Much has been said about statements made by Sen. Kerry since 1971 when he testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, April 22, 1971 and what he said just days ago.
If you wish to read the entire testimony go to
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http://www.richmond.edu/~ebolt/history398/...yTestimony.htmlThe most damaging statement was made by those whose attention span was too short or they were simply too lazy to read the entire recording of the hearing. That statement was that Kerry claimed we...razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan,...
A typical one liner used by the ignorant in an attempt to make a pointless point.
The exact statement is:
"Kerry was asked by the committee to tell what he heard from the veterans in a Detroit meeting he attended. His statement is exactly as follows..."They told the stories at times they had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam in addition to the normal ravage of war, and the normal and very particular ravaging which is done by the applied bombing power of this country."------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From the National Review Online
http://www.nationalreview.com/document/kerry200404231047.aspThe actual statement here is as follows:
"It is impossible to describe to you exactly what did happen in Detroit, the emotions in the room, the feelings of the men who were reliving their experiences in Vietnam, but they did. They relived the absolute horror of what this country, in a sense, made them do.
They told the stories at times they had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, tape wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the country side of South Vietnam in addition to the normal ravage of war, and the normal and very particular ravaging which is done by the applied bombing power of this country."He related what he heard and answered questions to the best of his ability. He never said he was involved in any of the acts nor did he accuse all vets of such acts. But as a two tour Vet of Vietnam I can tell you that upon my arrival in 1968 I was informed that the collecting of Viet-Cong ears was no longer accepted although we could nail our unit patches to the foreheads of dead enemy and prop them up along the trail with cigarettes hanging from their mouths. Now the Democrats say the soldiers deserve respect and they do and they get it even though we never did when we returned from Vietnam nor did the Korean Vets.
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Now jump forward to today and a war none of the White House staff have fought in. In fact they have not fought in any, I repeat any war.
Kerry's blotched joke from...ABC News.com (search: Sen. Kerry's Words: Intention Vs. Reality)
ABC News
Nov. 1, 2006 — What did John Kerry intend to say vs. what did he actually say during a speech for California candidate Phil Angelides—ABC News has presented the actual statements below, you be the judge:
Here is what John Kerry actually said at his speech on Monday Oct. 30, while campaigning on behalf of California candidate Phil Angelides:
"You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."
Kerry's office has released the following as what they claim are the actually lines prepared for the delivery of the Angelides speech:
"It's great to be here with college students. I can't overstress the importance of a great education. Do you know where you end up if you don't study, if you aren't smart, if you're intellectually lazy? You end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq. Just ask President Bush."------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No where does he say our troops are dumb, uneducated or not respected. He simply states the facts. When the Army runs too thin a draft will have to be re-instated to keep levels reasonable. The first drafted are the High school grads that don't have the grades or money to get in college, the drop-outs and criminals given a choice of Jail or time in a combat zone. It was that way in Vietnam and it will be that way in Iraq. The biggest difference between the two is we never sent both Mother and Father of the same family into Vietnam leaving the children at home to wonder who if either they would ever see again. We do in Iraq. We have sent all the sons of a single family.
I did find Kerry's commit "Just ask Bush." a joke. Why ask a man who has little concern who he sends and has not only never gone himself but used his Fathers influence to avoid combat entirely. He then quickly refused to take a flight physical which revoked his pilots status. Anyone else would have been sent straight to Vietnam. Bush went out to help champagne then got an early out to attend school. Thanks to Papa our President has avoided combat and the humiliation of a failure as a businessman, despite all the education he received in the local bars.
I'm not a fan for Kerry as President but he did go into combat, not Bush. He did win the Silver Star, a highly revered award, not Bush. He did serve his country when asked, not Bush. If you want to use Kerry's statements to cut him down then use the truth and the entire statement and do not use him to try and destroy the Democrat Party. The Republican Party has done a fine job of destroying this country without any help from the Democrats.