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KERRY RETREATS FROM HIS DENIAL ON VIETNAM MEET - Evidence Puts Him At Kansas Parley
New York Sun ^ | Mar 19, 2004 | JOSH GERSTEIN

Posted on 03/19/2004 9:07:07 AM PST by kennedy

MILL VALLEY, Calif. — Senator Kerry of Massachusetts yesterday retreated from his earlier steadfast denials that he attended a meeting of Vietnam Veterans Against the War at which a plan to assassinate U.S. Senators was debated.

The reversal came as new evidence, including reports from FBI informants, emerged that contradicted Mr. Kerry’s previous statements about the gathering, which was held in Kansas City, Mo. in November 1971.

“John Kerry had no personal recollection of this meeting 33 years ago,” a Kerry campaign spokesman, David Wade, said in a statement e-mailed last night from Idaho, where Mr. Kerry is on vacation.

Mr. Wade said Mr. Kerry does remember “disagreements with elements of VVAW leadership” that led to his resignation, but the statement did not specify what the disagreements were.

“If there are valid FBI surveillance reports from credible sources that place some of those disagreements in Kansas City, we accept that historical footnote in the account of his work to end the difficult and divisive war,” the statement said.

It did not address the murder plot, though as recently as Wednesday a top aide to Mr. Kerry said that the Massachusetts senator and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee was “absolutely certain” he was not present when the assassination plan, known as the “Phoenix Project,” was discussed.

The New York Sun first reported last week that other anti-war activists placed Mr. Kerry at the Kansas City meeting. A total of six people have now said publicly that they remember seeing Mr. Kerry there. Participants say the plot was voted down, and several say they remember Mr. Kerry speaking and voting against it.

A historian and expert on activism against the Vietnam War, Gerald Nicosia, provided the Sun yesterday with minutes of the meeting.

Mr. Nicosia also read quotes from FBI surveillance documents he obtained under the Freedom of Information Act as he was preparing his 2001 book, “Home to War.”

“My evidence is incontrovertible.He was there,” Mr. Nicosia said in an interview yesterday. “There’s no way that five or six agents saw his ghost there,” said the historian, who lives in Marin County, north of San Francisco.

Mr. Nicosia said that the records show Mr. Kerry resigned from the group on the third day of the meeting, following discussion of the assassination plan and an argument between Mr. Kerry and another VVAW national coordinator, Al Hubbard.

Reading from an FBI informant report, Mr. Nicosia said, “John Kerry at a national Vietnam Veterans Against the War meeting appeared and announced to those present that he resigned for personal reasons but said he would be able to speak for VVAW” at future events.Another document “describes a conversation actually a confrontation between John Kerry and Hubbard that was taking place on one of the days of that meeting,” Mr. Nicosia added.

Mr. Nicosia said it is clear that Mr. Kerry and the others resigned because of the extreme actions the group was considering.

“It’s kind of unmistakable to see a pattern. All four of them were out the door, bingo, the morning after” the socalled Phoenix plot was discussed, the author said.

Mr. Nicosia generally declined to speculate on why Mr. Kerry had denied being present. However, the author did observe, “Especially if you’re running for president, you don’t want to be associated with a plot for assassinating people.”

Mr. Nicosia repeatedly stressed that he was not calling Mr. Kerry a liar and said he has no animus towards the senator. The historian said he sent copies of some of the documents to the Kerry campaign yesterday morning on his own initiative. “I think Senator Kerry better get his story straight on this,”Mr. Nicosia said.

“I’m a Kerry supporter. I honor the guy,”Mr.Nicosia said.He noted that Mr. Kerry threw a book party for “Home at War” at the Hart Senate Office Building. The senator also wrote a positive blurb for the book’s dust jacket.

The book does not mention Mr. Kerry’s presence at the Kansas City meeting. Mr. Nicosia said he did not have the FBI files as he was writing the manuscript. Other accounts led him to think that Mr. Kerry had quit the group at a July meeting in St. Louis.

Mr. Nicosia also provided the Sun with minutes of the meeting that he obtained from the Wisconsin state archives, which hold most of VVAW’s papers.

