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DDDDave · 10-22-2004, 02:30 PM

John Kerry Admits His "War Crimes" to NBC's Tim Russert.

The following is from a John Kerry’s interview with Tim Russert on May 6, 2001 . In this interview, Tim Russert confronts Kerry about his admission of committing war crimes in Vietnam. John Kerry’s defense was the same defense as that used during the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal--“We were ordered to do it.” Those defenses weren’t accepted then and they shouldn’t be accepted now! [His admissions are highlighted in blue in the transcript which follows.]

Why hasn’t this important issue been covered by the media? Why wasn’t Kerry asked about his admission of war crimes in one of the three debates? The Washington Post has run articles highlighting how John Kerry has criticized the Bush administration's handling of the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal. Kerry thinks that Sec. of Defense Donald Rumsfeld should go and that President Bush should take responsibility. In both of these stories, however, the Post failed to mention that Kerry himself has publicly admitted to committing war crimes in Vietnam.

The question for you to answer is: “Do you think an admitted war criminal should be elected as President of the United States ?” Using Kerry’s own logic, John Kerry should not be elected President, because he’s a self-admitted war criminal.

Guess what? You Decide The 2004 Election!

****************************************************************************************

THE INTERVIEW [Long before the “Swift Boat” ads]

MR. RUSSERT: You mentioned you're a military guy. There's been a lot of discussion about Bob Kerrey, your former Democratic colleague in the Senate, about his talking about his anguish about what happened in Vietnam . You were on this program 30 years ago as a leader of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War. And we went back and have an audiotape of that and some still photos. And your comments are particularly timely in this overall discussion of Bob Kerrey. And I'd like for you to listen to those with our audience and then try to put that war into some context:

[quote from audiotape -- April 18, 1971 ]

MR. CROSBY NOYES (Washington Evening Star): Mr. Kerry, you said at one time or another that you think our policies in Vietnam are tantamount to genocide and that the responsibility lies at all chains of command over there. Do you consider that you personally as a naval officer committed atrocities in Vietnam or crimes punishable by law in this country?

SEN. KERRY: There are all kinds of atrocities, and I would have to say that, yes, yes, I committed the same kind of atrocities as thousands of other soldiers have committed in that I took part in shootings in free fire zones. I conducted harassment and interdiction fire. I used 50-caliber machine guns, which we were granted and ordered to use, which were our only weapon against people. I took part in search and destroy missions, in the burning of villages. All of this is contrary to the laws of warfare, all of this is contrary to the Geneva Conventions and all of this is ordered as a matter of written established policy by the government of the United States from the top down. And I believe that the men who designed these, the men who designed the free fire zone, the men who ordered us, the men who signed off the air raid strike areas, I think these men, by the letter of the law, the same letter of the law that tried Lieutenant [William] Calley, are war criminals.

[End of audiotape quote]

MR. RUSSERT: Thirty years later, do you stand by that?

SEN. KERRY: I don't stand by the genocide. I think those were the words of an angry young man. We did not try to do that. But I do stand by the description--I don't even believe there is a purpose served in the word "war criminal." I really don't. But I stand by the rest of what happened over there, Tim.

MR. RUSSERT: By your own comments, Bob Kerrey was not alone in doing the things that he did.

SEN. KERRY: Oh, of course not. And not only that we, the government of our country, ran an assassination program. I mean, [CIA Director] Bill Colby has acknowledged it. We had the Phoenix Program, where they actually went into villages to eliminate the civilian infrastructure of the Vietcong. Now, you couldn't tell the difference in many cases who they were. And countless veterans testified 30 years ago to that reality. And I think--look, there's no excusing shooting children in cold blood, or women, and killing them in cold blood. There isn't, under any circumstances. But we're not asking, you know, nor is Bob Kerrey saying, "Excuse us for what we did." We're asking people to try to understand the context and forgiveness. And I think the nation needs to understand what the nation put it’s young in a position to do, and move on and take those lessons and apply them to the future.

END OF INTERVIEW

****************************************************************************************

There is clear evidence that the large majority of Vietnam veterans served with honor and integrity and didn’t commit war crimes. However, by his own words John Kerry was not one of them. In the third presidential debate, Kerry said that his mother told him to remember three things: “Integrity, Integrity, Integrity.” Apparently, John Kerry left that word (and the concept) back in the US when he went off to Vietnam .

There is also clear evidence, contrary to Kerry’s assertions, that it was not written policy of the United States government to order it’s soldiers to commit war crimes. But, here you have John Kerry, a candidate for President of the United States , the most powerful office in the world, IN HIS OWN WORDS admitting to his war crimes and atrocities in Vietnam .

John Kerry, also in his own words, said that his actions are “inexcusable.” So don’t excuse him now by voting for him as President and thereby rewarding him for his war crimes in Vietnam !

You Decide the 2004 Election.
[If you think any of the above is not accurate, you can read the full text of the Tim Russert interview by clicking here: History News Network .]

