Over dued Due Process
by Linda Eddy
John Kerry’s 1971 Senate testimony put into the American public’s mind stories of war crimes being done by American troops serving in Vietnam. These stories Kerry told to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and to the American people were based on lies by men falsely claiming to be Vietnam veterans. Here is what Kerry said:
“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.
It is impossible to describe to you exactly what did happen in Detroit, the emotions in the room, the feelings of the men who were reliving their experiences in Vietnam, but they did. They relived the absolute horror of what this country, in a sense, made them do.
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.”
A group of men, posing as bonafide Vietnam veterans, got together in Detroit, told their tall tales. Kerry then went before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the American people and repeated their tales.
Can anybody say “hear-say”?
And what about those American soldiers, still back on the ground in Vietnam? The ones Kerry and his fake Vietnam veteran friends said were committing these crimes “on a day-to-day basis with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command”? What did they get to say to the Senate Committee and the American public?
Nothing. Silence.
Can anybody say “due process”?
Generally, “due process” guarantees the following (this list is not exhaustive):
· Right to a fair and public trial conducted in a competent manner
· Right to be present at the trial
· Right to an impartial jury
· Right to be heard in one's own defense
John Kerry’s 1971 Senate Testimony, based on hearsay evidence from witnesses proven to be impersonating Vietnam veterans, became “seared—seared” into the American memory. A socialization process of silencing of American Vietnam Veterans began, which continues to this day. No due process, just plain denial of being heard in one’s own defense.
John O’Neill has challenged John Kerry to sue him. O’Neill has been a practicing attorney for 30 years now. That’s a serious challenge, coming from an attorney. But O’Neill knows that in a REAL court of law – rather than the court of public opinion or a court of the press’ own bias – he will finally recieve the due process owed to him and all the Vietnam veterans.
Will John Kerry take up O’Neill’s challenge and sue him? No. Kerry would be laughed out of court with the flimsy hearsay ‘evidence’ he presented to that Senate Committee back in 1971. And Kerry would be forced to submitt ALL his medical and military records to the court – UNSANITIZED – as part of the discovery process leading up to a trial. That means trouble for Kerry as well, in that he has already admitted his records contain a falsely awarded purple heart (for a wound accidentially self-inflicted) and a false claim of a 1968 Christmas in Cambodia.
Due process is owed to America’s Vietnam Veterans. Playing touchy-feely with John Kerry and the American Press has worn thin with the American public. Sales of O’Neill’s book, “Unfit for Command” show an America ready to give these veterans their due process. They are buying and reading the book in record numbers. They are “listening” – finally -- to these Vietnam veterans.
The fear of John Kerry and the fear of the American Press is that one day these Vietnam veterans would be given due process and heard. Their fears are becoming reality with each page turned in “Unfit for Command.” And it’s turning into their worst nightmare...
America’s Vietnam veterans are over-dued Due Process. And to John Kerry and the American Press, I say, “It’s over... dude.”
Even his salute is pathetic. Keep 'em coming!