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Maybe Kerry Should Have Given Back His Medals
By Matt Margolis | September 14, 2004
To be honest, I couldn’t give a damn about Kerry’s service in Vietnam - it has absolutely no bearing on his ability to be President. Liberals, Democrats, and Kerry “supporters” know this, and before Kerry locked the nomination, they even openly agreed with it. Kerry has spent his entire campaign avoiding the issues, and now, because he’s made Vietnam his campaign theme, it’s coming back to haunt him.
Besides the other allegations made by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth that have proven true, today, we learn that another Kerry lie alleged by the Swift Vets is based on truth.
For more than 30 years, Kerry has portrayed a heroic version of a life and death struggle — of staring down a suspected guerilla who was about to fire upon Kerry’s swift boat. It was kill. Or be killed. At least, that’s the version Kerry tells.
Eyewitnesses offer a far different account. They allege Kerry shot a wounded teenager retreating from battle.
Kerry has made public, hundreds of pages of official Navy documents to bolster his many claims. Conspicuous by its absence is the official after action report of what actually happened that day. The after action report written by John Kerry, himself.
In an exclusive, The Point has obtained this document from U.S. Navy archives (you can see it here). The pertinent section reads:
“PCF 94 beached in center of ambush in front of small path when Viet Cong sprung up from bunker 10 feet from unit. Man ran with weapon towards hootch. Forward M-60 machine gunner wounded man in leg. Officer-in-charge, LTjg Kerry, jumped ashore and gave pursuit while other units saturated area with fire and beached placing assault parties ashore. Kerry chased VC inland behind hootch and shot him while he fled — capturing one B-40 rocket launcher with round in chamber.”
So there you have it. The official record — written by John Kerry — supports what the critics have alleged rather than the John Wayne Kerry version the Massachusetts liberal has been telling.
Who served and how doesn’t tell us what kind of a leader you will be as President. However, 30+ years of lying about it, portraying yourself as a hero over embellishments and lies speaks volumes of ones character and moral clarity to lead a nation.
Can we talk about the real issues now?
Topics: John Kerry Watch |
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September 14th, 2004 at 12:30 pm
Can we talk about the real issues now?
Can you? This entire blog site (and Blogs for Bush) is an attack on Kerry. I’m with you. Let’s talk about the issues…What has Bush done for the country in the last four years?
September 14th, 2004 at 12:53 pm
besides fixing our economy, protecting our country, education reform, health care.. plenty.
He’s done more in his first term for this country than most presidents do in two. i look forward to his second term…
September 14th, 2004 at 1:08 pm
ok, let’s talk about the plenty.
i can give you sources to argue against the other things you mentioned, but my guess is you’ve heard it all before.
So, tell me about the “plenty.”
September 14th, 2004 at 3:36 pm
and i could give you sources to refute yours… the truth is you can’t argue that the economy isn’t improving, and you can’t even argue that Bush had anything to do with the economy going sour in the first place… Do you really want to have a meaningless back and forth on this? you’re just going to trust your “sources” and find some lameass way to discredit mine… yada yada yada been there done that.
September 14th, 2004 at 4:59 pm
Marshall please expand upon Senator Kerry’s Senate accomplishments. Which of his 57 bills he sponsored give us a view of his fundamental leanings in health care or intelligence or defense or economic growth? Or how about enlightening us on Kerry’s work in the executive branch as Lt Gov will make him an effective President.
Or is the only plus Kerry has going for him is that he is not Bush?
September 14th, 2004 at 5:10 pm
Okay let’s talk about the real issues, like how 59 people got killed by an Al Qaeda car bomb in Baghdad this morning.
Or how more than 100 foreigners are now held hostage.
Or how Pat Buchanan got it right that after 3 weeks in Iraq we would inherit our own West Bank and that’s EXACTLY what has happened.
Or that while all the Bush Supporters thump their chests and bray about what a bang-up job Bush has done in Iraq, in reality it’s going down the tubes.
