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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic Sen. John Kerry apologized directly to U.S. troops on Wednesday for comments about Iraq that had prompted a firestorm of criticism from Republicans and President George W. Bush. "I sincerely regret that my words were misinterpreted to wrongly imply anything negative about those in uniform and I personally apologize to any service member, family member or American who was offended," Kerry said in a statement. Kerry said earlier in the day he was sorry for a "botched joke" about Bush that was interpreted as a slam on the U.S. military. Republicans demanded a more direct apology...

Kerry apologizes for ‘botched joke’ on Imus Kerry says administration has ‘failed America,’ playing distraction politics In an unscheduled call-in interview this morning, Senator John Kerry (D-Ma) spoke with Don Imus about his misstatements in a speech Monday. He said that he is “sorry for the botched joke,” and that “everybody knows I botched a joke.” He also says he is going back to Washington so that he is “not a distraction” to the campaigns. You can read the transcript from the conversation below. DON IMUS, HOST: Please welcome to the “Imus in the Morning” program now the junior senator...

Democrats stampeded over each other yesterday to disassociate themselves from John Kerry, their presidential candidate two years ago, who has handed Republicans an election lifeline with remarks implying US troops in Iraq are there because they are stupid.Senator Kerry, speaking to a group of students in California on Monday, said: “You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.” A video of his speech was placed swiftly on the internet and then...

"Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) issued a new apology today for a "botched joke" that has been interpreted as a slap at U.S. troops, saying he did not intend to disparage any service members....Kerry's office today released the text of his remarks as prepared for delivery at a campaign appearance for Phil Angelides.... According to Kerry's camp, the gaffe occurred when he departed from the prepared text, as he often has done in the past when delivering speeches........."

John Kerry's comments stirred up quite a bit of emotion yesterday. The American Legion promptly denounced them, and John McCain and President Bush rushed to hold press conferences. Kerry vowed to apologize "to no one" and insisted that the statement--"education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq"--was a botched joke directed at Yale graduate George W. Bush. Few, however, stopped to consider the factual nature of the assertions. If they did, they'd realize...

"I apologize to no one," snarled Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, the failed 2004 Democratic Party presidential standard-bearer, as he struggled on Halloween to remove the foot he had once again stuffed into his own mouth. (Having grown up speaking French in an elite private Swiss boarding school, the haughty Mr. Kerry probably was tempted to invoke the Edith Piaf theme song of post-Nazi-collaborationist France: Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien, "I regret nothing.") Kerry's latest faux pas came during a campaign appearance in Southern California. "You know," he told a group of college students, "education, if you make the...

The chairman of the Democratic National Committee leaped to the defense of the party's 2004 presidential nominee Wednesday against charges that he was insulting American troops serving in Iraq. Howard Dean, in comments to reporters in his home state, said Sen. John Kerry had committed "a blooper," but the reaction had given Democrats an opportunity to highlight what they describe as the Republicans' weaknesses on the Iraq war. "Kerry made a blooper. Bloopers happen," Dean said at the state party's campaign headquarters. "I think we want to focus on the president's intemperate rhetoric in saying to vote for a Democrat...

The snide, hyper-elitism dripping from Kerry's words is arresting. But swirling beneath the surface of his comments is something deeper, something conservative critics have long identified and attacked among those they say belong to the "Blame America First" crowd, as former U.N. Ambassador Jeanne Kirkpatrick so artfully once put it. And that is this: What, if anything, will liberals ...

Just announced on the FNC.

DES MOINES, Iowa --Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry lashed out Sunday against a group that bashed him during his last run at the White House. Kerry, who made a weekend appearance in northwest Iowa, said he is concerned that Swift Vote Veterans for Truth is again resorting to "the politics of fear and smear." The group, financed by Texas conservatives, ran commercials questioning his claim of being a decorated Vietnam veteran -- the centerpiece of his presidential campaign in 2004. "We're not going to give them an ounce of daylight," said Kerry, who is considering another run at the Democratic presidential...

