never forgive or forget.

[oldgrunt]

Received this in my email this morning. I did my year in the delta in 1967 with 3/47th Infantry, 9th Inf. Div.


An Open Letter to John Kerry:


My wife had rotator cuff surgery earlier this year, and the recovery is terribly painful. Then, she developed a staph-epi infection, and they had to cut the same scar open and operate on her again. Just thinking about the pain and anxiety of facing that painful surgery a second time in the same wound, makes me cringe. That experience, however pales in comparison to what I am going through right now, in my heart.

The old hurts are surfacing and the feelings of betrayal by fellow citizens, and their leader stirring them up, are breaking my heart again. I am being cut in the same scar. How did we who served in Vietnam suddenly become cold-blooded killers, torturers, and rapists, of the ilk of the Nazi SS or the Taliban? Most of us were American soldiers who grew up idolizing John Wayne, Roy Rogers, and all the other heroes. That was why I volunteered. But for political expediency, John Kerry has rewritten history, again. After spending only four months in the country of Vietnam, John Kerry testified before Congress in 1971 with these exact words about incidents he supposedly witnessed or heard about from other vets: "They personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam."

I was a green beret officer who volunteered for duty in Vietnam and fought in the thick of it in 1968 and 1969 on a Special Forces A-team on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, just for starters. We were the elite. We saw the most action. Everybody in the world knows that. But we did not just kill people, we built a church, a school, treated illnesses, passed out soap, food, and clothing, and had fun and loving interaction with the indigenous people of Vietnam, just like our boys did in Normandy, Baghdad, Saigon, and everywhere American soldiers ever served. We all gave away our candy bars and rations to kids. Our hearts to oppressed people all over the globe.

My children and grandchildren could read your words, and think those horrendous things about me, Mr. Kerry. You are a bold-faced, unprincipled liar, and a disgrace, and you have dishonored me and all my fellow Vietnam veterans. Sure, there were a couple bad-apples, but I saw none, and I saw it all, and if I did, as an army officer, it was my obligation to stop it, or at the very least report it. Why is there not a single record anywhere of you ever reporting any incidents like this or having the perpetrators arrested? The answer is simple. You are a liar. Your medals and mine are not a free pass for lifetime, Senator Kerry, to bypass character, integrity, and morality. I earn my green beret over and over daily in all aspects of my life.

Eight National Guard green berets, and other National Guard soldiers, have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and you totally dishonored their widows and families by lumping National Guard service in with being a draft-dodger, conscientious objector, and deserter, just so you can try to sabotage the patriotism of our President who proudly served as an Air National Guard jet pilot. I have a son earning his green beret at Fort Bragg right now, and his wife serves honorably in the Air National Guard, just like President Bush did, and I am as proud of her as I am my son. I volunteered for Vietnam and have no problem whatsoever with President Bush being our Commander-In-Chief. In fact, I am proud of him as our leader.

John Kerry, you personally derailed the Vietnam Human rights Bill, HR2883, in 2001, after it had passed the House by a 411 to 1 vote, and thousands of pro-American Montagnard tribespeople in Vietnam died since then who could have been saved, by you. Earlier, as Chair of the Senate Select Committee on MIA/POW Affairs, you personally quashed the efforts of any and all veterans to report sightings of living POW's, when you held those reins in Congress. You have fought tooth and nail to push for the US to normalize relations with Vietnam for years. Why, Mr. Kerry? Simple, your first cousin C. Stewart Forbes, CEO, of Colliers International, recently signed a contract with Hanoi, worth BILLIONS of dollars for Collier's International to become the exclusive real estate representative for the country of Vietnam.

"Hanoi John," now that it works for you, you beat your chest about your Vietnam service, but to me, you are a phony, opportunistic, hypocrite. You are one of those politicians that is like a fertilizer machine: all that comes out of you is horse manure, and you are spreading it everywhere.

Medals do not make a man. Morals do.

Don Bendell
Canon City, Colorado

[Don Bendell served as an officer in four Special Forces Groups, is a best-selling author with over 1,500,000 books in print, a 1995 inductee into the International Karate Hall of Fame, and owns karate schools in southern Colorado.]

[cake_crumb]

"That kind of stuff did happen"

Not on the scale Kerry talked about. He knows it too. That's why he's denying having done it. In addition, VVAW activites were used by the VC against troops who were still fighting, being captured, wounded and dying over there. Kerry knows THAT too. That's another reason he's denying it.

On second thought, let him come out and admit it. Try to get that mileage out of it.

[oldgrunt]

See post No. 66. I didn't see any.

[End Times Sentinel]

We’re killing Kerry too early.

I think we're starting at just about the right time.  This is going to take a while since the presstitutes will do all they can to cover this up.  Not only this, but the statements that we should subjugate the Arsenal of Democracy to the whims of Kofi and some frog generals, the "tax, tax, tax" philosophy, his crazy wife and God only knows what else.

 

If the truth had any traction with NYT/WP/LAT/CNN/NBC/ABC/CBS, you'd be correct, but there's going to be a serious lag.  I think just enough to get a limping Kerry across the finish line at the convention and setting G Dub up for a win of monumental proportions.