Bush is all politics and no policy, all hat and no cattle (okay, the cattle belong to the previous owner of the ranch Bush bought in 1999). He preaches victory as Iraq is joining an Afghanistan that is already lost. He talks of the common man keeping his money as he takes away his overtime pay and allows in hordes of illegal immigrants to drive wages down furhter. He speaks of tort reform and small business incentives and medical savings accounts just like he did four years ago and has done nothing about in the ensuing four years. He speaks of integrity and responsibility as he drowns the nation in a sea of red ink through reckless spending and takes a hard line of “the buck stops anywhere but here”.
I know, right now, Matt, that you will vehemently claim that the Iraqi insurgency is a lie made up by the liberal media solely to spite Bush. However you currently have the luxury of viewing this war in the abstract. Just wait until next year.
You are of draftable age, Matt. Are you willing to go fight in Iraq?
September 14th, 2004 at 5:17 pm
Marshal,
How is defending the crap CBS (CBS - Constant Bull Shit) threw at Bush attacking Kerry. Unless you admit his campaign fabricated it?
September 14th, 2004 at 5:22 pm
Jay,
Since Kerry would have also gone to Iraq - what do you think would be different now and how would he have done it better. Yes it is rough there. Hard enough to deal with it withouit the constant sniping from the left. How about pulling together for the team - for a change? THAT is why we call you un-American.
You’d be the linebaker yelling what a stupid play we are about to run if Bush was quarterback. Never dreaming that the opposition could hear you and adjust accordingly. Teerrorism does not exist in a vacuum. It is designed to affect our behavior. With You, it certainly seems effective.
September 14th, 2004 at 7:52 pm
Wait a second people, the burden of proof is on Matt and fellow conservatives to prove that Bush has accomplished something in the last four years, not for others to disprove that assertion before it itself is proven.
Kahn, Marshall didn’t even say anything about CBS in his post, he was pointing out that this site and Blogs for Bush mainly attack Kerry and don’t discuss the issues. Antiwar.com is run by libertarians, the left is not alone in attacking in Bush’s decision and prosecution of this war.
September 14th, 2004 at 10:00 pm
I can tell you plenty of things Bush has accomplished in his 3+ years as president than any of you could tell me Kerry has accomplished in his 20+ years in the senate.
that being said, many accomplishments Bush has had, you may not consider an accomplishment because you are ideologically opposed to the particular thing, such as the UVoV Act passed this year. Or the the tax cuts which have clearly helped our economy, many refuse to accept tha the economy is indeed improving.
I can say Bush killed the kyoto treaty… which thinking people know would have been a disaster and not helped the environment, Clinton/Gore sat on it for 4 years, and was advised by the senate in what i belive was a 95-0 vote not to join it. Getting us out of the ABM treaty - long since obsolete was a good thing, but most libs will not see it that way.. Libya’s voluntary diaarmament is another thing… but hey, you probably didn’t like that either.
I’m not going to waste time trying to convince you of Bush’s accomplishments, because it’s just going to become a stupid debate between people who are not going to change their minds.
Nevertheless, Bush can campaign on what he’s already done, and how he will lead in the future.. Kerry on the other hand is running only on Vietnam, and a bunch of empty promises.
September 14th, 2004 at 10:19 pm
Miles - QOUTE - “This entire blog site (and Blogs for Bush) is an attack on Kerry.” What about the CBS discussion then, is that an attack on Kerry?
Matt, actually, the US Senate killed Kyoto. The Dems were acting like it existed, but it did not. The Bush Admin only pointed out reality. Once killed by the Senate - the United States was no longer bound by it.
September 16th, 2004 at 12:45 pm
Kahn, I don’t hear anybody who supports Bush besides you and Pat Buchanan admitting that something went wrong in Iraq. Bush and most of those of you who support him are acting like nothing is wrong in Iraq. It was claimed that Iraq was going to be a cakewalk, enough so that the whole “Mission Accomplished” stunt was pulled off on May 1, 2003. 15 months later and the whole country is hurtling towards civil war. Did I know this was going to happen? No. But I did see the insurgency growing from a few leftovers of the Fedayeem Saddam to a full-fledged Iraqi nationalist insurgency that is getting more sophisticated and deadly, aided by the political ambitions of Muqtada Al-Sadr and a branch of Al Qaeda which is kidnapping and beheading hostages and blowing up cars right in Central Baghdad. Whenever I brough it up I got responded to with “Nyeh, nyeh, nyehnyehnyeh! we’re not listening!”
