Posted on 08/11/2004 12:16:52 PM PDT by areafiftyone
TOM MAGUIRE has already posted John Kerry's speech claiming to have been in Cambodia on Christmas day, 1968. But because this is a question of importance, and because some people might doubt the veracity of quotations pasted in from NEXIS, I thought I'd go to the law library and check it myself in hardcopy. (The law library was closed and the copiers were off, but I have a key, and -- let this be another lesson to bloggers everywhere -- a digital camera).
Here's a link to a larger version showing the exact page citation and context.
The evidence that Kerry wasn't in Cambodia seems pretty strong (see Tom Maguire's post, along with this letter) which makes Kerry's claim all the more difficult to understand.
It's possible, of course, that there's an innocent explanation for this, even if I can't quite think of one. Maybe Kerry was on a double-secret mission to Cambodia, such that everyone involved continues to deny it today. Except, inexplicably, for Kerry. . . . Or maybe his memory failed him -- though there's that "seared--seared--in" language to contend with when considering that hypothesis. Or he could just have been bragging. Your call. Personally, I remain more interested in what Kerry would do regarding the current war, but since he invites us to judge him on his Vietnam record, evidence that he might not be telling the truth about that record is obviously relevant.
At any rate, posting this should remove any doubt about what Kerry said, if not about what he did.
UPDATE: More here, including another Kerry quote on the same subject.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Wayne Seibert emails: "You forgot about Kerry's mission to kill Col. Kurtz."
YET ANOTHER UPDATE: Several readers wonder why, if Kerry is really lying about having been in Cambodia on Christmas Day, 1968, somebody hasn't made something of it before? Beats me.
On the other hand, if it were false, you'd expect somebody from the Democratic spin machine to be coming forth with evidence that Kerry was in Cambodia then. But what did I get in the daily "Media Matters" email? A complaint that Bill O'Reilly compared Media Matters to the Klan.
MORE: Brian Rogge emails: "A blogger with a key and a digital camera? There's a novel there somewhere. Someone tell Roger Simon!"
Yes, as I photographed the pages with my little camera in the darkened library, it did make me think of old spy thrillers. Though only a particularly masochistic spy would copy the Congressional Record.
STILL MORE: More reports of Kerry's absence from Cambodia.
Wow!
I don't think he can double talk that one!
Is another flip-flop in the making?
Didn't Kerry also say it was President Nixon who sent him to Cambodia? Never mind that Nixon wasn't President yet!
Following the link the article states that hanoi john wouldn't have been able to tell the khmer rouge from the NVC especially in the DARK. That the early khmer rouge wore NVC clothing.
ping
The SOCIALIST Workers party of America, with their comrads, the Communist Party of America and the Democrat Party are ALL THE SAME.
-John Kerry- some selected, informative links...--
The Kerry-enablers and the shills in Big Media can spin and smear all they want- this subject is not going the way of Kathleen Wiley's cat- it has nine lives.
Everyone who gives a rip about honesty, and truth, and free speech, should give the SBV's a few dollars- it probably better spent and leveraged than money to politicians.
Contributions can also be sent to:
Swift Boat Veterans for Truth
c/o Weymouth Symmes, Treasurer
PO Box 26184
Alexandria, VA 22313
Thanks for the crosslink. I was hoping someone would save this for future reference.
[ ...and the more I see of this nonsense, the more accurate I believe my tagline to be... ]
LOL - I think that line says it all.
Well obviouly somthing was "seared, seared" into John Kerry but it was not first-hand recollections of Cambodia. wow what a bunch of ....
This guy used a pack of lies to attach the US and its brave servicemen and women on returning and he finally got caught. He would say anything to play the role of Hanoi Jane- the rerun and did. (Of course if he didn't lie, then he really should be tried as a war criminal for the atrocities he claims to have committed).
And the left embraces this??!!!
You are too generous. Neurons? Plural? *snicker*
Yeah--Nixon took office mid-January 1969. So who supposidly sent Kerry into Cambodia "illegally"???
Yep a Rat.
Obviously Conclusion even for a liberal--just can't trust those RATS with the presidency. Not then--not now.
Read the clause preceeding Kerry's quotes in the smaller picture - it's clear his quoted statement was in the context of the preceeding clause in which he was referring exclusively to Nixon by name (instapundit screwed up on that one by only focusing on the exact language from SwiftVet book)
I'm wondering if the memory that was seared into Kerry's mind wasn't a hallucination from seeing Apocalypse Now 5000 times.
Apparently Kerry has mistaken himself for the character in the movie. That's pretty S'kerry.
Thanks for this thread.
Kerry is a damned liar.
Kerry remembers the following things:
Okay? Now you silly people think that all of these recollections all the same and that the phrase "seared in me" refers to all of the recollections; but it only (would parse Kerry) refers to that last memory. But let's go beyond that, which statement is a lie?
#1? Well, he could say that he was mistaken and thought he was in Cambodia, but gee-whiz I guess he was wrong. No lie, just a mistake.
#2? Nope he was certainly shot at by the Vietnames.
#3? Nope - he THOUGHT they were Cambodians, but he was wrong - see #1.
#4? Nope - once again he thought they were Khmer Rouge, but, well, fog of war and all that.
#5? Nope - He certainly remembers the President saying that there were no troops in Cambodia - oh and don't confuse the issue by stating that Nixon wasn't president in December of 1968. The date 1968 only refers to Kerry sitting in the boat, not the date at which Nixon talked about Cambodia.
#6? Nope, see the refutation for #5.
#7? Nope, his seared-in memory only refers to the memory that we should not have another Vietnam - not the memories outlined in #1 through #6.
See how it easy it is? You don't really believe there is such a thing as truth do you?
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