Posted on 09/01/2004 5:45:22 AM PDT by kattracks
NASHVILLE — A full-page advertisement attacking John Kerry's post-Vietnam anti-war activism appeared in The Tennessean on Tuesday, the day President Bush spoke to the American Legion national convention and a day before Kerry was scheduled to speak.The ad by Dexter Lehtinen, a Vietnam veteran with Republican ties, accuses Kerry of "bearing false witness against me and a generation of young Americans who fought and died in Vietnam .... "
The ad was denounced by Bob Tuke, who coordinates the Tennessee branch of Veterans for Kerry.
Lehtinen, a former Republican appointee as U.S. Attorney in Miami, is married to U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., but says he wrote and paid for the ad "without any connection to other individuals or groups."
His ad attacks Kerry for remarks in his testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1971 comparing the behavior of American troops in Vietnam to the armies of Genghis Khan, testimony that vaulted Kerry into the national spotlight for the first time.
Lehtinen said the ad also is running in magazines devoted to the armed services.
"This is not a he-said, she-said about what he did on the river," Lehtinen said, referring to allegations made by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth that Kerry's accounts of the river battles for which he was awarded medals were inaccurate. Most of those claims have been disputed by official records and the accounts of other veterans who were there.
"This is the uncontroverted actions of John Kerry when he testified at the U.S. Senate. That's what I think is essential," Lehtinen said. "That speech from beginning to end was an attack on his fellow veterans."
Lehtinen was at the American Legion convention in Nashville, where he said he was distributing literature denouncing Kerry. President Bush spoke to the conventioneers on Tuesday; Kerry was scheduled to speak on Wednesday.
Tuke, who served as a Marine in Vietnam, called the ad "a scurrilous attack."
Tuke said he was "walking through a rice paddy" with his Marine patrol when Kerry was testifying to Congress.
"I think John Kerry and people like him who responsibly exposed the war for what it was, which by then was a miscalculated mistake, probably saved my life and the lives of my Marines," he said. "I take huge offense at Dexter Lehtinen's mischaracterization of what Kerry was doing, in the first place, and I specifically disagree with his contention that his testimony was a disservice. In fact it was a service to all Americans, not just veterans."
Lehtinen contends Kerry's testimony "smeared an entire generation of veterans. He's the leading cause of why people like me have to explain to our kids that we didn't rape and torch every village we came to."
The ad says Kerry "shamelessly drapes himself in the imagery of Vietnam, military service and the support of veterans, devoid of any media scrutiny. Meanwhile, the criticism and disapproval of Kerry by scores of veterans continues to fall on deaf ears."
Tuke said the escalating verbal campaign war over the real one in Vietnam can be boiled down to a very simple equation.
"John Kerry volunteered to serve and did," he said. "The current president specifically avoided service by joining the National Guard through his family influence and specifically requested not to be sent overseas. There is no comparison. John Kerry earned the right to come back and voice his opposition to the war by fighting in it, and so did I."
Tuke said "the problem with the Bush administration is there is only one senior official, Colin Powell, who has ever felt the sting of battle. The rest of them are chickenhawks. They avoided service, and now they send our young men and women off to war. To add insult to injury they stand behind these scurrilous attacks against real heroes. They ought to be ashamed."
And so did Lehtinen, and the Swiftees.
I think they wouldn't be so mad if he has attacked the political leadership for the war...
But he attacked his fellow soldiers too... This is unforgivable!
"Tuke, who served as a Marine in Vietnam, called the ad "a scurrilous attack."
Free speech and all that.
Amen,
This is REALLY the bottom line. I just pray that the American public musters the testicular fortitude to see that.
re: "John Kerry earned the right to come back and voice his opposition to the war"
I've not heard a single voice criticize Kerry for opposing the war and speaking out about his opposition. The problem comes when he begins to repeat hearsay evidence and accuse the troops of doing things they never did. Service in Vietnam, or any other theater, does not give a person the right to lie in efforts to support his views. A lie is a lie, it doesn't matter how good the intentions of the liar. As for the Air National Guard controversy, the Democrats settled that argument in 1992 when they nominated Bill Clinton. If someone who lied to avoid the draft and then went overseas and demonstrated against his country while it was at war is qualified to hold the office then there can be no question that a man who served his full term in any of the armed services is also acceptable. The only response to any mention of the ANG thing should be "and what about Bill Clinton?"