The minutes, prepared at the group’s national office in New York, recount the actions taken by VVAW’s “emergency steering committee” during the four-day meeting, which ran from November 12 to 15, 1971. The minutes indicate that at the end of the day on Saturday, November 13, discussion turned to “national actions and other things.” The meeting is reported to have adjourned at 10 p.m. and resumed at 11 a.m. Sunday. The document goes on to say that the group passed a motion to hold a “national action… in 3 to 5 different sites.”The next entry in the minutes is, “John Kerry, Scott Moore, Mike Oliver and Skip Roberts resigned as national coordinators.” A later entry indicates that it was decided that the resignations and the decision on the “national action” should be reflected in all the group’s papers.

According to Mr. Nicosia, the FBI documents and other records do not include any direct reference to the assassination plot. However, Mr. Nicosia said some informants who attended the Kansas City meeting warned the FBI of a “drastic move toward more violent actions.”

A VVAW chapter newsletter obtained by the Sun reports that after “much argument” the Kansas City meeting went into closed session “for various opaque reasons of security and expediency in order to discuss the national Christmas action.” The newsletter also notes the resignation of Mr. Kerry and the other three leaders. It cites “personality conflicts and differences in political philosophies” as the main reasons for the resignations.

A group of VVAW members seized the Statue of Liberty on behalf of the group on December 27, 1971. It’s unclear whether that action was approved at the Kansas City meeting in November.

The three other men who appear to have resigned along with Mr. Kerry did not respond to requests for comment for this story.

Mr. Moore did not reply to an e-mail and messages left at his home. Mr. Roberts is now the legislative director for the Service Employees International Union, which is supporting Mr. Kerry’s presidential bid. Reached at his union office Wednesday, Mr. Roberts said he would call back but did not. Efforts to locate Mr. Oliver were unsuccessful.

Earlier in the week,some aides to Mr. Kerry suggested that because he appeared on a PBS “Firing Line” broadcast with William F. Buckley on November 14, 1971, Mr. Kerry could not have attended the Kansas City gathering. But that contention also disintegrated yesterday on closer examination.

Tapes of the “Firing Line” television program are housed at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. An archivist there, Carol Leadenham, told the Sun that Mr. Kerry and Mr. Buckley taped a program on November 2, 1971. No air date was noted, but Ms. Leadenham said it is likely that it aired about two weeks later.

“That’s about the usual time between the taping and the air date,” she said.

Some discrepancies in Mr. Kerry’s earlier statements about VVAW remain unaddressed by the campaign. Last week, Mr. Kerry said he last saw Mr. Hubbard in April 1971, shortly before a National Review article exposed Mr. Hubbard for exaggerating his rank and his service record in Vietnam. However, a New York Times report put Mr. Kerry at a fund-raiser with Mr. Hubbard on Long Island on August 29, 1971. Now, Mr. Nicosia’s documents indicate that Mr. Kerry had a verbal altercation with Mr. Hubbard in November of that year.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2004; antiamerican; antiwar; bush2004; congressman; congressmen; darkplot; flipflop; geraldnicosia; john; kerry; kerry2004; kerryfbifiles; kill; murder; nicosia; veteran; vietgate; vietnam; vvaw; war
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To: VadeRetro
This helps to explain why Kerry is so "soft" on terrorism. Because he was once part of a group that considered assassination, he feels it would be hypocritical to condemn other such groups today.
141 posted on 03/19/2004 11:10:16 AM PST by John Thornton
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To: Howlin
I think it is quite possible that he doesn't remember attending this meeting because talk of assassinating Lyndon Johnson, then Nixon was so prevalent in this era. I'm sure it had to have been discussed prior to the meeting in question. I went to UC Berkeley from '70-'73 and the place was full of radical punk students, "ex soldiers" (or so we thought!), and professional agitators expounding on various ways to end the war. It was easy to get caught up in the excitement.
Assassinations were openly discussed with impunity. After all, it was the era of FREEE SPEEECH, but I'm sure there were lots of FBI taking notes. Most on campus just thought of it as talk, but certainly some were serious.
Also due to the prevalence of smokey refreshments served at these meetings it is possible he wouldn't have remembered a thing anyway.
Not to exonerate Kerry in any way. There's still no excuse for him to not to have grown up.
142 posted on 03/19/2004 11:16:21 AM PST by tertiary01 (Holding down the fort until California comes to it's senses. I hope I live long enough!)
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To: John Thornton
But probably all of those senators really are dead now, anyway. Can't you just ... move on?
143 posted on 03/19/2004 11:16:51 AM PST by VadeRetro
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To: kennedy
Toast
144 posted on 03/19/2004 11:17:53 AM PST by Saundra Duffy (For victory & freedom!!!)
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To: tertiary01
One thing about this bothers me: at several points in Kerry's young life, he claims or was present at acts that were ILLEGAL.

