Did Kerry Lie about Attending the Signing of the Gulf-War Ceasefire

O'Reilly Factor ^ | 24 Sept 2004 | Rokke

[Rokke]

I just watched the rerun of O'Reilly's 2001 interview with Kerry discussing the need to invade Iraq. In that interview, Kerry said the following: "I mean, I was in Safwan. I went there when the signing of the armistice took place at the end of the war." I've watched the video of the cease-fire signing at Safwan. It was still in a combat zone. I don't remember seeing anyone but military officers. Can anyone provide additional insight, or has Kerry lied again.

[icwhatudo]

March 3rd 1991 was a Sunday.


Right now its 12:05pm in Iraq, Friday Morning.
Its 4:05 EST in my pajamas here in Maryland.

[singfreedom]

I've already started emailing. I've only been saying, though, that they really need to look into this!

[HannaUSA]

Was a Sunday

[airedale]

What about committees. Was Kerry at any of the committee meetings on which he serves. Of course with his track record he probably missed them to go wind surfing.

[AmericanVictory]

Bump!

[AdequateMan]

Yeah- the word SAFWAN is the key. He isn't claiming he was at the UN building when the resolution was passed. He's claimed that he was PRESENT at the Safwan meeting.
I have begun to believe that John Kerry is the type of person who fabricates a little bit of credibility when credibility is needed. In this case I think he needed a reason to appear more of an expert than he was, and made up a little resume snippet on the spot. He couldn't have known that it would get him in a future presidential race. It's not in itself a major character deficiency, but in combination with his other prevarications, the letters which insist that he supports and opposes the first gulf war, and his pathological insistence to straddle an issue when it's unnecessary, it shows that he lacks an overall personal compass. He drifts through life, living in the now, without holding himself responsible for either past or future. This kind of personality makes him unsuitable for public office.
If this was his only misstep, I would grant leniency in my personal estimate of his worth as a potential president. However, Mr. Kerry has, in this campaign, repeatedly illustrated to me that he has no center. He lacks the ability to see his own faults and work beyond them, because he is so afraid to lose even the esteem of a reporter.
This lack of a moral compass or at least a dominating ideology is illustrated by his lack of serious activity as a US Senator, lack of credible evidence to present to the Senate in the 1970s, and failure to report the discussion of the assassination plot at the VVAW meeting.
In short, John Forbes Kerry is simply not "The Guy".
W has his problems as well, but next to Kerry, Bush seems much more suited for leadership. The decision to go to war with Iraq was one based on the best intelligence estimates from numerous countries of Saddam's activities post-1998, coupled with serious and still-credible evidence that Saddam had sent out both feelers and actual partnerships with known middle eastern terrorist organizations. The coupling of the posession of WMD and the desire to meet with and provide sanctuary to such people as Abu Nidal and Zarqawi was not a risk that the Bush administration had the option of taking. The only real stumbling block I see is that Ashcroft isn't particularly concerned with the major problems he inherited as AG, such as rampant property forfeiture, government misconduct and discrimination, and the declining power of US citizens with regards to local, state, and federal government. He has, for example, encouraged local law enforcement to take advantage of the USA PATRIOT act in order to gain access to searches and wiretaps outside the realm of terrorism investigation that would otherwise be unlawful and/or unconstitutional. It seems Aschroft's attitude is "If you're not guilty you got nothing to worry about" which I believe means he disregards and ignores the fourth amendment and ninth amendment completely.

[calcowgirl]

March 3rd, 1991 was a Sunday (per congressional record, anyway).
I also threw my 1991 calendar away, lol.

[Getsmart64]

The official Army timeline.....

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Aug2000/n08082000_20008088.html

[DC Bound]

If pressed on this, he'll turn up being part of this delegation and it will be easy for sheeple to understand how "the time of the signing" actually meant "the month of the signing".

[calcowgirl]

Actually it's seared into my memory. Christmas in Safwan.