Now that the manure is really hitting the ventilator in Iraq, Bush is admitting to a few “miscalculations” and “catastrophic successes”. Iraq is a sinking ship. And because I say Bush should be held responsible for one thing ONCE in his life, you call me anti-American. Bull. Being patriotic and doing what Bush says are not synonymous. 1000 soldiers should not have to pay the price for Bush’s on-the-job training.
What happens in January 2005 when elections are held? It looks to me that the Iraqis are going to elect a Shiite Theocracy a la Iran. Maybe Muqtada Al Sadr will get elected. Then what?
September 16th, 2004 at 1:29 pm
Jay.. you’re way off.. for one thing, my primary beef is that people like you try and push the idea that things are a lot worse in Iraq than they really are.. the whole “quagmire” b.s.
i’ve spoken with soldiers who had either come home from iraq, or were still in iraq, and they paint a very different picture of the goings on over there than the media presents.
the fact is, you are against Bush, and that influences your view on this issue. the anti-bush crowd was calling both Afghanistan and Iraq quagmires before boots were even on the ground.
September 16th, 2004 at 3:06 pm
Jay,
You must be a bitter angry person. I’ll bet the teams you played on as a kid lost alot didn’t they?
September 16th, 2004 at 11:07 pm
Hate - the Democrat agenda
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/040916/480/wvrs10309162250
September 17th, 2004 at 1:46 pm
i don’t believe that story at all. no one in the picture looks overly upset or happy (except the girl, of course). and the guy next to her does not have the look of someone who just tore up a sign in some kind of anger.
but if you want to believe everything in the media…
however, even if the story were true, it’s not the “democrat agenda” have you ever heard of the lunatic fringe? if you study politics, you will. well, anyway, those are people who are on the extreme right or extreme left. by definition, they’re not democrat or republican.
September 17th, 2004 at 1:57 pm
well, going back to bush’s accomplishments…no one had any really, which is sad….there are numerous articles out there by economic analysts that say the economy is on the wrong track. bush recently tried to make a big deal about creating 144,000 jobs, or something. well, that’s barely enough to keep up with the incoming work force, which means he hasn’t created enough jobs to compensate for the lost ones. and i’m sorry…ebay is not a job!
as for the situation in iraq, i suggest you check out the news, matt. there are bombings there every day! and our soldiers are being killed like crazy. there is concern that now the attacks seem more coordinated. so, more people are dying now than they did immediately after the topply of s.hussein. also, there’s speculation that a civil war is about to break out there. so…i’m not sure what prompted the rosy picture of iraq you have in your mind.
September 17th, 2004 at 2:25 pm
Marshall,
Bushes accomplishments have been outlined numerous times on this site in numerous strings. Forgive us if we only tell you things one, or twice, or three times. You obviously don’t pay attention anyways.
And as to the picture. The guy standing next to them has a piece of the Bush sign in his hand, and the little girls dad does not look happy. A picture is a moment in time - it can’t capture every aspect of the event. And - I can’t tell the “lunatic fringe” from mainstream democrats. Gore, Dean, Sharpton, McCaulif, Carvel, they all sound like they are reading from the same hate based agenda.
September 17th, 2004 at 3:34 pm
Okay, so Matt blamed the “librul” media, i.e everyone is lying EXCEPT Bush. Matt why is it everybody but Bush is lying about this? Everyone else is always wrong and Bush is ALWAYS right? It happens ALL the time.
And Kahn said I was a bitter angry person. No I’m not. If Bush wins this election I’ll get up and go to work the next day like I have the last four years. And I played Little League baseball and high school soccer. I was on championship teams twice. But if I was bitter and angry, how does that change what’s happening in Iraq?