Failed presidential candidate John Kerry blasted President Bush on Thursday as a "criminal" who has been "looting the country." The Massachusetts Democrat offered the incendiary comments during an off the record meeting with liberal bloggers after a speech in Los Angeles to the Pacific Council on International Policy. According to the Web site L.A. Observed, Kerry asked the bloggers to keep his comments confidential; a request they apparently dismissed out of hand without telling him. Blogger "Hollywood Liberal" reports that Kerry "agreed completely with someone's assessment that everything that Bush does is solely for the purpose of looting the country....

Kerry Pressing Swiftboat Case, Long After Loss By KATE ZERNIKE John Kerry starts by showing the entry in a log he kept from 1969: "Feb 12: 0800 run to Cambodia." He moves on to the photographs: his boat leaving the base at Ha Tien, Vietnam; the harbor; the mountains fading frame by frame as the boat heads north; the special operations team the boat was ferrying across the border; the men reading maps and setting off flares. "They gave me a hat," Mr. Kerry says. "I have the hat to this day," he declares, rising to pull it from his...

Those who disagree with the Bush administration's policies in Iraq face the same scornful charges that they are unpatriotic as Sen. John Kerry did 35 years ago when he spoke out against the Vietnam War, the Massachusetts Democrat said Saturday. "I have come here today to reaffirm that it was right to dissent in 1971 from a war that was wrong. And to affirm that it is both a right and an obligation for Americans today to disagree with a President who is wrong, a policy that is wrong, and a war in Iraq that weakens the nation," Kerry said...

WASHINGTON -- As Senator John F. Kerry prepared to make a return to presidential-style politics with a classic day of New Hampshire campaigning, he said that the 2004 run left him tougher and more eager to fight. ''When you get knocked on your ass and lose a race, you've got to stop and reflect on what you're doing, why you're doing it, what matters, and what's important. And I did," Kerry said in an interview in his Senate office on Thursday. ''There's a very different John Kerry now who is absolutely crystal clear about how I communicate what I need...

1. Prior to “Dewey Canyon III” Mike Thelan East Coast Coordinator for the VVAW tells a gathering of possible attendants that the VVAW’s official position is not to encourage anyone to commit acts of violence, but that VVAW activists are not “discouraging someone from “doing it”. VVAW activists are not “discouraging someone from committing acts of violence, pg 4 2. FBI files indicate that “VVAW is under active investigation in view of indications of communist and other subversive infiltration”. indications of communist and other subversive infiltration, pg 24 3. Speaker at VVAW antiwar rally Carl Moore makes following statements, “President...

Highlights of the VVAW FBI files and John Kerry Section 7 (October 1971) 1. “On September 30, 1971, Robert Malone, Chief of Police, University of Nevada, advised Kerry’s speech at the University was sponsored by the Associated Students of the University of Nevada, and that he was paid $1,200.00, including expenses for his appearance.” Kerry is paid for VVAW speeches, pg 25 2. VVAW pickets restaurant because owner refuses to serve long haired, barefoot and dirty veterans in his place of business. It is also noted that the organization encourages the use of narcotics. VVAW pickets restaurant, pg 28-29 3....

Senator Also May Have Set Up Meetings Between Chinese Firms, U.S. Officials (WASHINGTON, D.C.) Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today released recently declassified documents showing that Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry accepted laundered contributions for his 1996 re-election campaign from the Communist Chinese government and that, in exchange, he may have arranged meetings between Chinese aerospace executives and U.S. government officials. Obtained from the FBI through Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act requests, the documents are related to the FBI’s “Chinagate” investigation into the Clinton campaign’s acceptance of contributions from Communist...

FBI files indicate that VVAW leader Al Hubbard reported to the VVAW Executive Committee meeting upon returning from Paris the following, “Hubbard indicated that VVAW as an organization had received commitments of support from Leftists throughout the world. He indicated that following the conference he had private discussions with individuals from Laos and Cambodia, the primary topic discussed were tactics in the United States anti-war movement. In his opinion these discussions turned out to be the most important part of the conference for him. He said that during these talks he was able to confirm the fact that a seven...

Recently I have read that John Kerry has told the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth that he was not referring to them in his senate speech in 1971, but to all the other Vietnam War veterans. Well, we should apply the same standard to this that Kerry and his news pals have used, that is; That Kerry did not serve in their tent, unit, team, foxhole, aircraft, patrol unit, or squad so therefore he cannot know what these men were doing or not doing. Therefore, because by his own admission that by these standards the SBVT could not have known...

