Posted on 12/29/2008 6:27:34 AM PST by Abathar
WASHINGTON -- As a young Navy swift boat commander in Vietnam, Sen. John Kerry was no stranger to the perils of hot pursuit in combat.
He was awarded a Silver Star for beaching his boat after a rocket attack and racing ashore to chase down and kill a Viet Cong fighter armed with a rocket launcher.
Nearly 40 years later, as incoming chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Kerry favors using hot pursuit against pirates in the waters off Somalia, but urges a cautious approach before U.S officials consider sending American forces to chase them ashore. Kerry plans committee hearings next year looking at the problems posed by piracy.
The Massachusetts Democrat, who was on President-elect Barack Obama's short list to be secretary of state, said a hot pursuit policy on Somalia's coastline is "long overdue." But he warns against any "haphazard, sloppy" military missions.
"You gotta know what you're getting into and where you're going and under what circumstances," Kerry, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, said in a recent telephone interview with The Associated Press. "I mean, if you send five police officers raging into the center of Mogadishu, you are asking for trouble. You gotta be smart."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
"It's bizarre," said Kerry. "You look at the amounts of money they're paying out in ransoms and it's incredible.""
The pirates said the same thing when they heard how much money he married into. And he didn't have to chase supertankers in fishing boats to get it either...
John Kerry was in Viet Nam?!!
I think I heard him mention it a time or two, but I’m not sure...
Cambodia too. Just ask him.
About four months.
Put in for, and recevied, three purple hearts.
Never spent a day in a hospital.
Came back and switched sides.
Ended the war working for the enemy.
Kerry what a waste of my tax paying money.
I’m sure that President Elect Obama can recall him to active duty and place a swift boat at his command, If Lieutenant Kerry is that concerned about Somali Pirates
First witness - Capt. Jack Sparrow
“....You gotta be smart.”
***************************************
Oh well, there goes any input from Kerry.
This is a grand opportunity to finally put a sock in Kerry’s mouth. Put him in charge of solving the pirate problem. It will keep him busy and he will have to actually do something with a public result. I have a feeling that either he will reject the job or botch it up publicly.
Fixed it. And I'm not saying he was wrong to do it. I'm just saying I don't think it was particularly heroic or warranted a Silver Star.
It would turn out to be the embarrassment of his life. He would want to chase them around with Teresa’s yacht and when they catch and try to ransom him back no one would take the call.
Needs a barf alert.
My bad. I thought the name Kerry in any post was enough warning, best to be safe I guess...
Spoke to an officer in Naval Intelligence recently about this pirate business.
The Navy is making plans to deal with these creeps. Can’t say what it is here, but it should do the trick nicely.
We should hunt down pirates in a manner reminiscent of Jenjis Kahn.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.