 

Edwards is a much more formidable opponent.

 

(CyberAnt, this addresses an exchange on another post as to the electablitiy of Edwards)

 

This I very much agree with.  I can see a scenario where Edwards challenges Bush:  If things go shaky in Iraq after their elections (and hey, we're counting on arabs to behave in a reasonable manner, that should at least give you pause), IF Soros starts playing with the currency and sends out some October Shock Waves damaging the U.S. economy, and IF Edwards realizes that there IS an issue out there he can clobber Bush with- "shipping jobs overseas", it could make for some sleepless nights here at FreeRepublic.

 

(Note: the "shipping jobs overseas" isn't a traditionally strong message in that it's hard to prove and no one seems to have a reasonable solution.  Yet it can resonate with everyone from the iT engineer to the guy driving a forklift to get his kids through college.)

 

I don't see any scenario where Kerry can beat Bush.

 

Dems, you're so woefully out of touch with America, you are sowing the seeds of your own destruction.  You don't have a Ross Perot out there to take 19 and 9 percent of the R vote away this time, and you're going down hard.

 

Owl_Eagle

" WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
DIVERSITY IS STRENGTH"

We’re killing Kerry too early.

I think we're starting at just about the right time.  This is going to take a while since the presstitutes will do all they can to cover this up.  Not only this, but the statements that we should subjugate the Arsenal of Democracy to the whims of Kofi and some frog generals, the "tax, tax, tax" philosophy, his crazy wife and God only knows what else.

If the truth had any traction with NYT/WP/LAT/CNN/NBC/ABC/CBS, you'd be correct, but there's going to be a serious lag.  I think just enough to get a limping Kerry across the finish line at the convention and setting G Dub up for a win of monumental proportions.

Edwards is a much more formidable opponent.

(CyberAnt, this addresses an exchange on another post as to the electablitiy of Edwards)

[cake_crumb]

BTTT! D@MN that was well written. That brought tears.

[marty60]

." I am here as one member of the group of 1,000 which is a small representation of a very much larger group of veterans in this country, "

It amazes me how commie/leftist/socialist/evil dums ALWAYS think that a handful of them, always means EVEYONE thinks like them.

Dums are so pathetically arrogant, and give themselves this level of self-importance that normal people find ridiculous.

[cake_crumb]

"See post No. 66. I didn't see any"

What I meant was that perhaps a few snapped and went on the equivalant of phychotic rampages. Then again, people who AREN'T fighting in war do that. Does that make every single human being on the planet a psychopath? No...it doesn't even make us all potential psychopaths, because most people simply DON'T do that regardless of the circumstances.

I apologize for the choice of words. Until I read your post referring me to the letter, I had completely forgotten that thanks to Kerry & Company, it will never be a given that US soldiers aren't the evil, bloodthirsty bastards some people assume thay are. I left that statement too open to creative interpretation. In fact, I promise to be EXTREMELY careful in the future.

Thank you for your service.

[cake_crumb]

"It amazes me how commie/leftist/socialist/evil dums ALWAYS think that a handful of them, always means EVEYONE thinks like them"

Because they've so dedicated themselves to seeing the forest in spite of the trees that they can't see the trees that make up the forest at all.

This a an EXPREME pet peeve -can't think of a strong enough phrase to explain how much it angers me...and they really think they're pushing individuality with this mindset!

[roses of sharon]

Kerry represents the systematic distruction of morale in our soldiers and country.

He and his elite media co-horts are trying this again with Iraq.

It is amazing to watch the power that the "news" has over the public.

As Lesley Stahl said on Chrissy Matthews show, "we have the power back from Bush now, for the first time since 9/11".

The elite-media could not bend and shape the 9/11 event, and could not control the American flags for about 2 weeks.

After that, like a cross to a vampire, they removed their flag pins, called patriotism "heavyhanded", and proceeded to beat the public down to a pulp, by making us feel guilty for fighting back, and making Bush look like a bully.

The NY and DC elite media and Hollywood have run this country for 40 years. And again, like the vampires they are, the seek to suck the life out of anything good or strong about the US.

A stake thru their hearts is a long time coming.

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

I've got one and can't get the files loaded in the MP3 format. Windows format comes through evertime so I have a 170 buck fm tuner 'til I figure it out.

[Libloather]

Is this it?

[expatpat]

Anyone have a transcript of the relevant part of the tape?

[Hon]

KERRY'S TESTIMONY BEFORE THE SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE, APRIL 22, 1971
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1062502/posts

You might also be interested in this:

John Kerry Is A Self-Admitted War Criminal
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1074482/posts

[cake_crumb]

"Kerry represents the systematic distruction of morale in our soldiers and country. He and his elite media co-horts are trying this again with Iraq."

That's the plan EXACTLY. It worries me they think they have a chance of losing the war in Iraq by resurrecting the ghost of the Vietnam fiction they created. on The OTHER hand, such a plan stand a huge chance of backfiring. This is why we need to go after Kerry NOW, educate those to young to understand what happened, remind those of us old enough to remember, and build the momentum to counter the enemy.

[expatpat]

Thanks.