Reply #9: Boston Globe reported on this

[karynnj]

Senator John F. Kerry, who came to national prominence when he testified before Congress as a Vietnam war hero turned antiwar activist, is now warning against those who are pushing for a troop buildup in Afghanistan by asserting that more forces could have turned the tide in Vietnam.

“Let me be clear: More than 58,000 American troops died because they were sent into battle based on false assumptions, flawed goals, and faulty strategies. Yes, we adopted smarter tactics near the end, but by then the die was cast,’’ Kerry, who is now chairman of the same committee he addressed in 1971, writes in the Nov. 16 issue of Newsweek magazine.

The Massachusetts Democrat, who is among those cautioning President Obama against sending the full force of 40,000 additional US troops sought by the top commander in Afghanistan, says while there are some similarities with Vietnam, it is dangerous to draw too many parallels with Afghanistan, a “very different country . . . in a different era.’’

“The main lesson that Obama must absorb from Vietnam is the necessity to explain our goals in Afghanistan, and to choose clear and realistic strategies to meet them,’’ Kerry adds.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2009/11/11/kerry_warns_on_vietnam_parallels/


The comments are somewhat better than usual - though there are the typical RW smears. (What I find really weird is the constant need to say he has no expertise because he served just 4 months (though that ignores most of his Naval service). I have never seen the same people say that Bush, Cheney or Hillary Clinton all with ZERO Vietnam experience have too little experience to speak. This tells me they are defensive - that they do know he knows what he is speaking about.