Nixon Thought John Kerry Was a "Phony"

Boston Globe ^

[GulliverSwift]

April 28, 1971, 4:33 p.m. President Richard M. Nixon takes a call from his counsel, Charles Colson.

"This fellow Kerry that they had on last week," Colson tells the president, referring to a television appearance by John F. Kerry, a leader of Vietnam Veterans Against the War.

[Cagey]

I think Kerry is a phony too, but I wouldn't use Nixon as a reference point for his judgment of people. After all, Nixon also thought Ronald Reagan was "strange" and "not pleasant to be around". That was on the White House tapes too.

Nixon was the strange one.

[GulliverSwift]

Colson tells the president, referring to a television appearance by John F. Kerry, a leader of Vietnam Veterans Against the War.

I can't belive the article called him John F. (ing) Kerry. Back then, he hadn't decided to give himself the "Fitzgerald."

[RWR8189]

Do you mean to tell me that John F. Kerry served in Vietnam? As in the Vietnam War, in Vietnam, in which Kerry served?

This is news to me, and may very change my vote.

[colorado tanker]

John Kerry was in Vietnam? Who would've known?

[stylin19a]

Kerry is doing today, what he did after his hitch in the navy.

John Kerry was in the Navy 1966-1969. It was a Johnson created mess when Kerry entered the service. Nixon was cleaning up the mess when Kerry got out. Yet Kerry protested against Nixon's war, not Johnson's war.
Today, President Bush is cleaning up & prosecuting the corporate scandals from Enron, Adelphia, WorldCom, Global Crossing etc. President Clinton ignored or was ignorant of, or flat out allowed the shennagans by these companies and the fraud was allowed to flourish.

guess who Kerry blames ? Yep...President Bush.

At least Kerry is consistant.

[Light Speed]

John Kerry Folks....that **French looking Mass/Democrat who thinks he is JFK

Sunday, May 25, 2003

Viet Vet charges urges Kerry to come clean

Vietnam Veteran Larry J. O'Daniel has today challenged former fellow officer and veteran, John Forbes Kerry to come clean with charges Kerry has made in the past. O'Daniel, a decorated combat veteran from Vietnam and Phoenix says that the issue is one that the Senator himself has brought on.

Senator John Forbes Kerry is attempting to be our generation's Vietnam War hero, much the same way his avowed idol, John F. Kennedy was of that generation. Kerry falls short in many ways. I do not deny his heroism under fire. His Silver Star, Bronze Star, and Purple Hearts all attest to that. Attempting to ride into the White House on those medals alone is not enough. As a former officer who served as a combat advisor and participant in a Special Operations program, I know a little bit about integrity, courage, and character. Kerry lacks what it takes to be Commander in Chief.

Kerry would be an extreme embarrassment to his party if nominated for President. On the surface, he seems to be the exact type of rival needed to run against a popular President with a military background, albeit not in combat. A popular President who proved his courage jockeying supersonic aircraft. On the surface, Kerry would seem to be able to cut into the military vote that has become increasingly one party over the past 30 years.

This senator is JFK from Massachusetts, a coincidence that he has played upon for years. Like the first JFK, he is a heroic Naval Officer. However, he has a record which speaks volumes about his current abilities and views. Kerry will both exploit his war record and run from it. His checkerboard past explains his actions today. He has been critical of the way the current war on terrorism has been waged. Inevitably, his criticism is always preceded by media notices of Kerry, decorated Vietnam war veteran. However, thirty two years ago, Kerry charged decorated war veterans with unspeakable crimes. Those charges were never proven accurate.

Before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in April 1971, Kerry asserted he represented veterans, honorably discharged and very highly decorated, who participated in war crimes. These crimes were not isolated incidents, he charged, but crimes committed on a day - to - day basis with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command. Crimes that this country made them do.