One more brick in the Kerry wall...... http://teamhouse.tni.net/Misc/Kerry/ChungKerry.htm

Nov. 3, 2004: Vietnam vets - finally, you heroes have come home You were spit on. You were called war criminals. You were called baby killers. You served your country and came home to abuse and to be shunned by your countrymen. Many never came home at all. There were lost limbs, broken lives, broken families, alcoholism, drugs, homelessness, despair, and even suicide. You could not understand why you were so hated. There was no parade welcoming you home. There was nobody to offer you their seat on a full airplane. There was no one wanting to shake your hand...

To: stockpirate I am not sure this is the proper place to put this...but here goes... To All The Vets of Viet Nam, I was born in 1955, a baby boomer...into an alcoholic and abusive family. I was 14 years old when Woodstock rocked this nation. I remember standing in front of a 12" black and white set watching it unfold on the 6 o'clock news. I also remember my father using the term..".long haired hippie pukes" and being totally disgusted with the whole mess. Being 14 with a father who like to use his fists..I naturally rejected anything he...

"...I can cite many, many instances, sir, as in combat when these men refused to fight with us, when they shot with their guns over tin this area like this and their heads turned facing the other way. When we were taken under fire we Americans, supposedly fighting with them, and pinned down in a ditch, and I was in the Navy and this was pretty unconventional, but when we were pinned down in a ditch recovering bodies or something and they refused to come in and help us, point blank refused. I don't believe they want to fight, sir..."

Go to page 21 read to 25 "[redacted] that on April four, one nie seven two, a representive of the North Vietanese Government at the Paris Peace talks telephoned the 'movement' in the United States to be ready to take action, presumably demostrations, to counter expected escalation of bombing by American air forces in South Vietnam as a result of the increased military action of North Vietnamese forces in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam.

What the FBI files and history of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, (VVAW) reveal about, VVAW and John Kerry: 1. VVAW Plan to assassinate seven US senators. 2. VVAW was training to execute a Phoenix plan to decapitate the leaders of the US Government. 3. Member of VVAW arrested in-route to VP Agnew speech with an explosive device (BOMB). 4. VVAW running guns to a black militant group in Cairo IL. Use link 12 page 131, also same as link 10.. 5. VVAW funded by Communist party of America. 6. VVAW receiving funds from the Communist Party of a country...

It only shows Kerry for a second (at around 1:15) but you can get a feel for the radical nature of the event and organization. Listen carefully near the end and you will hear a VVAW member state that the next time he fights will be to take these steps. Referring to the steps at the US Capitol or the WH.

Recently I have read that John Kerry has told the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth that he was not referring to them in his senate speech in 1971, but to all the other Vietnam War veterans. Well, we should apply the same standard to this that Kerry and his news pals used, that is; That he did not serve in their tent, unit, team, foxhole, aircraft, patrol unit, or squad so therefore he cannot know what these men were doing or not doing. Therefore, because by his own admission that by these rules above the SBVT couldnot have known, he...

There appears to be concern here about the safty of President Nixon while he is visiting his compound in Fla. The FBI report is from the Miami office of the FBI. Start on page 10 read until bottom of page 13 http://ice.he.net/~freepnet/fbifiles/100-HQ-448092/Section%2013/Section%2013.pdf

I have no views on whether one or more of John Kerry’s bemedalled wounds from the Mekong Delta 35 years ago were self-inflicted — though the Kerry campaign, in its second big concession to his chastisers, now says his first Purple Heart-earning wound might have been ‘unintentionally self-inflicted’. But there’s no doubt every wound from the last 35 days is self-inflicted, beginning with the candidate’s disastrous decision at the Democratic Convention to play up Vietnam and play down Iraq, 9/11 and anything else that happened in the last 30 years. Since then Kerry’s shot himself in the foot so many...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 9 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Were John Kerry and the veterans organization he led the real reason the Republicans broke into Watergate in 1972, with information on them the target of the espionage? Was doing so an early onset of Republican political paranoia against his work, a harbinger of the pending campaign against him in 2004? Bob Weiner, the 1971-72 Youth Voter Registration director for the Young Democrats office at the Watergate headquarters of the Democratic National Committee and recently a Clinton White House staffer for six years, is asking these questions after doing a little research to refresh...

