Posted on 02/21/2004 1:52:04 PM PST by pushforbush
Video Link: http://play.rbn.com/?url=demnow/demnow/demand/2004/feb/256/dnB20040220a.rm&proto=rtsp&start=5:15
Audio Link: http://stream.realimpact.net/rihurl.ram?file=webactive/demnow/dn20040220.ra&start=5:15
JOHN KERRY: Several months ago, in Detroit, we had an investigation at which over 150 honorably discharged, and many very highly decorated, veterans testified to war crimes committed in Southeast Asia. These were not isolated incidents, but crimes committed on a day-to-day basis, with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command. It is impossible to describe to you exactly what did happen in Detroit--the emotions in the room, and the feelings of the men who were reliving their experiences in Vietnam. 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 Ghengis 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 patriots," and "summertime soldiers" who deserted at Valley Forge because the going was rough.
We who have come here to Washington have come here because we feel we have to be winter soldiers now. We could come back to this country, we could be quiet, we could hold our silence, we could not tell what went on in Vietnam, but we feel, because of what threatens this country, not the reds, but the crimes which we are committing that threaten it, that we have to speak out.
(Excerpt) Read more at democracynow.org ...
How can anyone take the man seriously after his fantasy testimony. Listening to the tape you can tell this is not the voice of a confused young war protester, but of a mature veteran attempting to deceive Congress and the entire United States
But according to Kerry, these American war criminals weren't the truly responsible parties. Kerry made a speech in April 1971 in front of the New York Stock Exchange in which he referred to William Calley, who was responsible for one of the few documented American atrocities committed during the Vietnam war.
"Guilty as Lt. Calley might have been of the actual act of murder," Kerry said, "the verdict does not single out the real criminal. Those of us who have served in Vietnam know that the real guilty party is the United States of America."
If he really said this, it's pretty clear. Kerry identifies the enemy as the U.S.
About 7 paragraphs from the end.
I think he may have insulted Congress & The United States in the following exchange during that Senate hearing.
The Chairman: You mentioned some new faces in the Congress. After all, all these people get here because of the support back home, as you know. They are simply representative of their constituents. You do accept that, I believe.
Mr. Kerry: Partially. Not totally.
The Chairman: Why not?
Mr. Kerry: As someone who ran for office for 3 1/2 weeks, I am aware of many of the problems involved, and in many places, you can take certain districts in New York City, the structure is such that people can't really run and represent necessarily the people. People often don't care. The apathy is so great that they believe they are being represented when in fact they are not. I think that you and I could run through a list of people in this body itself and find many who are there through the powers of the office itself as opposed to the fact they are truly representing the people. It is very easy to give the illusion of representing the people through the frank privileges which allow you to send back what you are doing here in Congress. Congressmen insert so often.
You know, they gave a speech for the Polish and they gave a speech for the Irish and they gave a speech for this, and actually handed the paper in to the clerk and the clerk submits it for the record and a copy of the record goes home and people say, Hey, he really is doing something for me." But he isn't.
The Chairman: Well-
Mr. Kerry: Senator, we also know prior to this past year the House used to meet in the Committee of the Whole and the Committee of the Whole would make the votes, and votes not of record and people would file through, and important legislation was decided then, and after the vote came out and after people made their hacks and cuts, and the porkbarrel came out, the vote was reported and gave them an easy out and they could say "Well, I voted against this." and actually they voted for it all the time in the committee.
Some of us know this is going on. So I would say there are problems with it. Again I come back and say they are not insoluble. They can be solved, but they can only be solved by demanding leadership, the same kind of leadership that we have seen in some countries during war time. That seems to be the few times we get it. If we could get that kind because I think we are in a constant war against ourselves and I would like to see that come - they should demand it of eachother if we can demand it of people.
The exchange continues, but I'm not able to copy and paste from the document. I apologize for any typos. Post #57 has a link to the entire testimony if you want to check up on me, or read more of it.
Kerry says that they (members of Congress) don't necessarily represent their constituents. They gain public office because they have lots of money. They keep public office because of the power of being in the office in the first place. When the Chairman began to speak, Kerry interupted him to continue insulting Congress. He threw in "They (problems with Congress not representing the constituents) can be solved, but they can only be solved by demanding leadership, the same kind of leadership that we have seen in some countries during war time. That seems to be the few times we get it." What countries could he have been referring to? France? North Vietnam? The Soviet Union? Certainly not The United States. We don't get that kind of leadership here, according to Kerry. But that problem is not insulable. We can have that kind of leadership. If we elect him.
Judging from the knowledge Kerry possessed about how things are done in Congress, his appearance at this hearing seems to have had one primary purpose--to pave the way for a future run for office. It's too bad he hasn't re-read these comments about representing one's constituents. I wonder how many Massachusettes conservatives feel they're being represented in the US Senate.
The sad thing is, I think he has. He just read them as a how-to instead of a warning.
bump to the top. John Kerry admitting to his war crimes!
If you want it in a digital form on your computer that can be editted easily, then played back from an MP3 player or whatever, download and run this utility,and paste in the links from post #1 of this thread. It works on both RealPlayer audio and video.
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