Posted on 02/20/2004 5:26:39 PM PST by 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.
Sure sounds like atrocities to me John!
Kerry didn't start out on this course. He has been turning like a weathervane, towards any direction he thinks will get him elected. He voted to give Bush authority to prosecute a war against Iraq, that is obvious and clear, despite Kerry's dissembling. However, his devious spin regarding his IWR vote is not working very well. Now, this outright denial of something so obvious and easily proven should make the headlines read: "Kerry's Implosion Process Well Underway."
But the "mainstream" will not report this clear and unambiguous mendacity to the American people. Thank God for the "alternative" media! Between Drudge, Fox, talk radio, the Free Republic, and other internet blogs, we shall not leave one fact regarding Kerry's treason unexposed! But I don't mean to question Kerry's patriotism, I mean to deny it outright! Kerry is as much a traitor today as he was 32 years ago. But now, he is a real threat to our nation's security, and so, we must enable and help-along Kerry's ongoing implosion process!
Edwards does not escape from this debacle unscathed. Clinton's, McAuliffe's, and Kerry's lies have a tendency to hurt the Democrat party as a whole, when they are well known and irrefutably documented. So, we have our work cut out for us! The one thing I would love to see, is the testimony of the actual Vietnam Vets that served with him, his direct subordinates on board that swift boat for that 4 months. Please, if you are out there, get to typing and post your true story! America will be grateful!
Edwards lacks gravitas.
Pass it on.
Kerry is slime and snippets from that testimony should be played back every hour on the hour (and every half-hour on the half-hour) on every news broadcast in the country to counter the incessant lies coming from the Kerry campaign and other lying left wing demagogues.
Kerry's book cover and the picture above from pre-GWII are examples that American veterans serve and die so that these types can legally make royal @$$es of themselves and receive the accompanying publicity.
The fact that Kerry was a Viet Nam veteran (as he repeatedly reminded anyone who was within earshot) should make this point all that more ironic.
They told the stories 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.
Yeah, this is a much better refutation of his lies to CNN than the book.
How Kerry irreversibly ruined the reputation of Vietnam Vets.
I think the reporter stole my tag line!
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