These veterans personally raped women, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned on the power. They cut off limbs; blew up bodies; randomly shot at civilians; razed villages like Ghenghis Khan; shot livestock for fun; poisoned food; and ravaged the Vietnamese countryside. From his personal experience, Kerry asserted that the Vietnamese only wanted to work in rice paddies without our helicopters strafing and napalming them and their villages. Our men died while our allies refused to help and fight. Kerry said we rationalized destroying villages in order to save them; accepted a My Lai; enforced free fire zones by shooting anything that moves. Our GIs falsified body counts while leaders glorified body counts. In a well orchestrated political move, he asked, how do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake? The well scrubbed veteran began his career that day.

A problem arises. Kerry's testimony was largely untrue. These charges were investigated then and since. My challenge as we honor veterans of that war and others - Prove them or apologize.

Kerry's widely covered charges largely paralleled that of another highly decorated veteran, LTC Anthony Herbert. Some of the unsubstantiated and uncorroborated accusations of Kerry were almost identical to specific charges leveled by Herbert. Both charged war crimes were ignored, uninvestigated, part of the routine.

Kerry relied upon phonies and wannabes for support. His prominence has allowed current phonies and wannabes to continue the unsubstantiated allegations made all those years ago and which Kerry appears to condone even today. For example:

Elton Mazione, claiming Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) credentials, Kerry's original organization, along with his friends, John Laboon, Eddie Swetz, and Kenneth Van Lesser. They claimed to kill children and remove body parts as part of the notorious Phoenix program. They were neither in Phoenix nor in Vietnam.

Kerry's VVAW leader friend from 1971, Al Hubbard, lied about being an officer, Vietnam Veteran, and sustaining war injuries. Michael Harbert, another VVAW crony of Kerry, lied about his Vietnam service.

Frank Dux: He charged many recognizable Vietnam vets with using techniques bordering on war crimes. Dux was a fraud and non Vietnam Veteran.

Yoshia K. Chee claimed we in Vietnam routinely resorted to the most hideous forms of torture, threw people out of helicopters, and decapitated prisoners. He was a phony.

Mike Beamon, an alleged SEAL and Phoenix assassin, was never in the military.

The Senator's own VVAW and similar groups relied upon people like: K. Barton Osborn, a Vietnam veteran and testifier of atrocities to Congress. He told of prisoners being thrown out of helicopters, a woman starved to death, a prisoner being killed by a six inch dowel pushed through his ear. Osborn was not in Phoenix, refused to name names, and provided no documentation.

Lieutenants Francis Reitemeyer and Michael J. Cohn. Both sought conscientious objector status because of Phoenix. Reitemeyer testified to being assigned to Phoenix as an adviser and maintained a kill quota of fifty bodies a month. They became famous as My Lai hit the news. Neither served in Vietnam, in Phoenix, or had any first hand information. Reitemeyer later denied receiving any assassination training. Both were at Ft. Holabird when I underwent my intelligence training there.

Dux, like others relied, upon the specific charges of Herbert, which were publicly aired in this same time frame as that of Senator Kerry, in order to prove his charges. Herbert was highly decorated, apparently corroborating the Senator¹s charges. Despite highly specific unit naming charges of some 21 war crimes, the facts of a subsequent investigation contradict both Herbert and Kerry. Overall, this contemporaneous investigation lasted seven months. Investigators located and interviewed 333 personnel located in 31 different states, and six different foreign countries, including Vietnam. Out of the 21 incidents involved in the initial charges by Herbert, only seven charges had sufficient substance to merit action or further investigation. Two of the seven had already been acted upon with justice administered. One ended with an article 15 punishment and one with a general court martial.

Two more of the seven involved Vietnamese versus Vietnamese offenses, outside the scope of American jurisprudence and not necessarily proven. The remaining three, at the time of the DA writing, November 5, 1971, were then pending further action by officers exercising general court martial jurisdiction. In other words, it was being further investigated to see if it warranted charges being filed. This shows atrocities and allegations of atrocities were neither condoned nor swept under the rug.

