and when you are sure you understand it, have your friend read it and make sure she understands it.
http://www.c-span.org/2004vote/jkerrytestimony.aspHere is the core of why some veterans are unhappy with John Kerry. As Kerry was becoming a very effective leader of the anti-war movement in 1971, Richard Nixon set out to destroy him, and recruited John O'Neill and others. This spawn of Nixon have spent over 35 years trying not only to discredit John Kerry, but more importantly to them, the entire liberal, anti-war attitude that Kerry represented and represents. In the process they have manipulated the emotions of many veterans so that these vets feel a hurt that was not inflicted by John Kerry, but rather by the deliberate and malicious distortion of Kerry's statement.
I've excerpted below, the preamble to Kerry's 1971 testimony, with some main points highlighted. You will recognize one phrase as the bit that was snipped out of context and played over and over again to stoke anger against Kerry and the anti-war movement. But if you read it in context - and then especially read what follows - the ENTIRE testimony - and grasp what Kerry went to Washington to say - you will understand what a horrible distortion it is. Could Kerry's words have been chosen more carefully? Possibly. For the sake of argument, let's say the portion that has been highlighted by the right wing was "irresponsible." But here was a young man of 27 years speaking passionately with less than a day to prepare his words, for a cause that he considered incredibly important - life or death to people he knew personally. Meanwhile, the other choice who would be on the ballot in 2004, was off somewhere being "young and irresponsible." I'll take irresponsibility (if you call it that) for a noble cause over just plain partying any day, as the measure of good character.
I would simply like to speak in very general terms. I apologize if my statement is general because I received notification yesterday you would hear me and I am afraid because of the injunction I was up most of the night and haven't had a great deal of chance to prepare.
Winter soldier Investigation
I would like to talk, representing all those veterans, and say that several months ago in Detroit, we had an investigation at which over 150 honorably discharged and many very highly decorated veterans testified to war crimes committed in Southeast Asia, not isolated incidents but crimes committed on a day-to-day basis with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command.
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.
We call this investigation the "Winter Soldier Investigation." The term "Winter Soldier" is a play on words of Thomas Paine in 1776 when he spoke of the Sunshine Patriot and summertime soldiers who deserted at Valley Forge because the going was rough.
We who have come here to Washington have come here because we feel we have to be winter soldiers now. We could come back to this country; we could be quiet; we could hold our silence; we could not tell what went on in Vietnam, but we feel because of what threatens this country, the fact that the crimes threaten it, no reds, and not redcoats but the crimes which we are committing that threaten it, that we have to speak out.
Much much more at the link. Read it and understand it, and reflect on how it has been distorted by the puppetmasters to manipulate vulnerable people into hate.
That's chapter 1. Chapter 2 is the POW/MIA investigation that Kerry led with McCain, which had the objective of creating a protocol for resolving the remaining POW/MIA cases from Vietnam so that relations could be normalized. The backstory of chapter 2 is that between our exit from Vietnam and the Kerry/McCain committee, there had sprung up a cottage industry of charlatans preying on the families of servicemembers missing in Vietnam. These charlatans did not take well to their lucrative businesses being disrupted. They joined forces with the O'Neill contingent, and with the networking power of the right wing, were able to influence even more people with their lies.
We could add the enemies Kerry made with his BCCI and Iran/Contra investigations but hopefully by now you get the picture. The lies have been debunked over and over and over again but keep coming back because many of the people who have been manipulated into a visceral hatred of Kerry (and the entire anti-war movement, don't ever forget that), will not ever face the truth. And there is plenty of money to keep them cozy in their web of lies.
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
