Kerry Honeymooned With The Vietcong And North Vietnamese in May 1970

March 25, 2004 | Compiled

[Hon]

Thanks. I didn't get to your post after already posting what I just did above.

It sure would be nice to find when Kerry actually went to Paris. And why.

[nightdriver]

John Kerry sure looks like a wussy little whiner in that '72 picture.

[Hon]

Using the Boston Globe's timeline as a starting point, the question is when did Kerry go to Paris to meet with the Vietcong and NVM?

1969

April: Kerry ends his second and final tour in Vietnam.

[Pilots VVAW organizer Adam Walinsky around to rallies and attends Walinsky's "Moratorium" rally in DC--while still on active duty in the Navy.]

1970

January 3: Discharged from the Navy. [Early, so as to run for Congress.]

February: Kerry gives up on his first bid for office as a protest candidate in the race for the Third Congressional district. [This was his excuse for getting an early discharge from the Navy, so that he could run for Congress. He didn't run.]

May 23: Kerry marries Julia Thorne, his best friend's sister. [David Thorne, Kerry's best friend, was a major anti-war activist and the co-author with Kerry of his book, "The New Soldier."]

[September: Kerry attends the four day rally by VVAW called Operation RAW. He is the lead speaker, followed by Jane Fonda.]

1971

January: Attends ''Winter Soldier'' hearings in Detroit, but does not speak. [Kerry does SPEAK. He interviews at least one of the "witnesses" on camera for his pal George Butler's documentary of this event.]

April 22: Kerry testifies before Senate Foreign Relations Committee. [During which he parrots Scott Camil's testimony to the Winter Soldier Investigation and brags about his "negotiations" with the Vietcong and NVM.]

April 23: Kerry and other veterans throw medals and ribbons over a fence at the Capitol to protest the war.

June 20: Debates John O'Neill on ''The Dick Cavett Show.''

[Sabertooth]

It sure would be nice to find when Kerry actually went to Paris. And why.

My take:

He went there with the VVAW in March of 1971, to negotiate with the North Vietnamese, or possibly some time before that to set up the VVAW's meeting with them in March. Did Kerry go to Paris once or twice between May of 1970 and his Congressional Testimony of April, 1971?

Look at the excerpts from your article that deal with Kerry spokesman Michael Meehan:

Kerry, now the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, yesterday confirmed through a spokesman that he did go to Paris and talked privately with a leading communist representative. But the spokesman played down the extent of Kerry's role and said Kerry did not engage in negotiations.

Asked about the appropriateness of Kerry's saying that the United States had "murdered" 200,000 Vietnamese annually when the United States was at war, Kerry spokesman Michael Meehan said "Senator Kerry used a word he deems inappropriate."

Meehan said Kerry "never suggested or believed and absolutely rejects the idea that the word applied to service of the American soldiers in Vietnam." Meehan then declined to say to whom Kerry was referring when he said that the United States had murdered the Vietnamese; Kerry declined to be interviewed about the matter.

< -snip- >

After their May 1970 marriage, Kerry traveled to Paris with his wife, Julia Thorne, on a private trip, Meehan said. Kerry did not go to Paris with the intention of meeting with participants in the peace talks or involving himself in the negotiations, Meehan added, saying that while there Kerry had his brief meeting with Binh, which included members of both delegations to the peace talks.

< -snip- >

Kerry's statement dealt with the question of whether he was trying to negotiate in Paris as a private citizen and was thus on that "borderline" of what was allowable. A US law forbids citizens from negotiating with foreign governments on matters such as peace treaties. Meehan said Kerry was not negotiating.

"Senator Kerry had no role whatsoever in the Paris peace talks or negotiations," Meehan said in his statement. "He did not engage in any negotiations and did not attend any session of the talks. Prior to his Senate testimony, he went to Paris on a private trip, where he had one brief meeting with Madam Binh and others. In an effort to find facts, he learned the status of the peace talks from their point of view and about any progress in resolving the conflict, particularly as it related to the fate of the POWs."

< -snip- >

Meehan, asked to explain Kerry's comment, said: "During a very emotionally charged time in American history, Senator Kerry was testifying against a failed policy, which resulted in the killing of hundreds of thousands of people. That policy resulted in one of the highest civilian casualty rate in the history of war. In answering Senator [George D.] Aiken's question about the consequences of an American withdrawal and potential additional bloodbath, Senator Kerry used a word he deems inappropriate.

"Senator Kerry never suggested or believed and absolutely rejects the idea that the word applied to service of the American soldiers in Vietnam. While opposed to the failed policy, Senator Kerry insisted that Americans must never confuse the war with the warriors."

Thorne was Kerry's cover, giving him the excuse of going to Paris on a private trip on which he just happened to bump into the VVAW and Madame Bine at the Paris Peace Talks. Of course, they met "privately," not at the official negotiating table -- as though he couldn't undermine the U.S. position "privately."

Chronologically, the Kerry-Thorne private Parisian jaunt did indeed come after their wedding in May of 1970 -- up to ten months later.

After returning from Paris and his private talks with Madame Binh, Kerry led the VVAW against Washington D.C. in April, 1971. Coincidence, or coordinated?

I take from this that the Kerry campaign is trying to pre-empt charges that he was negotiating foreign policy while still a private citizen, without the approval of the Executive Branch. I think they are spooked by the CSPAN broadcast last weekend.

