You mean he isn't sure which of these to support most strongly? He indicated as long as 20 years ago that he had become comfortable with the kind of crimes the U.S. committed in Vietnam.
******* Subject: [SIXTIES-L] John Kerry's Obsession Date: Mon, 03 May 2004 12:02:09 -0700
John Kerry's Obsession
http://www.covertactionquarterly.org/kerrys.html
by S. Brian Willson
On March 7, 1969, I arrived at a tiny airbase south of the Bassac River in Vietnam's Mekong Delta as head of an Air Force combat security unit. On March 13, Navy swiftboat commander John Kerry received a bronze star for actions on the Bay Hap River 70 miles further south. Two years later, in April 1971, we would meet at a week-long veteran's encampment on the mall in Washington, D.C., during the historic "Dewey Canyon III: a limited incursion into the country of Congress" organized by Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW). [CLIP]
In 1984, Kerry ran against a popular Congressperson in the Democratic primary for a vacant U.S. Senate seat. I joined a dozen or so Vietnam veterans rallying around Kerry while other veterans sided with his opponent because they believed Kerry had seriously ignored veteran issues. Kerry won a close primary, then campaigned in the general election against a wealthy businessman championed by General George Patton III.
Kerry's platform was impressively progressive. He called for serious reductions in military spending and weapons production and supported a nuclear freeze. He proposed aggressive efforts to control acid rain and opposed offshore drilling while promising to substantially increase spending on domestic social programs. We veterans, "Kerry's Doghunters," continually fended off criticisms from the far right. Patton accused Kerry of having committed treasonous acts as organizer for VVAW in 1971, "giving aid and comfort for the enemy." Kerry's medal throwing in April 1971 became a target of fierce attacks. Boy, did we vets defend that expression - an act of our own catharsis, atoning for having participated in an illegal and savage war. Then came the shocking revelation from Kerry: "I did not throw my medals, but those of a World War II veteran from Lincoln, Massachusetts, at his request."
I felt a painful twinge of betrayal in my stomach, though initially I tried to downplay the significance of the deception. Kerry went on to win. Cameron Kerry attributed his brother's ultimate election success to the "galvanizing energy" provided by the veterans' support. The "doghunters," called "Kerry's commandos" by the press, had succeeded getting an anti-war Vietnam veteran elected to the U.S. Senate.
In 1985 Kerry threw a party for his "doghunters," and it was there that I heard him mention several times that his initials "JFK" (John Forbes Kerry) would one day enhance his aspirations for the White House in the footsteps of his hero, John Fitzgerald Kennedy. I chuckled. Then John said he had a new appreciation for the covert actions used to facilitate U.S. foreign policy, having been briefed about the nation's secrets by the CIA, DoD, and other security agencies. As a member of Senator Kerry's Veterans Advisory Council I worried that John was already infected by that stifling phenomenon called Washington groupthink.
I began some critical reflection. . . .
[CLIP]
In addition, Kerry has consistently won good grades for his support of environmental protection. However, in general, his 19 years in the Senate have been unremarkable. He has championed no particular cause, often following the lead of Senator Edward Kennedy, though they dramatically parted ways over the latest Iraq war.
A close examination of Kerry's record reveals that he
- announced that his first campaign promises to cancel weapons systems and reduce defense spending were ill-advised;
-voted for the Gramm-Rudman Act of 1985 resulting in dramatic cuts in domestic social programs;
- voted against Gulf War I only to soon reverse himself saying he was ill advised;
- voted for the 1996 Telecommunications Act facilitating media monopolies;
- supported Clinton's "welfare reform;"
-supported Clinton's draconian "Counter-terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act," a precursor to Bush II's Patriot Act which Kerry also supported;
- supported the genocidal sanctions against and continued bombings of Iraq under Bush I, Clinton, and Bush II;
- voted for the Homeland Security Act;
- voted for the "No Child Left Behind"Act;
- questioned the correctness of affirmative action;
- boldly declared that "the cause of Israel is the cause of America";
- supports NAFTA, the WTO, GATT;
- continues to support massive increases in "defense" spending;
- supported Bush II's tax cuts for the wealthy.
[CLIP]
In John Kerry's 2003 book, A Call to Service: My Vision for a Better America (Viking), he seeks to revive a "bold vision of progressive internationalism," in effect continuing Pax Americana. One particularly revealing statement indicates Kerry's betrayal of the veterans who shared the sentiments of his 1971 speech: "As a veteran of both the Vietnam War and the Vietnam protest movement, I say to both conservative and liberal misinterpretations of that war that it's time to get over it and recognize it as an exception, not as a ruling example, of the U.S. military engagements of the twentieth century. If those of us who carried the physical and emotional burdens of that conflict can regain perspective and move on, so can those whose involvement was vicarious or who knew nothing of the war other than ideology and legend" (p. 43, italics mine). Kerry is out of touch. Iraq repeated a tragedy that could have been avoided if we had heeded the lessons of Vietnam - lies and consequent quagmires.
Vietnam an exception? Kerry ignores the 200 U.S. overt, and thousands of covert, illegal interventions against "majority world" nations since World War II alone, [CLIP]
What happened to Kerry's commitment to the historic "turning" of America? Or perhaps he never meant it in the first place. It could be that John Kerry always has been driven by a burning ambition for the presidency that has guided his actions, including his Vietnam tours of duty and his anti-war actions-and those historic words he uttered in 1971. Kerry is deeply entrenched in the corrupt, U.S. oligarchic structure with his obsession to be president overriding all else. This is where he stands. It is ironic that John Kerry now sits as an experienced lawyer on the same Senate Foreign Relations Committee before which he testified so eloquently in 1971. In 2002 hearings before the same Committee he listened to voluminous testimony authoritatively challenging all of Bush II's pretexts.
Kerry dismissed every piece of evidence offered. I believe Kerry voted in a manner he thought would serve his presidential ambitions, even though it meant defying the Constitution he swore to uphold.
Despite my desire to see Bush II dethroned, I cannot join the growing "Band of Brothers" working on Kerry's presidential campaign. I belong to a different tribe of veterans who are still working for the "turning of America." Whether Kerry truly meant those words or not, many others of us took them to heart. That turning is still desperately needed. The world may not survive if we don't participate in a dramatic turning - away from blinding arrogance and plutocracy and toward loving compassion and authentic grassroots-based democracy. --------------------------
Brian Willson, a former U.S. Air Force Captain, has been a law-trained peace activist for many years. He continues to study effects of U.S. foreign policy on other countries. In 1987, while peacefully protesting highly publicized Pentagon movements of weapons to Central America, he was struck by a U.S. munitions train in California accelerating to over three times the 5 mph legal speed limit. He survived absent both legs below the knee, while suffering a severe skull fracture, among other injuries. Subsequently he discovered his identity as an FBI domestic "terrorist" suspect and that the train crew had been briefed that Willson planned to "hijack" the train. He walks with the aid of two prostheses. He is author of On Third World Legs, (Kerr, 1992) and has a website: www.brianwillson.com. He is completing a documentary on the history of U.S. intervention in Korea, while being active in Veterans For Peace in northern California. He and his partner permaculture their garden, and generate energy for their household and transportation needs from the sun. In addition to a Juris Doctor, Willson holds a master's degree in criminology/corrections, and two honorary doctorates.
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Kerry has committed himself to more efficient killing in Iraq. That is the lesser evil leftists are asked to choose.
Carrol
> Chuck Grimes
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