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irateplatypus · 08-27-2004, 09:45 AM

take a deep breath.

my low opinion of senator kerry has nothing to do with the fact that he demonstrated against the vietnam war in and of itself. if that were so i'd have problems with half the baby-boomer population... and i certainly do not.

also, i do understand that he was speaking on behalf of his political group and not for himself entirely. i've read the entire transcript several times, so i'm aware of its context. but senator kerry did say that the warcrimes were "not isolated incidents but crimes committed on a day-to-day basis with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command." it's my interpretation from those words (and i'm not alone in this) that the warcrimes were widespread, that they were consistent, and that they were performed under the awareness of senior leadership. does that not, if not explicitly stated, implicate all soldiers over there... or at least cast suspicion upon the whole armed forces engaged in the theater? the north vietnamese thought it was a broad enough statement to use it in their propaganda and torture regimens.

and no, kerry does not deserve any admiration for the manner in which he publicized these indictments. he was a military officer with a moral and legal duty to report any and all violations of military regs and/or international law. he did nothing of the sort while in the service. so again, we can draw two conclusions from that. either..

1. he did witness the aforementioned crimes (as stated in a television interview in 1971, though later partially backtracked) and did nothing to halt their occurence.

2. he got those stories as hearsay from other veterans (though not witnessing any himself) and testified before congress without any additional weight to those statements.

I do not believe that Kerry intended his testimonies (congressional and otherwise) as evidenced by his statements on television shows after his congressional testimony to be heard without the impression of a firsthand account. What I am sure of is that if I were to make such severe accusations against fellow soldiers on such a huge stage... i would be sure not to exaggerate my charges. they would not be "a little bit over the top" as the Senator admits.

http://www.pipeline.com/~rougeforum/kerrywarcrim.html

08-27-2004, 09:45 AM	#13 (permalink)
irateplatypus can't help but laugh Location: dar al-harb	take a deep breath. my low opinion of senator kerry has nothing to do with the fact that he demonstrated against the vietnam war in and of itself. if that were so i'd have problems with half the baby-boomer population... and i certainly do not. also, i do understand that he was speaking on behalf of his political group and not for himself entirely. i've read the entire transcript several times, so i'm aware of its context. but senator kerry did say that the warcrimes were "not isolated incidents but crimes committed on a day-to-day basis with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command." it's my interpretation from those words (and i'm not alone in this) that the warcrimes were widespread, that they were consistent, and that they were performed under the awareness of senior leadership. does that not, if not explicitly stated, implicate all soldiers over there... or at least cast suspicion upon the whole armed forces engaged in the theater? the north vietnamese thought it was a broad enough statement to use it in their propaganda and torture regimens. and no, kerry does not deserve any admiration for the manner in which he publicized these indictments. he was a military officer with a moral and legal duty to report any and all violations of military regs and/or international law. he did nothing of the sort while in the service. so again, we can draw two conclusions from that. either.. 1. he did witness the aforementioned crimes (as stated in a television interview in 1971, though later partially backtracked) and did nothing to halt their occurence. 2. he got those stories as hearsay from other veterans (though not witnessing any himself) and testified before congress without any additional weight to those statements. I do not believe that Kerry intended his testimonies (congressional and otherwise) as evidenced by his statements on television shows after his congressional testimony to be heard without the impression of a firsthand account. What I am sure of is that if I were to make such severe accusations against fellow soldiers on such a huge stage... i would be sure not to exaggerate my charges. they would not be "a little bit over the top" as the Senator admits. http://www.pipeline.com/~rougeforum/kerrywarcrim.html __________________ If you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly, you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance for survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves. ~ Winston Churchill Last edited by irateplatypus; 08-27-2004 at 09:47 AM..