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Kerry interview on NPR ( throws gauntlet to Swifts?)

 
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kate
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 27, 2006 3:55 am    Post subject: Kerry interview on NPR ( throws gauntlet to Swifts?) Reply with quote

In this NPR interview he discusses his 1971 testimony, how he only spoke the truth. Then talks about the lies others told about his service during the past election - and sort of throws down the gauntlet to the 'liars' if they try to assert those lies in the future

NPR>Link to listen at site

After listening, I picked up the transcript. Long, goes on about Vietnam, and then segues into Iraq. Posting the 1st portion

Quote:
National Public Radio
Talk of the Nation April 25, 2006
John Kerry on Dissent During a Time of War

NEAL CONAN, host:
35 years ago, a young Vietnam veteran named John Kerry stood before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and called for the withdrawal of American forces from Vietnam. In testimony that draws criticism from some veterans groups to this day, Kerry posed two powerful questions.

(Soundbite of John Kerry’s testimony)

Senator John Kerry (Democrat, Massachusetts): How do you ask a man to be the last man to die in Vietnam? How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?

CONAN: Speaking in Boston this past Saturday, 35 years to the day after his original testimony, the United States Senator and former presidential candidate, said he believes today what he believed then, that it was right to dissent from a war that was wrong.

To reject dissent, John Kerry said, was not only wrong, but dangerous. In the speech, Kerry also called for a May 15th deadline for Iraqi leaders to put together a unity government in Baghdad or face the possibility of U.S. withdrawal.
If you have questions for Senator Kerry about dissent, then and now, give us a call, 800-989-8255; e-mail is talk@npr.org.

John Kerry is the junior Senator from Massachusetts, a Democrat. He joins us now by phone from his office at the Capitol. Thanks very much for being with us today Senator.

Sen. KERRY: I'm glad to be with you. Thank you for having me.

CONAN: I wonder, that day, 35 years ago, do you remember what you felt like that morning as you prepared to go before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee?

Sen. KERRY: I was embarrassed that I was late to the hearing.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Sen. KERRY: I arrived late, and I had no idea I was the only person testifying, so they were sitting there waiting for me. And I felt a little badly.

CONAN: Looking back, you said some controversial things that day. Do you have any regrets?

Sen. KERRY: I said things that were true. My only regret is that it took so long for America to come to reconcile the truth, and, in fact, some people today still have not reconciled the truth. And the fact is that there's a lot of revisionism going on about Vietnam even itself.

Unfortunately, as we know from Neil Sheehan's brilliant book, "Bright Shining Lie", and as we know from Robert McNamara's book about the war, Rob McNamara, himself, had come to the conclusion that the war was not winnable. He said the strategy was flawed years before I even protested.

So how can you--how can you second-guess when the leaders themselves are sending people to die for something which they themselves no longer believe in? It's ridiculous.

CONAN: As you know, some veterans groups objected to your testimony when you said that atrocities in Vietnam were apparently less of an aberration and more routine.

Sen. KERRY: Well, what I said was they happened, and I quoted other people. I said that this was something that happened in Vietnam, quoting the group of veterans who had testified to the things that they had personally done. But I also said that there were things that happened on a routine basis that, unfortunately, were, at that time, in violation of some of the laws of warfare.

Now, you know, I didn't write the rules, but I saw what I saw, and I responded to them and I told the truth. The fact is that, you know, free fire zones created an incredible ambiguity, which some people dealt with differently than others. But the fact is that all of us know that there was a saying in Vietnam that if they're dead, they're VC. And there were lots of people sort of innocently caught up in that.

Now war is war, you know? I don't think it does us any good to go backwards and rehash everything about what happened at that period of time. The bottom line is, our soldiers fought brilliantly. Our soldiers, just like in Iraq, never lost the battles. Our soldiers gave themselves and gave their all. And during Vietnam, the soldiers were confused with the war itself, regrettably.

It, you know, one of the things I'm proudest of is that we fought very, very hard on return to pay attention to the soldiers, to make sure they weren't forgotten. We helped raise the benefits at hospitals. We helped raise the education benefits. We got Agent Orange recognized. We got post-Vietnam stress syndrome recognized. We helped to close the gap with respect to knowledge about prisoners of war. And we did a lot of other things besides just talk about the war, and I think we kept faith with our fellow veterans.

CONAN: The last presidential election was awfully close. If your testimony 35 years ago was what cost you the presidency, there's debate about that, but if it's so, was it worth it?


Sen. KERRY: Well I don't believe that, number one, that it was. And number two, telling the truth is always worth it. And you have to tell the truth.

I think its important, you know--we could have done, perhaps, more during the course of the campaign to respond to lies, and there were a great many lies put out there about me and my service and I can tell you that at any time in the future anybody wants to try to reassert one of those, they will be properly answered.

But, the fact is, that here in Iraq we find ourselves in a sort of increasingly, you know, situation with similarities. Now Iraq is not Vietnam. I've said that a hundred times. Iraq is not Vietnam. And we do have a fundamental confrontation with jihadists around the world, and we need to be effective in the way that we're going to fight the war on terror. I accept all of that.

What I don't accept is that Iraq, like Vietnam, has been based on a great deal of deception, on a great deal of incompetence and a great deal of flawed strategy. You just had Gen. Batiste on, you've had a bunch of generals have come to get forward lately, talking about the ways in which Americans were misled and the ways in which our troops have been exposed to danger without adequate strategy, planning, equipment, which I think is unconscionable. I mean, if there was any lesson of Vietnam, don't ever do that again. And what you're hearing now from soldiers themselves is that some of the leadership has allowed that to happen again.

more....(about Iraq)


I was struck by kerry's tone, if you can bear it, have a listen .

here is a downloadable link for archiving ( from a skerry site) MP3
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LewWaters
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 27, 2006 5:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
there were a great many lies put out there about me and my service and I can tell you that at any time in the future anybody wants to try to reassert one of those, they will be properly answered.


Signing a simple SF 180 for full and complete PUBLIC exposure of his entire Military Records would be what I considered a "proper answer."

If the Swiftees or anyone else "lied" about him, all he needs do is reveal to the entire public what is in ALL of his records.

Anything else is just more bravado and hot air!
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Schadow
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 27, 2006 5:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I would like for some interviewer to ask Kerry just two simple questions:

1) Senator, did you ever receive an "other than honorable" discharge from the Navy, whether or not subsequently expunged?

2) Senator, did you ever have any conversations with any representatives of the Communist regime of North Vietnam during peace negotiations in Paris, France?

His non-answers would be interesting to hear.

Schadow
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rhv5862
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 11:28 pm    Post subject: Kerry interview on NPR Reply with quote

I believe Kerry had an "other than honorable" discharge. When have you heard of someone getting an honorable discharge several years after their speration date, and only after a review by a board of officers? We all know honorable discharges are granted routinely at time of seperation.
No one from the MSM would ask those questions, and Kerry would not interview with anyone but friendly reporters. As for being asked about SF180 he would just say he did sign it and the Boston Globe confirmed everything he has been saying.

RHV5862
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