Posted on 03/22/2004 7:04:54 PM PST by solicitor77
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20040309-122413-8660r
Another site, Wintersoldier.com, places records from Sen. Kerry's anti-war protests online, including the transcript of the full question and answer session before a U.S. Senate committee, where the young Vietnam veteran detailed, among other activities, his trip as a civilian to the Paris Peace talks involving the U.S., South Vietnamese and North Vietnamese governments.
"I have been to Paris. I have talked with both delegations at the peace talks -- that is to say the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the Provisional Revolutionary Government," Kerry said during testimony on April 22, 1971, before the Foreign Relations Committee, according to the transcript posted on the site.
Wintersoldier.com also features audio sound bites -- in the MP3 format -- of Kerry describing what he did in Vietnam, both in testimony before the Senate and in an interview.
"Yes, I committed the same kinds of atrocities as thousands of other soldiers have committed," Kerry said in the sound bite. "I took part in search and destroy missions, in the burning of villages."
(Excerpt) Read more at upi.com ...
That's the way I see it too. Probably explains why most who are trying to tie Kerry to the 'conspiracy to assassinate UN senators' are demoncrats?
See The Rest of the Kerry Transcript... (published freeper article)
For example, when asked for a recommendation about possible courses of action for Congress to pursue, Kerry stated that in Paris he had "talked with both delegations at the peace talks, that is to say the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the Provisional Revolutionary Government..." - in other words, Hanoi and the Vietcong. No mention of the other two interested parties; South Vietnam and the United States. Kerry went on to speak in support of "Madam Binh's points." Madam Nguyen Thi Binh was at that time the Foreign Minister for the PRG. Kerry was careful to emphasize the key PRG talking point -- that once the U.S. set a withdrawal date American prisoners of war would be returned.
"Yeah, well . . . I probably would have met with those g00ks, too," he said angrily through clenched teeth.
Also, I assume these weren't one-way conversations, with Kerry hearing what the N. Vietnamese and Viet Cong had to say. Surely they had questions for Kerry too. So what did the future senator tell them? Did he describe the plans of the "antiwar" movement? Did he offer to coordinate his activities with NVN/VC activities? Did he describe what he knew of U.S. military plans or strategy? Did he divulge U.S. military secrets? Did Kerry encourage the N. Vietnamese to take a tough stand on the POWs and to keep holding them until the USA met their/Kerry's goals?
I think some right thinking journalist needs to get out to Hanoi ASAP and look up the various Vietnamese officials who met Kerry. There's more to this story.
Good question.
Kerry Met With Viet Cong And North Vietnamese In Paris In 1971
Congressional Record ^ | March 6, 2004 | John F. Kerry
Posted on 03/06/2004 3:21:15 AM EST by Hon
A couple of weeks ago I posted this thread about a photograph that I wound in a book about Kerry's group, the Vietnam Veterans Against The War:
Kerry's Group Met With The Viet Cong In Paris In 1971
The Vietnam Veterans Against The War (VVAW) sent their own delegation to Paris to meet with the representatives of the National Liberation Front (AKA Viet Cong) in 1971. At this time John Kerry was their spokesman and defacto leader.
This photograph is from the book "The Winter Soldiers", by Richard Stacewicz, page 284:
Caption: First peace meeting between VVAW and the NLF, Paris, 1971. Since Stacewicz did not mention whether Kerry had attended this meeting and I did not see it mentioned anywhere else, I assumed he did not attend go on this trip.
I was wrong. Kerry did go to Paris. He did talk with the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese. In fact, he was quite proud about it. For it was the first thing that he brought up once he was done with his speech before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on April 22, 1971:
LEGISLATIVE PROPOSALS RELATING TO THE WAR IN SOUTHEAST ASIA THURSDAY, APRIL 22, 1971
UNITED STATES SENATE;
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS,
Washington, D.C.The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 11:05 a.m., in Room 4221, New Senate Office Building, Senator J. W. Fulbright (Chairman) presiding.
Present: Senators Fulbright, Symington, Pell, Aiken, Case, and Javits.
Thank you. [Applause]
The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Kerry, it is quite evident from that demonstration that you are speaking not only for yourself but for all your associates, as you properly said in the beginning.
COMMENDATION OF WITNESS You said you wished to communicate. I can't imagine anyone communicating more eloquently than you did. I think it is extremely helpful and beneficial to the committee and the country to have you make such a statement.
