Kerry stands by '71 atrocities claim Campaign official insists Democrat was right about war

World Net Daily ^ | 8/23/04

[mcar]

WASHINGTON – John Kerry stands by his claims in 1971 before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that U.S. soldiers in Vietnam regularly, and as a matter of official policy, committed war atrocities against innocent civilians, according to a top campaign official.

John Hurley, national director of Veterans for Kerry, denied on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace, that Kerry had overstated the case against the war when he returned home as a spokesman for the Vietnam Veterans Against the War.

A new ad by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth targets Kerry's comments in 1971 as giving aid and comfort to the enemy.

"John Kerry testified in 1971 to atrocities being committed in Vietnam," said Hurley. "So also, the Toledo Blade has won a Pulitzer prize this year for the reporting on atrocities in Vietnam. General Tommy Franks has said John Kerry spoke the truth when he testified in 1971. The My Lai massacre was a fact of life back then. What they have done (in this ad) is they've taken a piece of John Kerry's testimony, left out the part that says he was reporting, repeating the testimony that was given in Detroit at the Winter Soldier hearings, and presented it as his. And that's wrong."

Kerry, however, was the national spokesman for the group that conducted the widely discredited investigation. He was also an active participant in the hearings, not just a reporter taking notes. In 1971, Kerry also implicated himself in the commission of war crimes and atrocities.

In fact, Kerry began his testimony to the committee stating that he was representing all those veterans who participated in the hearings.

"I would like to talk, representing all those veterans, and say that 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, not isolated incidents but crimes committed on a day-to-day basis with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command," he told the committee.

Kerry went on to explain: "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."

Kerry added: "The country doesn't know it yet, but it has created a monster, a monster in the form of millions of men who have been taught to deal and to trade in violence, and who are given the chance to die for the biggest nothing in history; men who have returned with a sense of anger and a sense of betrayal which no one has yet grasped."

Yesterday, Hurly agreed with the testimony and said Kerry stands behind it.

"Absolutely," Hurley said. "He's a leader. He came back, and he spoke the truth."

Asked repeatedly by Wallace if Kerry had overstated what happened in his testimony in 1971, Hurley emphatically said no.

"John Kerry says that he regrets the use of the language that may have offended some people," Hurley said. "He is not -- he stands behind the facts of his testimony. He stands behind the facts that atrocities were being committed in Vietnam."

In fact, some of those presenting horror stories at the Jane Fonda-sponsored Winter Soldier Investigation in Detroit had misrepresented themselves as Vietnam War vets – even using the names of other veterans who did not attend the hearings. Several veterans provided sworn affidavits that others spoke in their names.

[goldstategop]

Give the DU Dummies credit for being at honest. I wouldn't hold my breath waiting them to come around to acknowledging their Golden Boy TM is a bare-faced liar and unrepentant war criminal.

[justshutupandtakeit]

Hitler was brave though and received his Iron Cross for truly heroic actions. And he was really wounded, gased.

Geez, how low have we sunk when the RAT nominee can't even measure up to Hitler?

[DJ MacWoW]

the Toledo Blade has won a Pulitzer prize this year for the reporting on atrocities in Vietnam

I'm from Toledo originally. I'm having a hard time stopping the hysterical laughter. I didn't even get through the whole article. C'mon! The Toledo BLADE?! Winning a pulitzer doesn't mean they did any fact checking. This papers silly tantrums with the city are legendary. They just recently put "Toledo" back in their name. And they are being considered a reliable source of info?! Bwa ha ha ha!

[MattinNJ]

This man has been one of the walking dead since doing that at the age of 18 from 1964-6.

Words fail me.

[Darksheare]

LOL!
Yeah, that IS hysterical.

[easonc52]

I found it interesting in the Swifties Ad that Kerry pronounces Genghis incorrectly

Actually, I hate what kerry was doing at that meeting, and all the other times he spouted that crap, however, I checked 2 dictionaries, and they show the pronunciation being the same as Genesis.

[easonc52]

It is hard to put into words the loathing I feel towards John Kerry.

