Kerry's Anti-War Legacy

Newsday ^ | 2/22/04 | Craig Gordon

[secretagent]

Washington -- They gathered in a Detroit motor lodge in early 1971, veterans calling on brother veterans to speak of the unspeakable -- war crimes and atrocities they had committed in Vietnam in the name of America.

The so-called Winter Soldier meetings were controversial even then, and a young John Kerry made their most horrific testimony the opening paragraphs of his own address to a Senate panel three months later, an appearance that catapulted him to a leading role in the anti-war movement.

Kerry told senators that more than 150 veterans testified in Detroit that they or fellow soldiers had raped Vietnamese women, cut off ears and heads, used electrical torture, cut off limbs, "razed villages in a fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam . . ."

(snip)

Kerry critics, like Mackubin Thomas Owens, a Marine platoon leader in Vietnam who now teaches at the Naval War College, accused Kerry of helping "slander a generation of soldiers who had done their duty with honor and restraint." One professor, Guenter Lewy, wrote a 1978 book that attacked the credibility of the Winter Soldier hearings, saying a Navy investigation found some coached or bogus testimony.

John Hurley, Kerry's veterans director, insists that most veterans are glad someone stood up and said things that weren't popular at the time. "There were a lot of guys who came back home who felt guys were dying over there for no reason," Hurley said. "A lot of vets are grateful to John Kerry for standing up and giving voice to their frustration in Vietnam."

[Dog]

Newsday is a left of center paper......let me research who the author of this piece is..

[mhking]

Kerry could do a plastic surgery commercial:

"A little dab'll do ya..."

Just damn.

If you want on the list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...

[Mo1]

Newsday is a left of center paper

So this hit isn't coming from our side .. that tends to lead me to think this is a hit from Hellary

Notice we haven't seen to many hits aimed at Edwards yet

[snippy_about_it]

I do believe he lost.

Let's hope he continues to lose. Hello fellow Ohio, btw. :-)

[secretagent]

Kerry left the VVAW at some point, I don't know when, perhaps before this photo. or perhaps he disagreed with that idea...

I know he disagreed with Fonda going to Hanoi.

[King Prout]

are... are you pulling our legs, or is this legit?

[snippy_about_it]

...want Kerry hung by his B**LS!!!

That's assuming he has any.

[SAMWolf]

are you pulling our legs

Definately a leg pull, but It's be nice to see it happen wouldn't it?

[Kaslin]

"How DARE you question my service in Vietnam! Why are republicans who didn't serve questioning we democrats who did?!"

This moron obviousely thinks that only democrats served in Vietnam. Personally I am offended by this. My husband did two full tours in Vietnam while Lurch only served there for 4 month.

[secretagent]

It would be useful to document lies. But it would also be useful simply to pin this Winter Soldier stuff on Kerry.

Yes, he described deliberate and cruel torture and murder as routine. Ask him if still believes that - "War Crimes R Us"...

I'd like to see a debate about the veracity of the Winter Soldier Investigation. Most people who cite it believe in its truth, to this day.

I wish we could find that NIS report that Lewy saw.

[RWCon]

I wonder what would have happened to the
flag-raisers on Iwo Jima if they had returned
and denounced the war?

[King Prout]

maybe, when the time to bump Kerry off comes to pass, Hillary will use this tactic.

[Hon]

"Kerry left the VVAW at some point, I don't know when, perhaps before this photo. or perhaps he disagreed with that idea..."

It wasn't before this photo. He left (or was thrown out for being a phony) at the end of 1971.

I doubt if he disagreed with the idea, since he was a major proponent of the "People's Peace Treaty" with Vietnam.

[secretagent]

John Kerry defended Hubbard, citing the confession as proof of Hubbard's integrity. "Al owned up to the rank question," Kery said. "He thought it was time to tell the truth, and he did it because he thought it would be best for the organization."

Then the Defense Department issued a news release about "Alfred H.Hubbard['s] military record stating that "There is no record of any service in Vietnam."

I wonder what Kerry said then.

I think that text comes from Burkett. Another reason to buy 'Stolen Valor'.

[MEG33]

You are wrong about the Winter Soldier meetings.He says (now that the truth is known) that he didn't realize he was listed as a moderator.He questioned vets,he says in more a "reporter" mode.

[secretagent]

Kerry was about as patriotic as Sean Penn when he BEGAN his military service and got out early so that he could become a politician. He enlisted for one reason and it should be obvious to anyone who knows his history.

Sounds right to me, but it won't convince the fairly fair-minded anti-war crowd. Hard to argue the factitude of motivations.

Military records, however, will convince some. Witness the downfall of Al Hubbard.

Convince them first of false testimony in the WSI, and the Kerry-the-opportunist perspective begins to look plausible.

[secretagent]

Elton Mazione, John Laboon, Eddie Swetz, and Kenneth Van Lesser, Al Hubbard, Michael Harbert, Frank Dux, Yoshia K. Chee, Mike Beamon.

But perhaps all of these guys only appear in Mark Lane's book "Conversations with Americans", and not in the WSI or before Congress.

The Senator's own VVAW and similar groups relied upon people like: K. Barton Osborn, a Vietnam veteran and testifier of atrocities to Congress.

Where and when... - I'd like to track this down.

Lieutenants Francis Reitemeyer and Michael J. Cohn. Both sought conscientious objector status because of Phoenix. Reitemeyer testified to being assigned to Phoenix as an adviser and maintained a kill quota of fifty bodies a month.

Testified before the WSI, before Congress, or...?

[MEG33]

I don't fault him for being anti war.I don't question his honored service,tho the Silver Star was a bit of an inflated award.

I fault him for being a traitor to his brothers in arms,for the spat upon,baby killer accusation visited on our vets as they reentered the US, the giving aid and comfort to the enemy,the perceptions that resulted in the country not honoring our vets service . I fault him for his voting record.

I ,just for the record, consider him a pompous,shallow,fraud and a danger to our country.

[GailA]

btt

[JamesA]

I love it, you're right it is BS....4 months in country and he is a 3 time bandade hero...pittiful. Many of us bleed more in a day than Mr. K has in a lifetime..