You said you had been awake all night. I can see that you spent that time very well indeed. [Laughter.]
Perhaps that was the better part, better that you should be awake than otherwise.
PROPOSALS BEFORE COMMITTEES You have said that the question before this committee and the Congress is really how to end the war. The resolutions about which we have been hearing testimony during the past several days, the sponsors of which are some members of this committee, are seeking the most practical way that we can find and, I believe, to do it at the earliest opportunity that we can. That is the purpose of these hearings and that is why you were brought here.
You have been very eloquent about the reasons why we should proceed as quickly as possible. Are you familiar With some of the proposals before this committee?
Mr. KERRY. Yes, I am, Senator.
The CHAIRMAN. Do you support or do you have any particular views about any one of them you wish to give the committee?
Mr. KERRY. My feeling, Senator, is undoubtedly this Congress, and I don't mean to sound pessimistic, but I do not believe that this Congress will, in fact, end the war as we would like to, which is immediately and unilaterally and, therefore, if I were to speak I would say we would set a date and the date obviously would be the earliest possible date. But I would like to say, in answering that, that I do not believe it is necessary to stall any longer. I have been to Paris. I have talked with both delegations at the peace talks, that is to say the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the Provisional Revolutionary Government and of all eight of Madam Binh's points it has been stated time and time again, and was stated by Senator Vance Hartke when he returned from Paris, and it has been stated by many other officials of this Government, if the United States were to set a date for withdrawal the prisoners of war would be returned.
I think this negates very clearly the argument of the President that we have to maintain a presence in Vietnam, to use as a negotiating block for the return of those prisoners. The setting of a date will accomplish that.
http://ice.he.net/~freepnet/kerry/index.php?topic=Testimony
Kerry's Group Met With The Viet Cong In Paris In 1971
The Winter Soldiers | 1997 | Richard Stacewicz
Posted on 02/19/2004 1:25:55 PM EST by Hon
Edited on 02/19/2004 4:14:01 PM EST by Lead Moderator. [history]
The Vietnam Veterans Against The War (VVAW) sent their own delegation to Paris to meet with the representatives of the National Liberation Front (AKA Viet Cong) in 1971. At this time John Kerry was their spokesman and defacto leader.
This photograph is from the book "The Winter Soldiers", by Richard Stacewicz, page 284:
Caption: First peace meeting between VVAW and the NLF, Paris, 1971.
The Web: Indy attack ads thriving onlineBy Gene J. Koprowski
UPI Technology News
Published 3/10/2004 5:15 PM
View printer-friendly version
A weekly UPI series examining the global telecommunications phenomenon known as the World Wide Web.
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CHICAGO, March 10 (UPI) -- Move over, MoveOn.org -- new competition is coming.
An array of polemical, political sites is debuting online, utilizing the interactive features of the Internet, and promising to provide a major outlet for visceral attacks on both major candidates for the White House this fall, President George W. Bush and -- presumably -- Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass.
Back in 1988, independent attack ads emerged on TV and helped shape the perception of Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, the Democratic nominee for president, as weak on crime. The ads touted the story of felon Willie Horton, let out of jail during the governor's administration.
Now, 16 years later, privately funded, third party Web sites are leading the way with harsh, fact-and-document-based portrayals of the contenders, leaving the formal campaign organizations free -- or at least freer than in the past -- to market themselves with positive messages and pose themselves on higher ground.
"The idea is to create a stream of pollution that seeps into the mainstream media," Sidney Blumenthal, former White House aide in the Clinton Administration and author of the book, "The Clinton Wars," told United Press International.
The technology-based tactics have been demonstrably effective thus far during the campaign. The independent sites provide video, audio, interactive games, and even copies of actual government documents in the Portable Document Format or PDF, so visitors can e-mail the materials to others.
That is a lot more interactive than campaigns have ever been with TV or direct mail.
A site called Democrats.com, for example, aggressively touts a story about President Bush's rescheduled drill weekends in the Alabama National Guard in the early 1970s, offering $1,000 to anyone who had "actually seen" Bush on duty there and publishing the records online.
"We have broken important news stories on our site, including our recent publication of records from George W. Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard that the White House did not know about," Bob Fertik, managing partner of Democrats.com, told UPI.
This hardball tactic led to a fuller disclosure of the military records by the White House, Fertik claimed.