September 17th, 2004 at 3:49 pm
see kahn, that’s what i find funny. you guys just keep saying that you’ve mentioned his accomplishments numerous times, but you never actually mention them.
all you can come up with is the elimination of a few treaties, which were never really impacting the country anyway.
the dad in the picture is also holding something…it really does look like a piece of the sign…
and i’m sorry you can’t tell the difference between the lunatic fringe and democrats. some more research might help…
September 18th, 2004 at 9:43 pm
The economy is growing right now, not booming, but it is most definitely going to pick up. But the benefits of growth have yet to be seen. Higher wages, high job growth, less poverty, more people able to buy health insurance, etc are not appearing. And economic growth has had more to do with deficit spending and the war than any of Bush’s policies initiatives. To sum it, a quotation from the American prospect: “The tax cuts didn’t create jobs. No Child Left Behind is big government without the resources. The deficit will sandbag the economy for decades. The Medicare drug plan is a fake. Privatizing Social Security will leave retirees worse off”
September 18th, 2004 at 10:57 pm
I listed the leader of the DNC, and TWO speakers from this years convention. Is THAT not mainstream? Gore was VP. According to you guys - he won the election. Is HE not mainstream??? HHHuuuuaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!!
September 19th, 2004 at 2:10 am
gore is mainstream…what’s your point?
September 19th, 2004 at 7:31 am
Gore is mainstream?!? Buwhahahaha. Ok Right….
Just to stick to the issues, what are Senator Kerry’s accomplishments as a Senator? (Being generous here and assuming he has more than one, maybe two.)
September 19th, 2004 at 12:43 pm
As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Kerry broke open Iran Contra, helped bring BCCI to justice (an international bank that funded drug trafficing, terrorism, and committed other forms of fraud)and brought to light Reagan’s undermining of anti drug efforts and support of corrupt regimes to achieve narrow foreign policy goals.
Kerry sponsered legislation which helped women, finacially disadvantaged, and military veteran small business owners, declassified information on POWS/MIA, and supported marine wildlife protection. And Kerry got into law a bill that will help protect historic trails right here in Western Massachusetts.
Cannon, name something Cheney accomplished in his decade long tenure in the House of Representatives. Or perhaps something Bush did as governor besides recieve large donations from Enron executives.
September 19th, 2004 at 4:06 pm
Which bills resulted in these things? Hmmm? (Heck in previous threads we tracked down all 57 of Kerry’s sponsored bills so finding the information shouldn’t be that hard. Even you could do it.)
As far as what Cheney has done. Hmm let’s see… off the top of my head he was Sec of Defense. Oh my bad that was 35 years ago, so his tenure as Sec of Defense happened as long ago as Kerry’s Vietnam service. Opps I am wrong again. It is of a more recent vintage. After all as every donk says we really need to move on from the past.
As far as Governor Bush’s record. He had an executive branch resume to run upon. Personally for a law and order person like myself, Bush’s presiding over each and every Capital Punishment case brought to completion under his term.
September 20th, 2004 at 4:14 pm
Carnival of the Bush Bloggers 28
The Carnival of the Bush Bloggers: September 20, 2004 Edition
September 21st, 2004 at 6:17 pm
“what are Senator Kerry’s accomplishments as a Senator?”
I answered your question, you didn’t tell me what Cheney did as a member of the House of Representatives in any degree. Stating the fact that Cheney was Secretary of Defence under Bush 41 would be as if I answered your question by stating what Kerry did as Lt. Governor.
“Personally for a law and order person like myself, Bush’s presiding over each and every Capital Punishment case brought to completion under his term.”
Well I don’t know why anyone would admire the task of signing over a hundred death warrants but that does answer my other question. Its not really a sign of leadership or ability, but I asked you to name anything he did.
