Posted on 08/24/2004 9:17:34 AM PDT by Pikamax
Kerry's Cambodia Whopper
By Joshua Muravchik
Tuesday, August 24, 2004; Page A17
Most of the debate between the former shipmates who swear by John Kerry and the group of other Swift boat veterans who are attacking his military record focuses on matters that few of us have the experience or the moral standing to judge. But one issue, having nothing to do with medals, wounds or bravery under fire, goes to the heart of Kerry's qualifications for the presidency and is therefore something that each of us must consider. That is Kerry's apparently fabricated claim that he fought in Cambodia.
It is an assertion he made first, insofar as the written record reveals, in 1979 in a letter to the Boston Herald. Since then he has repeated it on at least eight occasions during Senate debate or in news interviews, most recently to The Post this year (an interview posted on Kerry's Web site). The most dramatic iteration came on the floor of the Senate in 1986, when he made it the centerpiece of a carefully prepared 20-minute oration against aid to the Nicaraguan contras.
Kerry argued that contra aid could put the United States on the path to deeper involvement despite denials by the Reagan administration of any such intent. Kerry began by reading out similar denials regarding Vietnam from presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon. Then he offered this devastating riposte:
"I remember Christmas of 1968 sitting on a gunboat in Cambodia. I remember what it was like to be shot at by Vietnamese and Khmer Rouge and Cambodians, and have the president of the United States telling the American people that I was not there; the troops were not in Cambodia. I have that memory which is seared -- seared -- in me."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
The worm has turned.
Wow! It is really the Washington Post???
Good article. Good post.
The only thing ever seared into Kerry's memory was the first time he saw the bottom figure in Theresa checkbook.
I bet he can tell you that figure with accuracy.
Is this an editorial or a news article? Have not logged-in to the Post.
Joshua Muravchik is the author of "Heaven on Earth: The Rise and Fall of Socialism". In it he discusses various socialist societies and how each on of them has failed. It's an excellent book.
Ostensibly. But I suspect the "worm" has its eyes on Hilary-2004. It's still interesting, nonetheless, that the Post may have given up on this year.
"I SMELL SMOKE! PULL THAT TURKEY OUT OF THE OVEN, IT's BURNING!"
BWHAHAHAAHHAHAHAAHAH!
John Fuggin sKerry, loser, Election 2004.
Dim-o-wit Party crumbles.
America rejoices.
Unbelieveable coming from the WP.
If -- as seems almost surely the case -- Kerry himself has lied about what he did in Vietnam, and has done so not merely to spice his biography but to influence national policy, then he is surely not the kind of man we want as our president.
Truly amazing, considering the source!
It's a guest op-ed column. So it will be easy for "news" reporters and editors to dismiss it as merely one man's opinion.
I have a suspicion that Tereza will drop Hanoi John after he loses in Nov like a wormy apple! She'll realize that she's married to a loser extraordinaire!
"The banks of the [Rach Giang Thanh River] whistled by as we churned out mile after mile at full speed. On my left were occasional open fields that allowed us a clear view into Cambodia. At some points, the border was only fifty yards away and it then would meander out to several hundred or even as much as a thousand yards away, always making one wonder what lay on the other side." His curiosity was never satisfied, because this entry was from Kerry's final mission.
Precisely. And that is why this is no small fabrication to be laughed off with a wink and a nudge. It was a wholesale indictment of American military policy... based on an incursion that never happened. That is damnable and damning.
This was no 'fog of war' incident, no mental lapse, no confusion, no slip of the memory. This was a deliberately concocted story, repeated on many occasions over the course of many years.
There are, unfortunately, many Vietnam vets who embellish their experience there. Some to make their lives sound more exciting and some, like Kerry, to gain false glory.
The difference between the others and Kerry is that most don't run for president and have their tales vetted by a thousand journalists. Kerry's story is false, wholly made up. He should admit to it rather than keep on insulting our intelligence.
Stick him with a fork, I think he is done.
The a-holes have figured out that the Vietnam Veteran's Against the War HERO is a loser. Time to jump overboard, so to speak.
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