10-22-2004, 02:30 PM	#17 (permalink)
DDDDave Addict Location: Sarasota	John Kerry Admits His "War Crimes" to NBC's Tim Russert. The following is from a John Kerry’s interview with Tim Russert on May 6, 2001 . In this interview, Tim Russert confronts Kerry about his admission of committing war crimes in Vietnam. John Kerry’s defense was the same defense as that used during the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal--“We were ordered to do it.” Those defenses weren’t accepted then and they shouldn’t be accepted now! [His admissions are highlighted in blue in the transcript which follows.] Why hasn’t this important issue been covered by the media? Why wasn’t Kerry asked about his admission of war crimes in one of the three debates? The Washington Post has run articles highlighting how John Kerry has criticized the Bush administration's handling of the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal. Kerry thinks that Sec. of Defense Donald Rumsfeld should go and that President Bush should take responsibility. In both of these stories, however, the Post failed to mention that Kerry himself has publicly admitted to committing war crimes in Vietnam. The question for you to answer is: “Do you think an admitted war criminal should be elected as President of the United States ?” Using Kerry’s own logic, John Kerry should not be elected President, because he’s a self-admitted war criminal. Guess what? You Decide The 2004 Election! ************************************************************************************** THE INTERVIEW [Long before the “Swift Boat” ads] MR. RUSSERT: You mentioned you're a military guy. There's been a lot of discussion about Bob Kerrey, your former Democratic colleague in the Senate, about his talking about his anguish about what happened in Vietnam . You were on this program 30 years ago as a leader of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War. And we went back and have an audiotape of that and some still photos. And your comments are particularly timely in this overall discussion of Bob Kerrey. And I'd like for you to listen to those with our audience and then try to put that war into some context: [quote from audiotape -- April 18, 1971 ] MR. CROSBY NOYES (Washington Evening Star): Mr. Kerry, you said at one time or another that you think our policies in Vietnam are tantamount to genocide and that the responsibility lies at all chains of command over there. Do you consider that you personally as a naval officer committed atrocities in Vietnam or crimes punishable by law in this country? SEN. KERRY: There are all kinds of atrocities, and I would have to say that, yes, yes, I committed the same kind of atrocities as thousands of other soldiers have committed in that I took part in shootings in free fire zones. I conducted harassment and interdiction fire. I used 50-caliber machine guns, which we were granted and ordered to use, which were our only weapon against people. I took part in search and destroy missions, in the burning of villages. All of this is contrary to the laws of warfare, all of this is contrary to the Geneva Conventions and all of this is ordered as a matter of written established policy by the government of the United States from the top down. And I believe that the men who designed these, the men who designed the free fire zone, the men who ordered us, the men who signed off the air raid strike areas, I think these men, by the letter of the law, the same letter of the law that tried Lieutenant [William] Calley, are war criminals. [End of audiotape quote] MR. RUSSERT: Thirty years later, do you stand by that? SEN. KERRY: I don't stand by the genocide. I think those were the words of an angry young man. We did not try to do that. But I do stand by the description--I don't even believe there is a purpose served in the word "war criminal." I really don't. But I stand by the rest of what happened over there, Tim. MR. RUSSERT: By your own comments, Bob Kerrey was not alone in doing the things that he did. SEN. KERRY: Oh, of course not. And not only that we, the government of our country, ran an assassination program. I mean, [CIA Director] Bill Colby has acknowledged it. We had the Phoenix Program, where they actually went into villages to eliminate the civilian infrastructure of the Vietcong. Now, you couldn't tell the difference in many cases who they were. And countless veterans testified 30 years ago to that reality. And I think--look, there's no excusing shooting children in cold blood, or women, and killing them in cold blood. There isn't, under any circumstances. But we're not asking, you know, nor is Bob Kerrey saying, "Excuse us for what we did." We're asking people to try to understand the context and forgiveness. And I think the nation needs to understand what the nation put it’s young in a position to do, and move on and take those lessons and apply them to the future. END OF INTERVIEW ************************************************************************************** There is clear evidence that the large majority of Vietnam veterans served with honor and integrity and didn’t commit war crimes. However, by his own words John Kerry was not one of them. In the third presidential debate, Kerry said that his mother told him to remember three things: “Integrity, Integrity, Integrity.” Apparently, John Kerry left that word (and the concept) back in the US when he went off to Vietnam . There is also clear evidence, contrary to Kerry’s assertions, that it was not written policy of the United States government to order it’s soldiers to commit war crimes. But, here you have John Kerry, a candidate for President of the United States , the most powerful office in the world, IN HIS OWN WORDS admitting to his war crimes and atrocities in Vietnam . John Kerry, also in his own words, said that his actions are “inexcusable.” So don’t excuse him now by voting for him as President and thereby rewarding him for his war crimes in Vietnam ! You Decide the 2004 Election. [If you think any of the above is not accurate, you can read the full text of the Tim Russert interview by clicking here: History News Network .] __________________ I am just a simple man trying to make my way in the universe... "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined." - Thoreau "Nothing great was ever accomplished without enthusiasm" - Emerson