Club for Growth Launches National Ad Campaign at Democratic National Convention in BostonWashington, D.C.— The Club for Growth, one of the nation’s leading free-market political advocacy organizations, today unveiled a new $1 million television ad campaign at the Democratic National Convention in Boston. The ad shows a spinning weather vane to represent Kerry’s many flip-flops on issues from the death penalty for terrorists to welfare reform to tax cuts. “John Kerry has never taken a position without checking the weather vane,” said Club for Growth president Stephen Moore. “He checks which way the wind is blowing and rides the breeze....

Human Events reports that the DNC and the Kerry campaign are writing to television stations, stating that the Swift Boat ads is is "false" and "libelous" and that "your station may not responsibly air this advertisement." At least one of their points in the letter is an obvious lie: "The advertisement contains statements by men who purport to have served on Senator John Kerry's SWIFT [sic] boat in Vietnam and one statement by a man pretending to be the doctor who treated Senator Kerry for one of his injuries." Horsepucky. Every vet in the ad says, "I served with John...

Suppose in the 1992 presidential election, after an unconfirmed rumor surfaced about an alleged affair then President Bush had years earlier, Clinton supporters decided to make marital fidelity a central issue. That would be almost as crazy as the current effort by some Bush backers to focus attention on John Kerry's Vietnam War record and subsequent protests. This is being significantly funded and directed by Texas fat cats and political operatives who have more than a passing relationship with Bush political guru Karl Rove. These are some of the same people who surreptitiously smeared John McCain in the last election....

n the last few days, there's been a new accusation floating around the Internet about John Kerry's Vietnam record. It involves speculation that David Alston, one of the "band of brothers" who served on board Kerry's Swift Boat, did not actually serve with Kerry at all. If such a story were true, it would be sensational news, given that Alston has made extensive public statements, including a speech at the Democratic National Convention, about his time with Kerry. The only problem is, it's not true. Alston did indeed serve under Kerry. But the attention the rumor brought to Alston and...

The Swifties have earned the right to be heard. Any columnist who complains that this is a smear campaign or denies the Vets, their First Amendment Right should be called on it. How ironic that the Press tries to say who has the Constitutional Right to speak?? That is the beauty of this country, everybody has the right to be heard and let the chips fall where they may. Unfortunately the First Amendment has been undermined by the now crumbling Mainstream Monopoly. Anyone who has fought and bled for America’s Freedom has a special right to speak and be heard....

Swift Boat Ad Working Joshua Micah Marshall reluctantly reports: Perhaps the most astonishing demonstration of the Swift Boat ad’s effectiveness, however, is the proportion of potential Kerry voters whose opinions shifted after having watched the ad. Independents intending to vote for Kerry felt considerably less sure of their choice after watching the Swift Boat ad. Before the ad, 41.94% of Independents intending to vote for Kerry felt that they would “definitely” vote for him; 37.10% felt “most likely” to vote for him; 20.97% were “leaning” towards him; and none were “not sure.” These levels of commitment changed markedly after viewing...

John Kerry's presidential campaign claimed on Tuesday that his Christmas 1968 mission into Cambodia was top, top secret - and that's why there are no documents that verify the implausible claim. "During John Kerry's service in Vietnam, many times he was on or near the Cambodian border and on one occasion crossed into Cambodia at the request of members of a special operations group operating out of Ha Tien," Kerry spokesman Michael Meehan said in a statement. But Meehan told the Boston Globe that there was no paperwork to confirm the claim and he could not supply a date...

Old Crimson Interview Reveals A More Radical John Kerry The Crimson reported Kerry called for U.N. control of troops in 1970. Ten months after returning home from Vietnam, a young John Kerry strolled into the offices of The Harvard Crimson on Feb. 13, 1970 as an obscure underdog in the Democratic Congressional primary. The decorated veteran, honorably discharged after a tour of duty in the Mekong Delta, spoke in fierce terms during his daylong interview with The Crimson’s Samuel Z. Goldhaber ’72. But almost 34 years later, Kerry’s remarks on American military and intelligence operations vastly diverge from opinions expressed...