Did Kerry testify as to when under what circumstances he went to Paris?

Is it possible that he perjured himself on that point?

Sidebar:

Notice that Kerry, through Meehan, stands by his testimony that U.S. Forces "murdered" 200,000 Vietnamese.

[kabar]

What I suspect happened was that they went to Paris right after their honeymoon--so that Kerry could sharpen his anti-war chops ASAP. What I suspect happened was that they went to Paris right after their honeymoon--so that Kerry could sharpen his anti-war chops ASAP.

What I suspect is more likely is that Kerry went to Paris in March of 1971, the same time that the VVAW was meeting there along with Fonda. Kerry speaks French and he was on the VVAW executive board. I would find it odd that he would not be there despite the fact that he doesn't appear in the picture. Also, the fact that he mentions his meeting to Congress and recites Madame Binh's demands make it sound like the meeting was more recent than 1970.

This could be a significant finding if we can pin Kerry down in Paris at the same time as the VVAW and Fonda. Meehan's response tries to gloss over the meeting as being private and gives the impression it occurred in 1970. Kerry and his handlers should be asked to give the date(s) of his meetings in Paris.

[Hon]

"What I suspect is more likely is that Kerry went to Paris in March of 1971..."

No, that timeline doesn't fit. Kerry had some public press conference or other while the VVAW delegation was in Paris at that time. I've posted about that before. I'll try to find the citations again.

Anyway, I don't think the Boston Globe reporters would be that misleading. I would bet that Kerry went to Paris very soon after leaving Jamaica.

What this does show is that it is very likely that the VVAW got the idea of going to Paris and meeting with the enemy from Kerry. It was probably his idea for them to go.

[Sabertooth]

BTW, do we know if Michael Meehan is related to Martin Meehan?

[kabar]

No, that timeline doesn't fit. Kerry had some public press conference or other while the VVAW delegation was in Paris at that time. I've posted about that before. I'll try to find the citations again.

Thanks for the clarification. I look forward to seeing the citation. Kerry could have gone there as part of an advance team to set things up a few weeks earlier. In any event, at this point we have no specific information on the dates of Kerry's meeting with the Vietnamese Communists in Paris. Fonda was definitely there at that time per the Holzers book, "Aid and Comfort".

I am not worried as much about the Boston Globe reporters being misleading as I am about Kerry and his chief adviser Meehan.

[Hon]

Yeah, here we go. This is from page 103 of "Home To War" and, AFAIK, the only mention of the VVAW going to Paris in Nicosia's book:

"A major coup was the national press conference the VVAW staged in Washington on March 16 [1971]...

Even [as this was going on] the VVAW had two representatives in Paris...offering their apologies to the North Vietnamese for the genocide that had occurred...in Vietnam.

At the press conference in Washington DC, the VVAW...gave John Kerry an opportunity to speak."

So Kerry was in DC when they sent their first delegation to Paris.

[Hon]

"I take from this that the Kerry campaign is trying to pre-empt charges that he was negotiating foreign policy while still a private citizen, without the approval of the Executive Branch."

I think so too. I think that this was an attempt to make it sound like it was just a pleasure trip with his bride. In fact, he went there with the intention of meeting with the Vietcong and North Vietnamese. These things don't just happen.

"Did Kerry testify as to when under what circumstances he went to Paris?"

No, I think I've cited the only place he directly mentioned it. But Kerry saw himself very much as a negotiator. As I've said, he cited McCarthy as precedent.

I've posted the entire transcript of his Senate appearance:

Kerry's Testimony Before The Senate Foreign Relations Committee, April 22, 1971 - Entire Transcript
Congressional Record ^ | March 15, 2004 | John Kerry

Posted on 03/15/2004 10:01:27 AM EST by Hon

[Please especially note Kerry's remarks after his opening statement. He says a number of surprising things.]

LEGISLATIVE PROPOSALS RELATING TO THE WAR IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

THURSDAY, APRIL 22, 1971

UNITED STATES SENATE;
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS,
Washington, D.C.

The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 11:05 a.m., in Room 4221, New Senate Office Building, Senator J. W. Fulbright (Chairman) presiding.

Present: Senators Fulbright, Symington, Pell, Aiken, Case, and Javits.

The CHAIRMAN. The committee will come to order.

[Hon]

From Kerry's Senate appearance:

Mr. KERRY. Mr. Chairman, I realize that full well as a study of political science. I realize that we cannot negotiate treaties and I realize that even my visits in Paris, precedents had been set by Senator McCarthy and others, in a sense are on the borderline of private individuals negotiating, et cetera. I understand these things.

[Hon]

More from the transcript:

Mr. KERRY. Well, I think if we were to replace the Thieu-Ky-Khiem regime and offer these men sanctuary somewhere, which I think this Government has an obligation to do since we created that government and supported it all along. I think there would not be any problems. The number two man at the Saigon talks to Ambassador Lam was asked by the Concerned Laymen, who visited with them in Paris last month, how long they felt they could survive if the United States would pull out and his answer was 1 week.

++++++

I think the "concerned laymen" are the VVAW's delegation. They were there just about a month before.

Notice that they were negotiating, too. At least it sounds like it.

[JudyB1938]

My best friend's brother became a politician in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. His last name is also Meehan. We grew up together, so I knew him very well. You couldn't ever meet a finer person. I just cringe when I see those other guys with the same last name.

[stockpirate]

This should be reposted!