Nah... he was just NEAR Safwan... and it was Easter in Safwan!

[js1138]

Has anyone pinged Little Green Footballs?

[js1138]

It's seared into my memory. Easter in Safwan.

Has anyone tried to contact the blogs that were so effective against CBS?

[icwhatudo]

Crap...Wiggle room for Kerry

There were negotiations at Safwan on March 17 http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/dstorm/dsmar.htm "17 March Naval forces continue counter air-defensive, combat air patrols and minesweeping operations. Marine ground forces hold defensive positions. U.S./coalition military officials meet with 10 Iraqi military officers at Safwan Airfield, rejects Iraqi request to move aircraft around the country. Iraq warned that any Iraqi warplanes that fly would be shot down.

And a delegation of senators were in Safwan around that date

I searched the Boston Globe for all of Mar and Apr for any article involving Kerry AND Safwan. This was the ONLY one. SENATORS DOUBT US WILL INTERVENE IN IRAQI STRIFE Published on March 17, 1991 Author(s): Elizabeth Neuffer, Globe Staff KUWAIT CITY -- A delegation of senators yesterday told US soldiers massed on the Iraqi border that it is unlikely US forces will intervene in Iraq's civil war and predicted that the soldiers will return home soon to a hero's welcome. The delegation swooped down in glistening helicopters on the border outpost of Safwan, Iraq, to meet with the US Army's 1st Armored Division, which helped spearhead the allied ground offensive against Iraq and tangled with the Republican Click for complete article (649 words)

[KC Burke]

You will get a kick out of this one. We all know how well those Swift Boats travel through the heartland of Iraq.

[JesseJane]

This is just amazing...

F/R rocks.

Great work you guys!

[ArmstedFragg]

A delegation of senators

That delegation IS a possibility unless we find more Boston social calendar reporting covering that period. Kerry spoke on the Senate floor on 3/13 and again on 3/19. There's just enough room there for him to have made a visit to Iraq on the 15th.

It wouldn't have been for the signing, though.

[icwhatudo]

Lets be careful and not pull our own CBS folks. He may very well have been there as part of that group- while negotiations on some aspects of the cease fire were being debated.

[icwhatudo]

Start working on the March 15,16,17,18th googles for Kerrys wereabouts.

[Mad Dog Charlie]

This may be helpful, the delegation was not in Iraq but sent to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.


HON. MEL LEVINE
in the House of Representatives
THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 1991

Mr. LEVINE of California. Mr. Speaker, despite all the private assurances received from the Saudis and Kuwaitis that they would assume a more compromising position toward Israel after the war, here have been few signs of change in attitude from the Arab world.
Many American firms may be denied Kuwaiti contracts because their company conducts business with Israel or employs Jewish workers. The Arab League's secondary boycott, which prevents Arab countries from doing business with third parties that trade with or invest in Israel, has strangled the Israeli economy for 40 years. Vital potential trading partners of Israel, such as Japan, are kept at the beck and call of the oil-producing nations and prevented from investing in Israel.
Last month, a member of the United States Senate was denied a visa for a congressional delegation visit to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait simply because his passport was marked with an Israeli entrance stamp. You do not have to be Jewish to be scarred by this symbol of the Jewish State--you only need to have visited Israel. That is enough to prevent any diplomat or citizen from any country in the world from entering an Arab State.
These outrageous policies must end. Today, I have introduced a resolution calling on the Arab States to end their boycott against Israel and their longstanding policy of not accepting passports with an Israeli entrance stamp. Senator Lautenberg, the Senator who was denied the visa by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, introduced essentially identical legislation in the Senate today.

[ArmstedFragg]

Lets be careful and not pull our own CBS folks

Wise words. We have an unverified quote and a schedule with wiggle room. First order of business, to me, would be to get him pinned down to a date, then reverse engineer from there. Now, if only some media type.... HELLO...MEDIA!!!... OVER HERE!!!!... would ask the campaign for the specifics on his visit to Safwan for the signing.