The Senator allegedly knew from personal experience of atrocities being committed and condoned by officers at all levels of command. He was obligated to report those atrocities. There is no known record of any such report from the Senator. My Lai was not condoned, it was prosecuted. Fellow anti-war activist Daniel Ellsberg, who likewise served in the war zone, belied atrocity charges being more pronounced in Vietnam versus previous wars. The Senator used trumped up allegations from phonies, wannabes, stretchers of the truth to sully the valor, service, and integrity of his fellow veterans to climb a political ladder of success. When sentiments changed, he embraced those same veterans becoming an alleged champion of the Vietnam era.

When challenged last week to repudiate his previous testimony, after I faxed to his office for review, a spokesman there abruptly terminated the call saying if Senator Kerry testified to it, he stands by it. The Senator recently condoned the alleged atrocities, war crimes, committed by a fellow Democratic Senator and Vietnam Veteran, Robert Kerrey. He said the operation should not be investigated because it allegedly happened all the time in Vietnam. Further, on the Sam Donaldson show, Kerry short shrifted the program, Phoenix, under which the atrocity allegedly occurred, saying he personally helped conduct similar anti-infrastructure operations, ferrying SEALs. This, apparently is part of the source of the Senator¹s alleged first hand knowledge he testified to before.

The Senator, as a former officer, knows his obligations were to avoid participating in war crimes and reporting them when knowledge of them occurred. Instead, the Senator broad brushed veterans of the war as crazed killers forced to be that because of governmental policy. As a US Senator now, when faced head on with an allegation that a member of his party, his Senatorial Fraternity, Robert Kerrey helped cut a civilian's throat and possibly commanded an operation that killed over 20 civilians without provocation, the Senator Kerry reverted to the 1971 allegations that everyone did it. He ignored the formalized eyewitness allegation by a veteran of that operation who belatedly lived up to a responsibility to report a crime. Murder in a war zone has no time limits for investigation or prosecution.

The Senator, knows the charge is that Kerrey was on a Phoenix mission, like those he self proclaimed to have participated in, because the Senator and Sam Donaldson discussed that specific aspect on Donaldson¹s show. As I watched the Senator's response from that show, he implied personal knowledge of those Phoenix missions, although he clearly ducked any involvement with Phoenix. No proud Vietnam warrior emerged in that interview.

My challenge is clear. Make the specific charges, times, dates, persons, programs, units involved, of war crimes as outlined in your 1971 testimony. Be specific on your own knowledge of these war crimes. Clear the air about Phoenix, your participation, knowledge, even suspicions. Support the investigation of the war crime allegations of your former colleague. Do not allow his status of being a fellow privileged fraternity member from doing your sworn duty, either now as a Senator, or from that era, where as an officer and gentleman, you claimed personal knowledge of atrocities.

Either itemize those incidents or apologize to the veterans of Vietnam whose reputations, valor, and integrity you sullied then and now and renounce those charges you then and now refuse to itemize. I make this challenge as a veteran of Vietnam, Phoenix, and as a former fellow officer and colleague. Duty - Honor - Country - These are our obligations. You are at a fork in a path. Integrity or disgrace. Your choice.

[GulliverSwift]

I don't know how Kerry can possibly hope to get the military/veteran vote given his squishy stances back in the seventies.

[mass55th]

Nixon pegged Kerry well. He is a phony...a big phony. Who other than a phony would come back from Vietnam, protest that war for political expediency, and then decide to use the military service he turned his back on, once again for political expediency?

[Twinkie]

It's the unspoken "rules" that exist which we great
unwashed aren't privy to, and I think it is a bit
different from one section of the country to the
other. Really, it's probably pretty basic so they can
be sure to recognize "quality" no matter where they
are. Right coiffure (this varies). Sweater tied around
the shoulders & cashmere, of course. Expensive slacks
and skirts only from shops where there are no price tags.
Right makeup (this varies). Facelift. Huge wide-open
mouth displaying expensive dental work (a la Pamela
Harrington & Hillary Clinton & Tipper Gore on the first
election night when they won). Right jewelry big diamonds,
Rolex, etc. I think, though, the most obnoxious thing are
the big, huge gaping garish mouths expressing an absolute
smugness that they aren't a part of us great unwashed.

