"John Kerry, The Chameleon Senator"

[jpgpenn]

John Kerry: The Chameleon Senator
By Ted Sampley
U.S. Veteran Dispatch
October-December 1996 Issue

Despite the prayers and wishful thinking of POW/MIA families and Vietnam veteran activists, Sen. John Forbes Kerry, the "chameleon" senator from Massachusetts, was re-elected to the Senate in the 1996 election. Apparently Kerry's well publicized history as a longtime radical supporter of the Vietnamese communists and a recent flap about whether or not he is guilty of a war crime meant very little to the voters in Massachusetts.

Sen. Kerry, the "noble statesman" and "highly decorated Vietnam vet" of today, is a far cry from Kerry, the radical, hippie-like leader of Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) in the early 1970s. After Kerry, as a Navy Lieutenant (junior grade) commanding a Swift boat in Vietnam, was awarded the Silver he found it advantageous to quit the Navy, change the color of his politics and become a leader of VVAW. He went to work organizing opposition in America against the efforts of his former buddies still ducking communist bullets back in Vietnam. Kerry gained national attention in April 1971, when he testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, then chaired by Sen. J. William Fulbright (D-AR), who led opposition in the Congress against U.S. participation in the war. During the course of his testimony, Kerry stated that the United States had a definite obligation to make extensive economic reparations to the people of Vietnam.

Kerry's testimony, it should be noted, occurred while some of his fellow Vietnam veterans were known by the world to be enduring terrible suffering as prisoners of war in North Vietnamese prisons. Kerry was a supporter of the "People's Peace Treaty," a supposed "people's" declaration to end the war, reportedly drawn up in communist East Germany. It included nine points, all of which were taken from Viet Cong peace proposals at the Paris peace talks as conditions for ending the war.

One of the provisions stated: "The Vietnamese pledge that as soon as the U.S. government publicly sets a date for total withdrawal , they will enter discussion to secure the release of all American prisoners, including pilots captured while bombing North Vietnam." In other words, Kerry and his VVAW advocated the communist line to withdraw all U.S. troops from Vietnam first and then negotiate with Hanoi over the release of prisoners. Had the nine points of the "People's Peace Treaty" favored by Kerry been accepted by American negotiators, the United States would have totally lost all leverage to get the communists to release any POWs captured during the war years.

http://www.usvetdsp.com/story10.htm


vets tell it like it was!

edit; added link

[LittleApple81]

1. Why don't you think that we needed to make reparations? If

agent orange wreaked havoc with our vets, what did it do to the people whom we destroyed and then sprayed?
And after McNamara's book and all the things that have come out about that war, the people who did not protest against the war were not paying attention to reality.

[jpgpenn]

3. tell that to the vets

It was their write up not mine.

[blm]

10. This is the rightwinger who smeared McCain for Bush in 2000.

You really think he represents vets?

Guess you didn't know that the Nixon White House started planting stories about Kerry over 30years ago, and the operatives never stopped.

btw...check out the Nixon tapes and how they discussed bringing Kerry down IN the oval office.

Nice that some of you are carrying on their work. Segretti, Atwater and Rove.

[jpgpenn]

14. tell that to Rove and company!

[blm]

28. Rove knows him, they used him in 2000. YOU are pushing Rove's work.

You really should study these things before you post from right wing sites.

[Eric J in MN]

19. There is still anti-McCain stuff from 2000 on the website.

There is still anti-McCain stuff from 2000 on the website, calling him "The Manchurian candidate."

[gristy]

21. Sorry, that excuse doesn't wash here.

Rule #1 for starting threads in this forum:

1. If you start a thread in this forum, you must present your opinion in a manner that is not inflammatory, which respects differences in opinion, and which is likely to lead to respectful discussion rather than flaming. The moderators have the sole authority to decide whether a thread topic is inflammatory.

[in_cog_ni_to]

2. I just don't see Kerry

pulling in the Veteran vote. What's to respect? NOTHING. I compare him to the people who were spitting on our soldiers when they returned from Vietnam. He spit on them with words.

