SwiftVets.com

[charley]

Of all the things I have read and seen about Kerry, in my opinion, what follows is the most relevant and most devastating when it comes to understanding what the consequences of electing this man might be.

This issue is from the debate between Kerry and O’Neill in 1971 on the Cavett show. Near the end of the debate, Cavett asks both Kerry and O’Neill if they think there will be a bloodbath if the US withdraws precipitously from S. Vietnam. O’Neill says that, based on past history of N. Vietnamese actions and atrocities, that we should expect a bloodbath. Kerry, seriously doubts his friends in N. Vietnam would be so cruel, but then goes on, incredibly, to say that even if there is a bloodbath, it pales in comparison to the atrocities we perpetrate on the N. Vietnamese civilians every day through our bombings and through programs such as Operation Phoenix.

In hindsight, Kerry's analysis of the situation was absolutely wrong, but unfortunately for millions of the South Vietnamese men women and children, Kerry got what he wanted. The precipitous withdrawal, made necessary by the lies and anti-war activities of John Kerry and his ilk, allowed S. Vietnam to be overrun before it could develop a stable government capable of its own defense. One could easily make the case that the Killing Fields, in which 2 million people were slaughtered, was a direct consequence of Kerry's wishful thinking with regard to the North Vietnamese. His poor judgement had disasterous consequences and helped to plunge an entire region of the world into decades of repression, turmoil and suffering.

So, we have a precedent with Kerry upon which we can understand what he will do in Iraq. Based on his answer to Cavett's question in 1971, it is very reasonable to assume that Kerry will pull our troops out of Iraq before that country has a chance to stabilize. Once again, such a policy, if allowed to be implemented in Iraq, will undoubtedly result in massive loss of life, turmoil, and repression for decades to come.

My hope is that someone will take this segment of the Cavett debate and get it out there because it is extremely relevant and goes to the total lack of judgment of John Kerry. We can't afford to have this guy as our Commander in Chief.

FYI, following is the segment from the debate to which I am referring.

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MR. CAVETT: No one has said that there'll be a bloodbath if we pull out, which is a cliche we used to hear a lot. Does either of you still think there would be a –

MR. O'NEILL: I think if we pull out prematurely before a viable South Vietnamese government is established, that the record of the North Vietnamese in the past and the record of the Viet Cong in the area I served in at Operation [unintelligible] clearly indicates that's precisely what would happen in that country.

MR. CAVETT: That's a guess, of course.

MR. KERRY: I –

MR. O'NEILL: I'd say that their record at Thua, at Daq Son [phonetic spelling], at a lot of other places, pretty clearly indicate that's precisely what would happen. Obviously, in Thua, we've discovered, how many, 5,700 graves so far, at Daq Son four or ! five hundred.

MR. KERRY: The true fact of the matter is, Dick, that there's absolutely no guarantee that there would be a bloodbath. There's no guarantee that there wouldn't. One has to, obviously, conjecture on this. However, I think the arguments clearly indicate that there probably wouldn't be.

First of all, if you read back historically, in 1950 the French made statements – there was a speech made by, I think it was General LeClerc, that if they pulled out, France pulled out, then there would be a bloodbath. That wasn't a bloodbath. The same for Algeria. There hasn't been.

I think that it's really kind of a baiting argument. There is no interest on the part of the North Vietnamese to try to massacre the people once people have agreed to withdraw. There's just no pur- –

I realize that there would be certain political assassinations, and that might take place. And I think when you balance that against the fact that the United States has now! accounted for some 18,600 people through its own Phoenix program, whi ch is a program of assassination, and when you balance that off against the morality of the kind of bombing we've been doing in Laos and the kind of destruction wholesale of the country of Vietnam, which amounts to some 155,000 civilians a year killed, then I think to talk about four or five thousand people is lunacy in terms of the overall argument and what we're seeking in Southeast Asia.

MR. O'NEILL: I think that's a very highly spurious argument for the following reasons:

First of all, after the North Vietnamese took over in North Vietnam in 1954, everybody knows about the bloodbath that occurred. Nearly 50 to 60 thousand estimated dead at that time. There were a million refugees that came south. As far as the bombing in Laos, it's highly interesting to note that occurred in the area of the Ho Chi Minh Trail primarily where only seven to eight thousand people lived.

It's true that there is a severe refugee problem. There are 700,000 refugees, for ! example, in Laos. There were 10,000 down at [unintelligible]. I suggest that that all that Mr. Kerry's program does is stop the refugee problem, but it stops it by giving those people no place that they can possibly go to. I think there would be a very severe bloodbath there.

[jataylor11]

I haven't overlooked this.

I think one of the upcoming commercials should be film of Kerry's statements from 1971 followed by visuals of the people scrambing to catch the last helicopter from the embassy roof in Siagon. The film of the boat people. Pictures of the skeltons from the Cambodia killing fields ---

Voice over counting the millions that are died.

Voice over:
John Kerry wrong in 1971 .... wrong for our future!!!!

[Steve Z]

How about a (short) quote from O'Neill in 1971 predicting a bloodbath, Kerry telling the Senators in 1971 that casualties would be limited, followed by a voice-over with the actual death toll and films of people scrambling to evacuate in boats or helicopters. Then, a voice-over saying "Kerry was wrong about withdrawal then, he is wrong now."

By the way, there WAS a bloodbath after the French withdrawal from Algeria, a civil war which continues to this day!!! I used to live in France, and Algerian violence is frequently in the news there!
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The traitor will crater!

[Nathanyl]

O'neil was wrong about one thing. The refugee problem was worse after we withdrew.

[llano]

I've seen reports of as many as 2.5 million were murdered in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia after we left on April 30th '75.
_________________
Home in Lubbock Texas, home of the Vietnam Project at Texas Tech University. A place visited frequently by Navy Chief.

[one more captins mast]

He has left more than "ONE CHILD BEHIND"
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the strange mr aj

[P. Aaron]

One of my "Favorite Quotes" from the Book.

From Page 120-121

...Senator George Aiken of Vermont asked John Kerry what would happen in South Vietnam if America withdrew from the war:

Mr. KERRY:...But I think, having done what we have done to that country, we have an obligation to offer sanctuary to the perhaps 2,000, 3,000 people who might face, and obviously they would, we understand that, might face political assasination or something else. But my feeling is that those 3,000 who may have to leave the country---

Senator AIKEN: I think you estimate might be a little low...".
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A willing tool of the "Vast Right Wing Conspiracy" since 1981.

[gia_lin_fo]

[Boundless]

> He has left more than "ONE CHILD BEHIND"

A title for a SBVFT ad on this theme could be:

Millions Left Behind

Kerry Lied. Millions Died. also works, but it may
be more effective to let the viewer draw their own
{obvious} conclusion about what happened to those
left behind.

Can we blame the war outcome entirely on Kerry?
No. But we can point to his appallingly naive
estimate of the consequences of the policy he
supported and personally helped negotiate.

[RivanG]

Sounds like a good idea for an ad... and a devastating one too.

[sdonions]

This is the one that really fired my behind when I heard it. This was taken from Kerry's Senate testimony.