from Steve Beren _www.steveberen.com_ (http://www.steveberen.com)
Senator Kerry has made the truth about his Vietnam service important because
he centered his entire nominating convention around his Vietnam service,
trying to prove he is "pro-military" and "the best candidate to win the war,"
etc. So he has no grounds to object to scrutiny and criticism, and he cannot
object to those who, like the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, express their
views. He has no basis to call that "negative campaigning" or "attack
campaigning."
Senator Kerry deserves to be honored, respected, and thanked for his Vietnam
service. And that goes for all Vietnam veterans, especially those who were
also prisoners of war, many held for years and tortured by communist captors
seeking fake confessions.
In his 1971 Senate testimony, Kerry accused soldiers of committing
systematic atrocities (rape, cutting off heads, deliberately killing civilians, etc.)
on a daily basis -- this at the very time the POWs were being held and
tortured. But Kerryâs antiwar activities made him a well-known "antiwar celebrity"
and gave a jump start to his political career. Even under torture by the
communists, many POWs refused to make the kind of statements young John Kerry
made in his testimony.
Senator Kerry, throughout the Democratic convention, made his Vietnam
service the centerpiece of his qualification to be President. But while all
Vietnam veterans deserve to be honored and thanked, that doesnât mean they are all
qualified to be President of the United States.
How can Kerry expect to put all that focus on his Vietnam record without
expecting a barrage of response and rebuttal? How can he expect us to ignore
his record of an antiwar protestor who defamed his fellow servicemen?
Kerry must have scads of advisors telling him that people hate "negative
campaigning," because anything someone says about him - criticizing his Senate
voting record, his antiwar activities, his position on intelligence, his
attitude towards the military, his opinion on Iraq and terrorism, his views on the
Patriot Act, etc. - he labels as "negative attack campaigning."
Falsely labeling all criticism as "negative attack campaigning" won't get
very far with the voters. It will amount to crying wolf, and I am confident it
will be seen as such.
The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth have a right to express their views. I
really object to Senator Kerry's attempt to suppress their free speech and to
cover things up. I was not in Vietnam, so I defer to anyone who did serve. I
am grateful for whatever service - big or small - any serviceman did for
us.
However, even if Kerry were a hero of the highest order, I still would not
vote for him because of his wrong position on the CURRENT war.
I respect those who are making an effort to discuss this issue of Senator
Kerryâs Vietnam service, especially since he made it an issue in Boston. And I
realize that this might influence the election, helping some people make up
their minds between Bush and Kerry. But I'm just not one of those âundecidedsâ
- I have already endorsed Bush.
I am especially angry about and opposed to the way Kerry carried on after
his return from Vietnam, accusing his fellow vets of rapes, beheadings, cutting
off ears, deliberately killing innocent civilians, etc.
It is one thing to have disagreed with the Vietnam policy of Johnson and
Nixon, and to have protested against the war in Vietnam. Many people disagreed
with the war, and many protested against it, including some Vietnam vets.
But what Kerry did is another thing entirely. Kerry misused and abused his
status as a Vietnam vet, becoming an "antiwar celebrity" on the backs of his
fellow Vietnam vets.
Steve Beren
_www.steveberen.com_ (http://www.steveberen.com)
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