[jpgpenn]

6. No way will he get the vet vote...

especially after rove is done with him. They have a file some 30 years old on Kerry they are sitting on. Let them try that with Clark!

[Eric J in MN]

9. So Vietnam veterans shouldn't have testified to Congress about the war?

So Vietnam veterans shouldn't have testified to Congress about the war?

By the way, there is no historical evidence of people spitting on veterans.

[styersc]

20. The words and actions that Kerry "spit:" on the military when he

returned from Vietnam resulted in the end of the immoral, unjustified and illegal war. He did his part to bring our troops back on planes and ships rather then in body bags.

You can posture all you want about how you supported (or support) the troops- but if you didn't work to end the war, you are as responsible as Johnson and Nixon for those who did not come home to their families.

[zulchzulu]

23. Tell that to the thousands of vets who hit the streets for Kerry in Iowa

Frankly, Clark's four-star general gaffe about Kerry's rank was an incredible insult to those who served in the military.

Vets know who has been a real friend. Kerry's record as a true democrat proves it. He's no Johnny-Come-Lately to the Democratic party.

[Democrats unite]

24. Kerry is no longer an Officer & a gentleman

We know where his colors lie now.

[zulchzulu]

27. What kind of low accusation is that?

Surely you jest.

[HalfManHalfBiscuit]

4. Attacking the Democratic nominee?

I'll put Kerry's record up against Bush's any time.

[Eric J in MN]

5. You like that article? I didn't.

That article implies people shouldn't criticize a war for as long as some of our soldiers are pows.

Ending a war usually means the pows are released.

The article also implies Kerry is a "hippie," just like Maureen Dowd asociated that word with Howard Dean recently.

Are we going to be told that John Edwards and Wesley Clark are hippies, too?

[jpgpenn]

7. you pass over 1 very important part of that write up...

This is coming from other vets. This is their frame of mind with Kerry.

[Eric J in MN]

13. John Kerry doesn't speak for all vets, but neither does the author of that

John Kerry doesn't speak for all vets, but neither does the author of that aricle.

[HalfManHalfBiscuit]

16. Sure. This reflects the opinion of all vets. What do they think of Bush?

I'm guessing that there are a few vets out there that aren't too happy with your man Bush.

[jpgpenn]

22. my man Bush?

keep things in check there pilgrim!

[BeatleBoot]

8. He changed just this past week!

He went from getting 38% of the vote in Iowa and winning to now getting 49% of the vote nationwide against Bush's 46% in the latest poll.

Talk about changing!

:7

[THUNDER HANDS]

12. yeah, just watch him change

Kerry will change from Senator to President. :)

[jpgpenn]

17. and also change every comment to reflect current trends!

[BeatleBoot]

25. And the band played on!

:7

[THUNDER HANDS]

26. you mean adapt?

Like someone who knows what he's doing would do?

[oasis]

11. Many Democrats like Kerry, some don't. Many Vets like Kerry, some don't.

[JI7]

18. yup,c an't get them all

nobody can.

[creativelcro]

15. Tell me about it!! I live in MA and have to live with this each day...

[bigtree]

29. This just one vet with a grudge against John Kerry's work with POW/MIA's

Ted Sampley, the man who called 5 year Vietnam prisoner of war, John McCain, the "Manchurian Candidate". Do some digging before accepting his opinion as fact. He has opposed John Kerry since the young soldier's protest of the Vietnam war. He is certainly no friend of the anti- war crowd.

[mitchtv]

30. radical supporter of Vietnamese communists?

sorry I stopped reading that RW bilge when I saw that.Propaganda ala rove. Sorry , being a Vet doesn't make you correct. Extreme Right maybe.

[Moderator]

31. Locking

7. You may not post any material from extreme right-wing sources, specifically WorldNetDaily.com, Newsmax.com, FreeRepublic.com, and their ilk. Material from more "mainstream" conservative writers or sources, such as The Washington Times and Fox News, are permitted as long as the post includes a clear warning about the source. (For example: "WARNING: Please note that this article is written by George Will.")

Thanks,

DU Moderator