"There is no doubt in my mind that the Internet has political value," said Miki Dzugan, president of Rapport Online Inc., a marketing firm in St. Paul, Minn.
The Democrats.com site describes itself as the home for "aggressive progressives," and helps pay its bills by merchandising "Impeach Bush!" bumper stickers, among other paraphernalia.
Another site, Wintersoldier.com, places records from Sen. Kerry's anti-war protests online, including the transcript of the full question and answer session before a U.S. Senate committee, where the young Vietnam veteran detailed, among other activities, his trip as a civilian to the Paris Peace talks involving the U.S., South Vietnamese and North Vietnamese governments.
"I have been to Paris. I have talked with both delegations at the peace talks -- that is to say the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the Provisional Revolutionary Government," Kerry said during testimony on April 22, 1971, before the Foreign Relations Committee, according to the transcript posted on the site.
Wintersoldier.com also features audio sound bites -- in the MP3 format -- of Kerry describing what he did in Vietnam, both in testimony before the Senate and in an interview.
"Yes, I committed the same kinds of atrocities as thousands of other soldiers have committed," Kerry said in the sound bite. "I took part in search and destroy missions, in the burning of villages."
Scott Swett, the producer of the site and a board member of FreeRepublic.org, told UPI that Wintersoldier.com also features compressed video footage of Kerry standing in a line on the Mall in Washington during a protest rally; and excerpts from the senator's out-of-print book, "The New Soldier," co-authored with friends from Vietnam Veterans Against the War.
"More than anyone, John Kerry is responsible for the popular image of Vietnam veterans that we've seen in movies like 'The Deer Hunter' and others," Swett said.
Swett's site is receiving hundreds of e-mails each week from readers, many of whom are pointing him in the direction of new documents and materials.
Swett said he got the idea for the site when he tried to buy a copy of Sen. Kerry's book on eBay.com, and found the $500 price tag exorbitant.
"I wanted to make the information about Kerry available to the public," said Swett, "without them having to buy the book."
MoveOn.org, the prototype site for this kind of activity, also employs computing technologies to get its message across.
For example, the site has posted a Webcast of remarks on Jan. 15 by former Vice President Al Gore to MoveOn.org members, making it available to all visitors. MoveOn.org also posts a PDF version of an ad it placed in The Washington Post, as well as 30 second TV spots, for members to download and distribute.
"These groups can now also prepare an ad that they never plan to put on the air, but it can be put on the Internet and reach a very targeted audience," Jeff Stein, an assistant professor of electronic media at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa, and a political analyst at KWWL-TV in Waterloo, Iowa, told UPI.
Blumenthal said he thinks some of the sites may be coordinating their message with professional political operatives.
"There is a general understanding that there is a division of labor in the campaign," he said. "The president is lifting his positive message in TV ads and the dirty work is left to surrogates."
Too much coordination can be costly -- and perhaps illegal -- as evidenced by the letter an attorney from the Republican National Committee wrote last Friday regarding an advertising campaign being undertaken by MoveOn.org.
The letter charged the organization's campaign violates federal soft money finance rules because it directly advocates the election or defeat of a federal candidate.
The site has been promised funding from billionaire George Soros and other wealthy liberal activists.
These third party political sites are far more daring than the offerings of the Bush campaign, or the Kerry organization.
Fertik said his site, Democrats.com, expects in the coming weeks to release more "evidence that Bush is lying when he claims he fulfilled his obligation to the National Guard."
Originating such stories on independent, third party Internet sites might shield the campaigns from potential voter backlash, such as what happened when former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean's campaign produced ads containing negative personal attacks against rival Democrat, Rep. Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., during the Iowa caucuses in February.
A report in the March 2004 issue of American Demographics magazine, a leading journal for behavioral scientists, suggests the ads undermined Dean's goodwill with Iowa voters and might have cost him a victory there.
Famed for fundraising online, the Dean campaign may have fared better with another Internet tack in Iowa, experts said.
"The Web can be used in a variety of ways and will provide cover for campaign organizations that do not want to dirty their hands," Rich Hanley, director of graduate programs in the school of communications at Quinnipac University, Hamden, Conn., told UPI.
--
Gene Koprowski covers online issues for UPI Science News. E-mail sciencemail@upi.com
Copyright © 2001-2004 United Press International
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