IPW Daily Report – Monday, February 23, 2004
“It's one thing,"
said New York
Vietnam veteran Jerry Kiley, "to oppose a
war for moral reasons, but it's dishonorable to
take that extra step and support the enemy. That's
what John Kerry did."
“… as Chair of the Senate Select Committee on
MIA/POW Affairs, you personally quashed the
efforts of any and all veterans to report
sightings of living POW's, when you held those
reins in Congress…”
– writes Vietnam
veteran Don Bendell.
“You [John Kerry] are a bold-faced, unprincipled
liar, and a disgrace, and you have dishonored me
and all my fellow Vietnam veterans.”
– writes Vietnam
veteran Don Bendell
“You must do everything reasonable to keep them
[hard left liberal Democrats] out of power. They
will hate you for that, too. But they'll hate you
either way. Good advice to my polite, Conservative
friends is to get over it, and get on with the
business of winning.” --
writes Gary
Aldrich.
“Whatever the facts might be, the President has a
terrible perception problem. In the absence of a
vigorous response from the Bush campaign, the
public is taking what the Democrats are saying as
uncontested Gospel.”
-- writes Gregg
Bish.
“…the public are telling us its time to get moving
and get this campaign up and running."
– Bush campaign
advisor.
"Her fingerprints can't be on this,"
says the DNC
staffer [about Hillary]. "But we know what
she's doing. McAuliffe has talked to Bill about
it. Everyone knows the drill."
"Saxby Chambliss, on the part of the president and
his henchmen, decided today to question my
commitment to the defense of our nation,"
Kerry said on a
campaign stop.
"Our campaign
is not questioning your patriotism or military
service, but your votes and statements on the
issues now facing our country,"
– writes Bush
Campaign manager Marc Racicot to John Kerry.
“Hanoi John” editorial by Don Bendell
Democrat unity – feelin’ the Deanies’ luv
Kerry & the Vietnam card
Bush Campaign - will it start?
Hillary finagling for Vice Prez spot?
“Hanoi John” editorial by Don Bendell
As John Kerry continues to make his Vietnam
experience his defining issue, more and more heat
is turning on him. Witness the following
editorial, courtesy of
www.FreeRepublic.com:
My wife had rotator cuff surgery earlier this
year, and the recovery is terribly painful. Then,
she developed a staph-epi infection, and they had
to cut the same scar open and operate on her
again. Just thinking about the pain and anxiety of
facing that painful surgery a second time in the
same wound, makes me cringe. That experience,
however pales in comparison to what I am going
through right now, in my heart.
The old hurts are surfacing and the feelings of
betrayal by fellow citizens, and their leader
stirring them up, are breaking my heart again. I
am being cut in the same scar. How did we who
served in Vietnam suddenly become cold-blooded
killers, torturers, and rapists, of the ilk of the
Nazi SS or the Taliban? Most of us were American
soldiers who grew up idolizing John Wayne, Roy
Rogers, and all the other heroes. That was why I
volunteered. But for political expediency, John
Kerry has rewritten history, again. After spending
only four months in the country of Vietnam, John
Kerry testified before Congress in 1971 with these
exact words about incidents he supposedly
witnessed or heard about from other vets: "They
personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads,
taped wires from portable telephones to human
genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs,
blew up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed
villages, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned
food stocks, and generally ravaged the countryside
of South Vietnam."
I was a green beret officer who volunteered for
duty in Vietnam and fought in the thick of it in
1968 and 1969 on a Special Forces A-team on the Ho
Chi Minh Trail, just for starters. We were the
elite. We saw the most action. Everybody in the
world knows that. But we did not just kill people,
we built a church, a school, treated illnesses,
passed out soap, food, and clothing, and had fun
and loving interaction with the indigenous people
of Vietnam, just like our boys did in Normandy,
Baghdad, Saigon, and everywhere American soldiers
have ever served. We all gave away our candy bars
and rations to kids; our hearts to oppressed
people all over the globe.
My children and grandchildren could read your
words, and think those horrendous things about me,
Mr. Kerry. You are a bold-faced, unprincipled
liar, and a disgrace, and you have dishonored me
and all my fellow Vietnam veterans. Sure, there
were a couple bad-apples, but I saw none, and I
saw it all, and if I did, as an Army officer, it
was my obligation to stop it, or at the very least
report it. Why is there not a single record
anywhere of you ever reporting any incidents like
this or having the perpetrators arrested? The
answer is simple. You are a liar. Your medals and
mine are not a free pass for lifetime, Senator
Kerry, to bypass character, integrity, and
morality. I earn my green beret over and over
daily in all aspects of my life.