Well, just to keep things straight, I think he volunteered for the swiftboats. I remember when BUPERS sent out communications trying to get volunteers from the fleet for what the euphemistically referred to as "shore duty". I believe the "brown water navy" was made up of such volunteers.
"When I signed up for the swift boats, they had very little to do with the war. They were engaged in coastal patrolling and that's what I thought I was going to be doing." But two weeks after he arrived in Vietnam, the swift boat mission changed -- and Kerry went from having one of the safest assignments in the escalating conflict to one of the most dangerous. Under the newly launched Operation SEALORD, swift boats were charged with patrolling the narrow waterways of the Mekong Delta to draw fire and smoke out the enemy. Cruising inlets and coves and canals, swift boats were especially vulnerable targets. "...... Kerry to the Globe.
http://www.boston.com/globe/nation/packages/kerry/061603.shtml
The old TV show "M.A.S.H." had an officer character just like Kerry. He could always be depended on to blame all negative outcomes on the EM.
Uncharacteristically the writers made that particular guy out to be a right-winger.
How wrong they were!
John Kerry earned the right to come back and voice his opposition to the war by fighting in it, and so did I."
Lehtinen and the Swiftees fought in the same war and have the same right to voice their opinions, or is it only Kerry supporters who have that right?
BTW, why isn't Tuke's political affiliation noted, while the reporter felt Lehtinen's "Republican ties" were significant to the story? Could it be because Tuke has Democrat ties?
I have the distinct feeling Kerry was aiming at becoming a Navy "lifer" until that moment. From then on his ambition was an early out!
With documented proof recently provided by the FBI through the Freedom Of Information Act it is proved that John Kerry met with Communist North Vietnamese negotiators and Viet Kong representatives in Paris in 1971 while Kerry was still in the Navy Reserves (still in the military). Kerry could be standing face to face with a 10 ton Gorilla when the Swifties hammer him with this one.
It is against specific Codes of the Uniform Code of Military Justice and also against specific Articles of the Constitution to do what Kerry did.
The FBI documents also place Kerry at a meeting where the assignation of sitting U. S. Senators is discussed. This is a violation of law, if not reported to the authorities, as a conspiracy.
Judicial Watch is attempting to get the authorities to pursue the matters. I don’t know what their stance is. But when the Swifties smack Kerry across the airwaves with this information, it’s gonna leave a mark!
Page 153 of Unfit For Command refers to Kerry's statements of April 18,1971 on Meet the Press......" yes, I committed the same kinds of atrocities as THOUSANDS of other soldiers" yada,yada. He will probably make a weak attempt at an "explanation" today in Tenn. Too little......33 years too late!
Bob Tuke, Tennessee: John Kerry is a combat veteran. So am I. I got to know John Kerry because he and I are both Vietnam veterans. We didn't serve together. I'm a marine and he is a navy man. He is a brown water navy man. He knows what it is like to be in combat. He is decorated. He has been wounded....this Marine is very generous - but the only proof of Kerry's war experiences are what Kerry told him.............. show me where anyone who has disputed the Swift Boat Vets with other accounts of how Kerry gained his medals, so many in four short months........certainly not the Doctor who asked Kerry why he hadn’t pulled the thorn sized piece of shrapnel out of his arm which Kerry wanted documented......certainly not the men who were on the river with Kerry that day and certainly not the SB who saw Kerry lob a grenade at the shore which ricocheted back and a tiny little piece entered Kerry’s arm.......for starters
Maybe, but he didn't have to volunteer for VN "brown water" duty at all. If he'd wanted to ensure staying offshore, he could have stayed on his destroyer (like I did). He could have completed that cruise, then never had to worry about VN again probably.
OK, enough of this, because I don't want to be put in a position of defending Kerry, I'm just trying to keep the details straight...
And Kerry now has to reap what he sowed so many years ago.
Do you have anything that you can point me to that verifies Kerry seeking a deferment and then entering the USNR? I would LOVE to have that on hand to shove in my Dem brother's face. Unfortunately, while I have heard this repeatedly, I haven't found anything yet to back up this claim. Thanks.
ROTFL! A Freudian slip in the truest sense of the word.
Um, assasination?
Then again, with some Senators (Gary Hart, e.g.), the use of "assignation" might be equally as applicable.
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