[MoralSense]

b

[GulliverSwift]

Nixon aides worried that Kerry was a unique, charismatic leader who could undermine support for the war. Other veteran protesters were easier targets, with their long hair, their use of a Viet Cong flag, and in some cases, their calls for overthrowing the US government. Kerry, by contrast, was a neat, well-spoken, highly decorated veteran who seemed to be a clone of former President John F. Kennedy, right down to the military service on a patrol boat.

Clone of JFK? You can't only wish, Boston Globe.

[expatpat]

It seems that the Clintons, having dispatched Dean, are shifting to their next target, the french-looking Vietnam veteran.

Yes, indeed, the Clintons can't afford to let the Kennedy wing take over the Party.

[marshmallow]

A very slick and novel way for the Boston Globe to push Kerry's cause. Publicize the fact that a discredited former US president who left office in disgrace was fearful of Kerry and hated him. A badge of honor for Kerry, if you like. Like the Mafia putting out a contract on some organized crime-fighter who is cleaning up the precinct.

Conclusion? If a "bad" man like Nixon (at least "bad" in the Globe's eyes) hated Kerry, then Kerry must be a good guy.

I thank God everyday that I live in the deep south. What has happened to this formerly great part of America (New England) that its people routinely vote in politicians like the Kennedys, Kerry, Dean, Barney Frank etc., etc?

[Morgan's Raider]

"He was a Navy lieutenant, j.g., on a gunboat, and he used to run his gunboat up and shoot at, shoot babies out of women's arms," Haldeman said. (A member of Kerry's crew had shot and killed a Vietnamese child in an episode that occurred in a "free-fire zone," according to Kerry, but it is not clear whether Haldeman knew about the matter or was being jocular.)

(Yelling over helicopter engine):
Anybody who runs is a VC. Anybody who stands still is a well-disciplined VC. (from Full Metal Jacket)

[oldironsides]

News Max says he worked with Jane Fonda way back when. Ugh

[ConservativeDude]

i agree, of course....to that extent my comment was tongue in cheek.

one thing you must say about colson is that while he is a good and Godly man today, he has not lost a single ounce of his intensity, organizational ability, and intelligence.

God wants our obedience...He doesn't generally require that we set aside the abilities we had before He found us. Colson is a great example of this.

that said, I wish we had someone who could torment the libs like he used to....

[WOSG]

ANother Boston Globe puff piece (to the Democratic base anyway) reliving the good ol days of fighting the Nixon White House.

I am struck by this though: How much of a blue-blood John Kerry is. Like Dean, he was raised in a rich WASPy family.

This kind of stuff:

Still, Camil recalled that Kerry's patrician image was derided by others in the group, which was mostly composed of working-class veterans. Camil said Kerry showed up in ironed clothes, while most of the others were rumpled. Camil said a member had tried to reach Kerry by telephone and was told by someone, presumably a maid, that "Master Kerry is not at home." At the next meeting, someone hung a sign on Kerry's chair that said: "Free the Kerry Maid."

same kind of stuff can be said of Dean, who grew up in rich environs on Long Island and Manhattan. (Dean of Dean Witter family).

Astounding how the WASP elite has become the Liberal elite.

[tom h]

"Nixon Thought John Kerry Was a "Phony""

And most of us think he looks French. Who wants a frog for President?

[Maria S]

What happened to Kerry's first wife?

[GulliverSwift]

With Julia by his side, Kerry became more active in the antiwar movement. After working behind the scenes and making a few little-noticed appearances at rallies, Kerry joined a group called Vietnam Veterans Against the War. Some thought the group was marginal; others mocked its connection to Jane Fonda, who had earned enmity by visiting North Vietnam.