Eight National Guard green berets, and other
National Guard soldiers, have been killed in Iraq
and Afghanistan, and you totally dishonored their
widows and families by lumping National Guard
service in with being a draft-dodger,
conscientious objector, and deserter, just so you
can try to sabotage the patriotism of our
President who proudly served as an Air National
Guard jet pilot. I have a son earning his green
beret at Fort Bragg right now, and his wife serves
honorably in the Air National Guard, just like
President Bush did, and I am as proud of her as I
am my son. I volunteered for Vietnam and have no
problem whatsoever with President Bush being our
Commander-In-Chief. In fact, I am proud of him as
our leader.
John Kerry, you personally derailed the Vietnam
Human rights Bill, HR2883, in 2001, after it had
passed the House by a 411 to 1 vote, and thousands
of pro-American Montagnard tribes people in
Vietnam died since then who could have been saved,
by you. Earlier, as Chair of the Senate Select
Committee on MIA/POW Affairs, you personally
quashed the efforts of any and all veterans to
report sightings of living POW's, when you held
those reins in Congress. You have fought tooth and
nail to push for the US to normalize relations
with Vietnam for years. Why, Mr. Kerry? Simple,
your first cousin C. Stewart Forbes, CEO, of
Colliers International, recently signed a contract
with Hanoi, worth BILLIONS of dollars for
Collier's International to become the exclusive
real estate representative for the country of
Vietnam.
"Hanoi John," now that it works for you, you beat
your chest about your Vietnam service, but to me,
you are a phony, opportunistic hypocrite. You are
one of those politicians that is like a fertilizer
machine: all that comes out of you is horse
manure, and you are spreading it everywhere.
Medals do not make a man. Morals do.
Don Bendell
Canon City, Colorado
[EDITOR’S NOTE: Don Bendell served as an
officer in four Special Forces Groups, is a
best-selling author with over 1,500,000 books in
print, a 1995 inductee into the International
Karate Hall of Fame, and owns karate schools in
southern Colorado.]
Kerry was bribed
Sen. John Kerry -- who promotes a self-image that
he is above special interest -- took illegal money
from an Indian defense sub-contractor, according
to Express India:
During the three-year period, Kerry received about
$25,000 from Majumder and his employees, according
to Dwight L. Morris and Associates, which tracks
campaign donations.
Court documents say the contractor told his
employees they needed to make political
contributions in order for him to gain influence
with members of Congress. He then reimbursed them
with proceeds from government contracts.
John F. Kerry sent 28 letters on behalf of an
India-born San Diego defense contractor who
pleaded guilty last week to illegally funneling
campaign contributions to the Massachusetts
senator and four other Congressmen. There is no
proof Kerry knew that the money was illegal that
he received in exchange for supporting the
contractor.
Hey, Kerry - what is the truth?
Kerry denies that he called fellow Vietnam
Veterans “war criminals.”
Asked on Thursday whether he had accused his
fellow soldiers of committing war crimes in
Vietnam during his April 1971 testimony before the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Kerry told
CNN's Judy Woodruff:
"No, I was accusing American leaders of abandoning
the troops. And if you read what I said, it is
very clearly an indictment of leadership. I said
to the Senate, where is the leadership of our
country? And it's the leaders who are responsible,
not the soldiers. I never said that."
However, there is a lot of testimony and even
television clips that indicate that Kerry is not
telling the truth about his denying calling his
fellow Vietnam brethren war criminals.
Kerry gave the following account in 1971 on NBC's
"Meet the Press" just a few days before testifying
before the U.S. Senate:
"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 calibre 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."
Democrat unity – feelin’ the Deanies’ luv
The American Spectator reports on the less than
love fest for John Kerry that is going on with the
Deanies:
But this is nothing compared to the number
Marshall Stern does on J.F. Kerry: "His sins are
written all over his craggy face (or were before
the alleged botox injections)." Or: "You
may think I
am referring to the pending sex scandal that his
campaign has so far effectively squelched, but my
objections to Kerry go much deeper than his fling
with a 20 year old intern." No, the real reason is
that Democrats "are rallying behind a man who
ducked for cover during the Bush reign of terror."
Kerry's no war hero, in short, but a coward.
Any more
such displays of Democrat unity and we can go into
extended retirement. Who better than a Deanie to
finger a repeat EOW, the first bit of consistency
we've seen from John Cool Kerry since the time he
had to ask people to help him get over his
amnesia.
Kerry & the Vietnam card
"As you well know, Vietnam was a very difficult
and painful period in our nation's history, and
the struggle for our veterans continues,"
Kerry wrote in
his letter. "So, it has been hard to
believe that you would choose to reopen these
wounds for your personal political gain. But, that
is what you have chosen to do."
