Why John Kerry turned against the Vietnam War

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | Sunday, March 7, 2004 | Gerald Nicosia

[Jim_Curtis]

Kerry totally opposed the event because, at the time, he did not believe Americans had committed any atrocities in Vietnam, beyond the notorious massacre of 500 Vietnamese women and children at My Lai.
This doesn't seem to square with Kerry's own admission that he committed atrosities in Vietnam.
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No it doesn't and I wonder if the SF Chronicle would be forced to correct or explain that publically if enough people sent them the info. Imagine what the text of the correction would look like!

[secretagent]

Known liars...

I can't think of a single deliberate lie from either Fonda or Kerry. I may have forgot them, or not registered the lies.

Hugely wrong, yes. But I don't see conscious liars yet.

[secretagent]

Kerry only admitted that he killed civilians accidentally. He put that in the war crime category, along with free fire zones, search and destroy missions, and bombing missions.

Others had committed "real" war crimes, like My Lai and the sadistic atrocities described in the Winter Soldier Investigation. Those guys couldn't help themselves, though, because of the impossible situation our misguided foreign policy put them in. They were just average soldiers, without the uncommon moral fiber that Kerry had.

Like many men of moral greatness, Kerry identified with the man at the bottom, your average GI Calley. And so on.

[Interesting Times]

I can't think of a single deliberate lie from either Fonda or Kerry. I may have forgot them, or not registered the lies.

Really?

How about Fonda's broadcast from North Vietnam, where she said the POWs "have been well cared for" and were "all in good health" and that she had "exchanged ideas freely" with them. That the prisoners expressed "their sense of disgust of the war and their shame for what they have been asked to do," and that they asked her to encourage their "loved ones and friends to please be as actively involved in the peace movement as possible."

Fonda's entire career as a communist propagandist was *all* about lies.

[secretagent]

Good point that, especially "exchanged ideas freely". Ok perhaps on that one.

On the other hand, she may have believed the coerced smiles of the prisoners. She only saw fans of her own counter-culture USO tour.

The NV commies got pretty rough with those that didn't cooperate. And she wouldn't see those who didn't cooperate.

Never underestimate the power of a true believer. Plus Jane doesn't strike me as all that smart.

[Interesting Times]

If Kerry was turned against the war by the Winter Soldier Investigation, what was he doing giving anti-war speeches alongside Jane Fonda six months earlier at Valley Forge?

It appears that the Left may try to defend Kerry by defending the WSI. We'll see how well that works out...

[secretagent]

Keep at him.

Plus I see your work as more important than just stopping Kerry.

[Jim_Curtis]

Like many men of moral greatness, Kerry identified with the man at the bottom, your average GI Calley. And so on.
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Very true, Kerry exonerated Calley when he discovered "the real criminal"

[savedbygrace]

I've read through a number of your posts, and frankly I don't know how to take you. Are you supporting Kerry, or just pointing out that attacks on him will have to be better authenicated than they are now in this area?

[secretagent]

Better authentication.

People like to think they have Kerry figured out and "he was lying" and don't do their homework. Then some spokesman gets a moment on TV and looks like a sincere moron who doesn't know what he thinks he knows, and Kerry wins again.

The WSI has not been debunked, at least not that I've seen. Not verified enough for some, ok, buts thats an ongoing discussion, not a slam-dunk reversal.

The dramatic claim that the WSI witnesses have been proven to be non-vets or to have lied about specific events doesn't hold up. So far.

I don't support Kerry because I think of him as too gullible for the cause of the day. He has some talent as a character actor, but we'd be better off if he confined that to community theater.