September 22nd, 2004 at 2:26 am
Well compared to my ex
Coner Ex Governor Ryan who commuted [i]all[/i] death sentences in the People’s Republic of Illinois I think it is an accomplishment.As far as answering what Kerry did as Lt. Gov. that would be good. Right now Kerry hasn’t talked about his Senate experience or his time as Lt. Gov. It’s as if 30 years didn’t exist. We go from 1972 to 2004 in the world according to Kerry.
September 22nd, 2004 at 3:52 pm
VIETNAM –SCHMIETNAM—A DIVERSION FROM THE 911 OMISSION I MEAN COMMISSION ? Conflict or Cover UP ? Ask ABOUT the Multiple Military Highjacking SCENARIOS being RUN on 911 …the commission didn’t put it in their ‘COMPREHENSIVE REPORT’
GOOGLE VIGILANT GUARDIAN
THOMAS KEAN
Before taking his current
position, Thomas Kean
was a director and part
owner of Amerada Hess, a
company that maintained a
partnership with Delta Oil
of Saudi Arabia.
LEE HAMILTON
Kean’s vice-chair, Lee
Hamilton, was the chairman
in the 1980s of the
House Select Committee
on Iran/Contra.
Afterwards, he told PBS
Frontline that he didn’t
wish to indict Reagan or
Bush, because he didn’t
think it would be “good for the country,”
although a wealth of evidence showed that
Reagan and Bush authorized illegal arms
shipments to Iran in 1985.
JAMIE GORELICK
In May 2003, shortly after
joining the Kean
Commission, Gorelick
also joined the
Washington firm of
Wilmer, Cutler &
Pickering. A month earlier,
this firm announced it
would defend Saudi
Prince Mohammed al Faisal, third in command
in the Saudi government–and a plaintiff
RICHARD BEN VENISTE
Richard Ben-Veniste, former
partner in one of
the biggest bankruptcy
firms in the world, Weil,
Gotshal, and Manges. As
the N.Y. Post disclosed, the
firm received a famously
inflated $3 million retainer from Enron, when
the latter filed for bankruptcy in 2001.
SLADE GORTON
Former Republican Sen.
Slade Gorton is a lawyer
in the Seattle firm of
Preston, Gates and Ellis,
which counts among its
clients both Delta Air
Lines and the Boeing
Employees’ Credit Union.
JIM THOMPSON
As for former Illinois
Governor James R.
Thompson, it really takes
no rocket science to figure
out his conflict of interest.
He is chairman of the
Winston & Strawn law
firm in Chicago. From
Jan. 1997 through June
2002, Thompson’s law firm received $1.66
million for federal lobbying efforts on behalf
of American Airlines—one of the two carriers
potentially liable for negligence on 9/11.
THE STAFF MR ZELIKOW
Condoleeza Rice
is a household
name. But most
Americans still
have never heard
of the man who
wrote a book with
her, Philip
Zelikow.
As the executive director of the Kean
Commission, Zelikow is responsible for
framing the agenda. He leads the research
staff. He decides what evidence the commission
sees.
September 22nd, 2004 at 3:53 pm
VIETNAM RECORDS SCHMIETNAM RECORDS ……..The Big Diversion …check this story and PASS IT ON PATRIOTS ……….
MULTIPLE AIR WAR GAMES INCLUDING HIJACK SCENARIOS WERE RUNNING ON SEPTEMBER 11TH 2001 AND THE 911 COMMISSION (OMISSION) DID NOT
The Final Fraud (condensed version) FULL VERSION http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/071204_final_fraud.shtml
9/11 Commission closes its doors to the public;
Cover-Up Complete
By
Michael Kane
In this eyewitness account, Mike Kane looks at the Commission’s performance on the day of the really big show - NORAD / FAA day.
“First of all, there’s no scheme here or plot to spin this story to try to cover or take a bullet for anyone.”
General Eberhart - testimony to 9/11 Commission on June 17, 2004
July 9, 2004 1430 PDT (FTW) - When asked who was responsible for coordinating the multiple war games running on the morning of September 11, 2001, General Ralph E Eberhart, the man in charge of NORAD on the morning in question replied,
“No Comment.”