A document from the FBI files covering the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) and John Kerry, dated November 16,1971 (FBI file record number ID; 100-448092-483), indicates that local supporters of the VVAW became dissatisfied with the VVAW. As a result of Mr. Kerry’s speech in Gaston Hall at George Washington University, the head office of the VVAW in New York withdrew support for the Washington DC office and for John Kerry. The following is a verbatim transcript of the FBI document:

Hidden Agenda The truth behind John Kerry`s record on your firearms rights. by Wayne LaPierre If you thought the eight long years of the Clinton/Gore administration`s war on firearms owners` rights were oppressive, they would pale in comparison to what John Kerry would have in store for us if he captures the White House and evicts President George W. Bush in November. John Kerry--whose record of words and misdeeds on firearms rights has earned him a key place among the most solid "F" candidates ever rated by the National Rifle Association--is now posing as a self-styled"lifelong hunter and gun owner,"...

One Vietnam Veteran Against John Kerry http://members.aol.com/viperash51/kerry/kerry.html Links to Anti Kerry Websites & News Reports http://members.aol.com/ga1449ga/links/links.html

On www.wintersoldier.com's Timeline page, it says "April 22, 1972 -- John Kerry represents the VVAW at the "Emergency March for Peace" in Bryant Park in New York City." At that same time, according to the FBI surveillance file, Section 50, Part 1, Page 152. VVAW/WSO revealed information about a US Military operation. "...the VVAW/WSO operation during 4/72 during which a canvass of VVAW/WSO members, some in active military service, developed information indicating US would bomb Hanoi and Haiphong. This information was disseminated by VVAW/WSO prior to the actual bombing and could have seriously jeopardized US Military operations and lives of...

On April 18th, this year, Mr Kerry, as Tim Russert's guest, assured the host, that his records would be made available to the public. To this day, only selective portions have been released. When will Tim Russert challenge Mr Kerry to fulfill his promise?? From NBC NEWS- Meet the Press: " MR. RUSSERT: The Boston Globe reports that your commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander Grant Hibberd has suggested that you perhaps didn't earn your first Purple Heart and question whether you should have left Vietnam after six months. In order to deal with those kinds of issues, when I asked President...

I was on Mr. Kerry's boat in Vietnam. He doesn't deserve to be commander in chief.

Freep this poll

Truth bound to come out on Kerry's military duty August 10, 2004 BY JOHN O'SULLIVAN When Sen. John Kerry saluted and announced that he was "reporting for duty" at last month's Democratic Convention, he made his military record a legitimate subject of political attack and journalistic investigation. That moment was the culmination of the powerful "Vietnam theme" that has distinguished the Kerry presidential campaign from almost all recent Democratic campaigns. He had turned around a failing primary season in Iowa with the filmed testimony of the sailor whose life he saved when he pulled him back into the swift boat...

I have read a lot on FR concerning Kerry and the Swift Boats, and have listen and seen a lot of it on the tube and listened to the story on the radio. I believe the Swift Boat vets. However, here is my question. Since Kerry was in the Navy - and all navy personnel on FR know this - then he was required to keep a log on the boat. All the boats kept logs. All the logs are saved. Why doesn't someone go back and check the log records of Kerry's boat and the other boats? Has this...

If the first casualty in war is the truth, as the old saying goes, the truth about John Kerry's military service is under fire from television and the bookstore shelves. The group behind the attack, the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, has accused Mr. Kerry of everything from exaggerating claims to earn medals and Purple Hearts to having his own film crew capturing future campaign footage during his tour in Vietnam almost 35 years ago. Many date their anger at Mr. Kerry to his anti-war activities after he returned from Vietnam, saying he slandered veterans at the time.

A caller in the 10 o'clock (EST) claimed to be a vet who arrived in Vietnam shortly after Kerry left. Part of the caller's job was to review action reports involving special forces personnel. Regarding the incident in which Kerry saved Rathman by pulling him from the water, the caller says none of the action reports (there were 4-6 ?, one from each commander of the swift boats involved) reported enemy fire. This includes the report written by Kerry. (He especially noted the Kerry report because he had heard stories about the swift boat commander who bragged he would be...