"Saxby Chambliss, on the part of the president and
his henchmen, decided today to question my
commitment to the defense of our nation,"
Kerry said on a
campaign stop.
Sen. John Kerry is playing his Vietnam card in
hopes that he can avoid serious discussion on his
past votes and philosophy of gutting defense
programs and cutting the budget of our
intelligence community. When Sen. Saxby Chambliss
(R-GA) was recently critical of Kerry's votes in
the U.S. Senate, the Senator claimed that he
wanted to debate Bush about Vietnam.
Chambliss
simply said Kerry’s "32-year history of
voting to cut defense programs and cut defense
systems" would make him a vulnerable presidential
candidate in the South.
Why the over reaction by Kerry to challenges to
his record? The truth is, Kerry is trying to
obfuscate not only his past voting record, but the
fact that he is currently trying to be both a
peace activist and hawk at the same time -- a
necessity, given the schizophrenic nature of the
Democratic Party. His statements that the War on
Terrorism is by its nature a police activity is
Kerry’s subtle hint that he wants it both ways.
However, Kerry walks a thin edge given his record
of flip-flopping on issues in the past.
To the Peace side of his party, it means that he
will not invade Iraq and take out one of the worst
threats to America’s security, Saddam Hussein. To
those who fear they can’t win unless the Democrats
are strong against terrorists, it demonstrates his
attempt to assure the nation he will protect us.
The Chairman of the Bush campaign, Marc Racicot,
took on Kerry’s letter stating that the Bush
campaign is not impugning his Vietnam service but
rather calling into question Kerry’s history of
being weak on defense.
"As you know, our campaign has praised your
military service to our nation," Racicot wrote.
"Our campaign does not condone any effort to
impugn your patriotism."
"Our campaign is not questioning your patriotism
or military service, but your votes and statements
on the issues now facing our country," Racicot
continued in the letter.
In 1996, Kerry voted for S. 1580 to slash defense
spending by $6.5 billion.
Kerry also supported canceling and cutting funds
for the B-2 Stealth Bomber, the B-1B, the F-15,
the F-16, the M1 Abrams, the Patriot Missile, the
AH-64 Apache Helicopter, the Tomahawk Cruise
Missile, and the Aegis Air-Defense Cruiser,
according to a Boston Globe report from June 19,
2003.
Kerry’s campaign in response to the letter
continued to pull the Vietnam card and say that it
is not about Kerry’s record but instead about
Kerry’s service in Vietnam:
"The Republicans need to answer to the American
people for their craven tactics that degrade our
democracy and question the patriotism of those who
stand up and ask questions about the direction of
our country," Kerry spokesman David Wade
responded. "John Kerry takes a back seat to no one
when it comes to maintaining the strongest
military on the face of the earth and keeping our
promises to America's veterans."
What we can continue to expect is that we will see
the two campaigns talking past each other with two
different messages.
"Steady leadership requires making principled
decisions based on what is important to the
American people, not advocating policies that
would derail our economic recovery and weaken our
ability to win the War on Terror," Racicot
concluded in his letter.
Bush Campaign - will it start?
"He's primed. Perhaps we're a few weeks earlier
than we planned,"
says a Bush
campaign adviser. "But the polls, the
public are telling us its time to get moving and
get this campaign up and running."
Bush is expected to offer a momentous speech that
signals that Bush can win the race for the
Presidency against Kerry. For months and tens of
millions of dollars, Bush has been pummeled by the
Dems and even his credibility numbers have gone
down in the polls.
Today at the Republican National Governor’s
conference in Washington, D.C., Bush is to roll
out his campaign speech. Republicans are waiting.
The ads are also supposed to start in March.
Hillary finagling for Vice Prez spot?
It's unseemly for her [Hillary Clinton] to be out
there when we have Edwards and Kerry battling it
out, but the Clinton people don't want her too far
out of peoples' minds," reported an anonymous saff
person from the Democrat National Committee.
The American Spectator reports that Clintonites
are working the circuit to get Hillary on as V.P.
It reports that Former Clinton administration
staff Harold Ickes is the main operative in
pushing the placing of Hillary on the ticket.
Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschel is also being
helpful in working with Hillary for opportunities
where Hillary can attack Republican proposals on
the floor of the Senate. In addition, Hillary is
scheduled to make high profile appearances after
March 10.
The Spectator reports:
"Her fingerprints can't be on this," says the DNC
staffer. "But we know what she's doing. McAuliffe
has talked to Bill about it. Everyone knows the
drill."
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