It is extremely suspect that Eberhart was unable to comment when we look at his sworn testimony just moments before .
Tim Roemer was the only Commissioner to pose a question about military exercises running on the morning of 9/11.
That was only one of the multiple war games running that morning, titled NORTHERN VIGILANCE, which was simulating an air attack coming out of Russia. To insinuate, as Commissioner Roemer did, that this was the only exercise that morning lends credence to the three Generals’ false claim that NORAD’s only mission was to protect against external threats.
The multiple war games running on 9/11 also included (but were not limited to) VIGILANT GUARDIAN, which involved hijacking scenarios over the continental United States. None of the war games was ever referenced by name at any time during the hearings. The details of these exercises are the Achilles’ heel of the “external threat” mantra parroted by all three generals, and these details seem to be classified.
Why would General Eberhart be reluctant to go on record regarding the issue of just who was the central person coordinating that focus? Was the General himself, the man who headed NORAD that very morning, in charge of coordinating the multiple war games on 9/11? Or was VP Cheney?
No Comment.
From Russia with Love
From the moment Generals Myers, Eberhart, and Arnold were sworn in to testify, they continually stated that NORAD’s “military posture on 9/11, by law, by policy and in practice was focused on responding to external threats, threats originating outside of our borders” (a quotation from General Myers sworn testimony).IF NORAD CLAIMS TO ONLY BE “LOOKING OUTWARD TO EXTERNAL THREATS” WE WANT OUR TAX MONEY BACK!
But NORAD was not simply running “an exercise against the former Soviet Union” on 9/11, as Commissioner Roemer’s question insinuated.
There was one other mention of the war games from Commissioner Lehman, in which he referred to the military exercises as one of the “happy circumstances” on the morning of 9/11.
While Commissioners BenVeniste and Gorelick appeared to be asking “hard-hitting” questions, they always stopped short of anything that would get to the heart of the matter. They made no mention of the war games running on the morning of 9/11, neither in this round of hearings nor during the previous round, in which Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld spoke under oath.
Furthermore, not one of the Commissioners brought up the 67 Air Force interceptions successfully executed during the year prior to 9/11 (AP, 8/13/02).
“Waste of Time”
The Commissioners were asked about the war games - after the hearings.
When Commissioner BenVeniste was asked why he chose not to ask questions about the war games running on 9/11 he claimed the time allotted was short . To this same crucial question Commissioner Gorelick replied “the staff (KEY STAFF MEMBER IS ZELIKOW CHECK HIS CONNECTION AND BOOK HE WROTE WITH CONGI RICE) concluded [that the war games] were not an inhibition to the military doing its job and therefore I wasn’t going to waste my time with that.”
Apparently some members of the audience did not agree.
Immediately before Commissioner Gorelick began her allotted time for questioning the generals, a member of the audience yelled out, “Ask about the war games that were planned for 9/11.” Another audience member followed his lead:
“Tell us about the war games.”
These audience member comments were published in the Associated Press transcript of the hearings.
http://wid.ap.org/transcripts/040617commission911_1.html
At this point, tension filled the room. Shortly into the questioning, one of the audience members who had just bellowed at the commission stood up and shouted; “This is an outrage! My questions are not being answered, and I’m walking out!”
He was carrying an American flag as he was escorted out.
It seems that this outburst may have been what prompted Commissioner Tim Roemer to throw the one & only softball question about the exercises at General Eberhart later in the hearings.
When asked if the commission had ever addressed the multiple war games running on 9/11, and who was in charge of coordinating them, Chairman Kean responded, “Yes, we did, it wasn’t a coordination, there were a number of them going on as there are periodically but they were not, and they helped in one way because there were people available who wouldn’t have been available otherwise.” OH REALLY !!!
When following up for clarification on whether there was an individual in charge of coordinating these drills, Chairman Kean replied, “No, I don’t think so. You might want to check with staff on that.”STAFF EH? ZELIKOW …..CONGI’S BOY…..AND CO WRITER OR GHOST AUTHOR ?