Summer Soldiers

NY Sun ^ | 11/21/05 | JOHN O'NEILL

[dervish]

Senator Kerry, supposedly defending Rep. John Murtha, said, "I won't stand for the Swift-Boating of Jack Murtha!" As one of the 254 members of Mr. Kerry's unit in Vietnam who belonged to Swift Boat Veterans and POWs for Truth, I found Mr. Kerry's comments most ironic.

To us, Mr. Kerry's comments meant that no one should do to Mr. Murtha that which Mr. Kerry did to all of us and our fellow Vietnam veterans, living and dead. Mr. Kerry's disgraceful comments on many occasions in 1971 (while we were locked in combat), claiming falsely that we were "murdering" hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese and committing rape and mayhem on a daily basis, are a part of the public record for which he has never apologized. This might be called "Kerrying" our soldiers.

In his own strange way, in his recent comments, Mr. Kerry was trying by implication to compare himself to Mr. Murtha - the gravest of insults to Mr. Murtha, who was given a standing ovation by the House of Representatives (which then properly buried his immediate pullout suggestion 403-3). Mr. Murtha's long military record stands in stark contrast with Mr. Kerry's continuous self-promotion of his short and controversial service in our unit. More importantly, Mr. Murtha has never compared our troops in the field - now or then - to the "Army of Genghis Khan" or claimed our adversaries, whether the bloody communists and Khmer Rouge or the butchers of Al Qaeda, were simply democratic reformers. Can anyone - even in the cocoon of Washington or the incestuous world of Mainstream Media - imagine either side of the aisle spontaneously rising to clap for anything that Mr. Kerry ever did or said?

'snip'

[potlatch]

I kindof wrote what you said in post #40. Thankfully we have all the talkshow host and Fox News. If you listen to the dems on other forums, they actually think the MSM is on our side!

[bitt]

Bush's handlers seem afraid that his speaking style doesn't go over well with the people...they have it wrong. Only the effete snobs and pseudo-intellectuals insist that he is "speech-impaired"...

Personally, I enjoy his stammers and mixed up words, because when he is on his rant, he seems like a man of the people...and I don't think he is less intelligent, I think he is just NOT a natural born snakeoil salesman....

"It's character, stupid"....(the unspoken rallying cry of 2000)

[Defiant]

The concept of "exit strategy" needs to be defined before we can agree to create one. Do we have an exit strategy for Germany, Japan and Korea? We've been in those places for over 50 years or more. There may be no "exit strategy" in the sense that we may need to station troops in Iraq for 30 years or more, but there will come a day when Iraq is responsible for its own internal security, just as Germany became responsible for its own internal affairs in the 50's. That doesn't mean that we won't station 30,000 troops there, or that there won't still be a few terrorist attacks there even decades from now, but Iraq will be a functioning democracy, the wealthiest land in the middle east, and Syria and Iran will crumble from within when that happens.

If by exit strategy, you mean the point at which there is stability and troop levels have been drawn down to garrison strength, then you are talking about something that we should be able to accomplish within 2 to 5 years. That's not an "exit" per se, but liberals are trying to get us to commit to an exit. It's an argument that starts from a false premise.

Bush better start splainin some of this stuff.

[doublecansiter]

I just happend to catch the tail end of the debate that
was replayed on CSPAN Sunday morning. Rep. Johnson's
speech said it all. On a side note. The Military Channel
has a show called "Legends of Airpower". The episode that
I saw this evening was about Sam Johnson. The man flew
P-51's. F-86's in Korea. F-100's with the Thunderbirds.
Co-wrote the first US book on fighter tactics. Commanded
the Fighter Weapons School(Red Flag). Flew F-4's in Viet
Nam and was a POW.

Mike

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

"...To us, Mr. Kerry's comments meant that no one should do to Mr. Murtha that which Mr. Kerry did to all of us and our fellow Vietnam veterans, living and dead. Mr. Kerry's disgraceful comments on many occasions in 1971 (while we were locked in combat), claiming falsely that we were "murdering" hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese and committing rape and mayhem on a daily basis, are a part of the public record for which he has never apologized. This might be called "Kerrying" our soldiers..."

Lifelong Independent Voter AND a Viet Nam Vet
helping the Republican Party, again,
just like on Nov 2 2004 PING

JOHN O'NEILL STILL GETS IT PING!

Too bad the "Move On FReepers" are still on FR and not
DU where they came from!

DU loves "Move On FReepers" who howl and scream,
just like Howard Dean

DU loves "Move On FReepers" who attack honorable
Viet Nam Vets rather than the dishonorable hanoi kerry.

DU loves "Move On FReepers" who "swore"
klintoon, hitlery, hanoi kerry, sanbdi ber(bur)glar, al bore, jane beno,
would be prosecuted for
pardongate, chinagate, the bribes in upstate NY in the 2000 NY Senate race, waco, etc, etc,
"when" the "time was right".

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

Free online version of
hanoi kerry's playbook "The New Soldier"
You can read it online right now.

[devolve]

Always a great zinger!

[PhilDragoo]

[MattMa]

The Hill

October 7, 2003

“You see the problems they’re having in finding replacements for the troops that are over there,” said Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), the top Democrat on the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.

“We can’t sustain a one front war for any length of time.,” said Murtha, who supports a draft but is not sure the time is ripe for its reintroduction. “You can make the deployment but you can’t sustain it because we have so many worldwide commitments, so I’m for the draft.

“There’s 128,000 [troops] over there right now. To sustain 128,000 American troops [you have to] have more National Guard and reserve troops than regular.”

He added, “I don’t think we can afford that. I’m talking about the complaints I’m getting right now from all reserves and guards about their lives being so disrupted. I’m getting major complaints from almost every major unit.”

[Gucho]

There is only one word in the English language that adequately describes what he (Kerry) was in 1971 – and what he remains today for capitalizing on the evil he perpetrated back then. That word is "traitor." (Excerpt)

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=41169

[devolve]

$HOW THE  MONEY!

      AMERICANS - 403

      AL-MUTHAS - 3

[E.G.C.]

BTTT

[E.G.C.]

BTTT

[Soaring Feather]

bump

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[Cathy]

Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

[RottiBiz]

John O'Neill bump!

Thanks for the ping, Tonkin.

[Grampa Dave]

Kerry needs to be pounded on until France drafts him to replace their loser ChIraq.

[Dustbunny]

Murtha may not be a Kerry but his pals were saying much the same thing about the war in Iraq. I didn't hear him dispute one word of the lies many of the dems have spewed or the derogatory names they have used on dubya, his administration and Republicans in general.

So to coin an old saying, 'Tell me who your friends are and I will tell you what you are'.

[Coop]

Nice post, great response by John O'Neill!