VFW Vets turn backs to Kerry during speech

(AP Photo/David Kohl)

quote:

---

War veterans Jere Hill, middle, from Warham, Mass., and Robert Gibson, right, from Lexington, Ky., stand with their backs turned during Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's speech at the 105th Veterans of Foreign Wars National Convention in Cincinnati on Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2004.

Man in foreground is unidentified. Kerry received a polite if not overwhelmingly positive reaction from the VFW. But there was a clear divide, with scores of veterans sittings with their arms folded while others clapped.

---

(my comment) Although I'm not a Veteran, I feel for the pain this man/person/thing/whatever has caused to American people.

[easonc52]

.

[GailA]

Not only does he stand behind it, he's PROUD of his testimony. He's proud of his service, and proud of tearing down our military's morale.

[Dan from Michigan]

If Kerry is telling the truth then he is guilty of war crimes and/or derrelection of duty. If he is lying, he is guilty of perjury, and on a scale much worse than Klinton's Lewinsky.

[mcar]

This has most likely been posted; I haven't had time to check...

He is such an impostor. I have no respect for the man and cannot envision him replacing President Bush.

[rcfuzz]

Swifties are missing the boat and really have a chance to put the final nail in Kerry's. coffin. Show the video of Kerry admitting that he personally committed war crimes. How can an admitted war criminal be president? Let's get a new ad with this video. I think it was a Face the Nation or MTP appearance from the '70s.

[Stashiu]

I get very emotional when I think of this guy (his name is Steve), what he did for our country, and how it affected him. When he called me this week, he was in very bad shape. I don't know if he will make it until the election. Kerry's antics have kicked up so much crap for us.

Not one word of regret from Kerry. That is what is so shameful, and indefensible. Consorting with the enemy is one thing, but to do what he did to his brothers on his return..........and now he wants to be President?

Hearing the support Kerry gets from the ageing hippies just rubs salt into an old and deep wound.

The real irony is that most Nam Vet's I know would serve again, in spite of all this. This is our country too.

[MattinNJ]

You tell him to hang in there. There is one more fight to go. Perhaps if he got involved it would prove cathartic- maybe he could speak to a local reporter or something.

I think I speak for many of us-please tell him that his (and yours) sacrifice is greatly appreciated by true Americans. Screw those hippie bastards.

[secretagent]

In fact, some of those presenting horror stories at the Jane Fonda-sponsored Winter Soldier Investigation in Detroit had misrepresented themselves as Vietnam War vets – even using the names of other veterans who did not attend the hearings.

Long alleged and yet unproven to date. No one I've talked to can cite a single WSI witness who lied.

Several veterans provided sworn affidavits that others spoke in their names.

OK, list their names, in public. No one has yet, that I know of.

The WSI smells like fraud, but the work of proving that remains for future historians.

[secretagent]

How many FBI agents were prosecuted after Waco and Ruby Ridge? I'm not saying Kerry is right but the absence of prosecutions doesn't prove much.

I agree. Calley's superior officers did all they could to bury the investigation. Only the extraordinary initiative of Ridenhour broke the story.

[secretagent]

He testified in 1971 that such horrors were official POLICY, that it was officially sanctioned by the chain of command.

He implied that, but didn't actually say that.

He said that the "graphic" war crimes happened every day with knowledge of same by superiors at all levels. Very different from official policy.

[secretagent]

When Hurley first appeared on O'Reilly's "The Factor" a couple of weeks ago, he clearly stated that it was JOHN KERRY'S BOAT THAT HIT THE MINE!

Are you sure he didn't just say that Kerry hit the supposed second mine?

[TommyDale]

No -- he was emphatic that Kerry's boat is the boat that was first hit. I think there should be a transcript of the show, but I don't have it.

[SuziQ]

John Kerry stands by his claims in 1971 before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that U.S. soldiers in Vietnam regularly, and as a matter of official policy, committed war atrocities against innocent civilians, according to a top campaign official.

GOOD! That will make the Swift Boat Vets new ad all the more powerful! Now his apologists won't be able to say that those were just the words of a young man caught up in the passion of the times, OR that he was just repeating the words of others.