At no time did he EVER inform ANY PERSON of these illegal actions that he has pinned on them.
145 posted on 03/19/2004 11:20:33 AM PST by Howlin
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To: Coop; Howlin; South40; Southack; GraniteStateConservative; CheneyChick; rdb3; mhking; finnman69; ...
In case you haven't seen this. Slowly but surely, the lies are being exposed...
146 posted on 03/19/2004 11:20:39 AM PST by NYC Republican (The GOP is Finally Engaging the Liars! Yes!!! Let the Battle Begin...)
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To: tertiary01
Can you imagine the media furor if Bush had ever met with someone who was once a member of a pro life group that had even one member who thought about assassinating doctors who performed abortions?
147 posted on 03/19/2004 11:22:25 AM PST by John Thornton
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To: NYC Republican; All
Maybe we can get this to those U.S. Senators that were targeted and see how they feel about this. I would love to see some of them lashing out at Kerry.
148 posted on 03/19/2004 11:26:58 AM PST by areafiftyone (Democrats = the hamster is dead but the wheel is still spinning)
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To: Howlin
He definitely does not have a good resume for the presidency. He seems to just go along until he gets in too deep, then hides, flip flops or blames it on the other guy. Doesn't seem to ever take the high road, and definitely won't take personal responsibility for his failures.
149 posted on 03/19/2004 11:27:53 AM PST by tertiary01 (Holding down the fort until California comes to it's senses. I hope I live long enough!)
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To: Stillwaters
Update ping. Still waiting to see abc/cbs/nbc/cnn pick up the ball
150 posted on 03/19/2004 11:28:19 AM PST by lonevoice (Some things have to be believed to be seen)
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To: kennedy; MeekOneGOP; onyx; My2Cents; JohnHuang2; Dog Gone; Dog; isthisnickcool; OKSooner; VOA; ...
Thanks for posting this! So now Kerry is backing away? LOL!!! He flip flops more than Gore which I didn't think was possible.
151 posted on 03/19/2004 11:29:56 AM PST by PhiKapMom (AOII Mom -- Support Bush-Cheney '04 -- Losing is not an Option!)
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To: kennedy
So now the question is:

Why didn't Kerry report the assasination plot to the federal authorities?

If he didn't, he should be arrested.
152 posted on 03/19/2004 11:30:10 AM PST by BushisTheMan
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To: John Thornton
Can you imagine if Bush had traveled to Paris to negotiate a separate peace with the Viet Cong and North Vietnam?
153 posted on 03/19/2004 11:30:26 AM PST by VadeRetro
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To: PhiKapMom
He flip flops more than Gore which I didn't think was possible.

Good bumper sticker ;-)

154 posted on 03/19/2004 11:30:49 AM PST by JohnHuang2
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To: finnigan2
Mr. Nicosia also read quotes from FBI surveillance documents he obtained under the Freedom of Information Act as he was preparing his 2001 book, “Home to War.”

Ping on how Mr. Nicosia obtained the docs.

155 posted on 03/19/2004 11:32:43 AM PST by cyncooper ("The 'War on Terror ' is not a figure of speech")
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To: JohnHuang2
LOL!!! Did you ever think we would see their next candidate be worse than Gore? I sure didn't!
156 posted on 03/19/2004 11:33:19 AM PST by PhiKapMom (AOII Mom -- Support Bush-Cheney '04 -- Losing is not an Option!)
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To: PhiKapMom
Kerry is a lying traitor!

We are winning ~ the bad guys are losing ~ trolls, terrorists, democrats and the mainstream media are sad ~ very sad!

~~ Bush/Cheney 2004 ~~

157 posted on 03/19/2004 11:33:20 AM PST by blackie (Be Well~Be Armed~Be Safe~Molon Labe!)
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To: blackie
Everytime I see that "very sad" I burst out laughing!
158 posted on 03/19/2004 11:34:02 AM PST by PhiKapMom (AOII Mom -- Support Bush-Cheney '04 -- Losing is not an Option!)
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To: kennedy
Reminds one of a fish out of water.
159 posted on 03/19/2004 11:34:43 AM PST by freeangel (freeangel)
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To: PhiKapMom
Did you ever think we would see their next candidate be worse than Gore?

Couldn't imagine it possible ;-) But leave it to the Democrats...heh

160 posted on 03/19/2004 11:34:58 AM PST by JohnHuang2
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