"Some Vet With An Axe To Grind"

No, Nick Confessore of TAPPED is not describing John Kerry; rather, he is describing a fellow whose views on Vietnam differ from John Kerry's.

I can accept his main point, that CNN should have given more thought to this introductory paragraph. However, John O'Neill's 1971 debate with John Kerry has been recently re-played by C-Span; John O'Neill himself was an Annapolis grad who may very well have been sincere in his support of the war, and in his objection to being tagged as a war criminal:

...Visibly angry from the start, wearing a light suit, short hair, and white socks, O'Neill used words seemingly intended to taunt his opponent.

..."This is the same little man who on nationwide television in April spoke of, quote, `crimes committed on a day-to-day basis, with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command.' Who was quoted in a prominent news magazine in May as saying, `War crimes in Vietnam are the rule, not the exception."'

The indispensable Boston Globe has that and more, which we excerpt.

Kerry with Tim Russert on Meet The Press ties in as well. And here is a quote from the debate: "Never in the course of human events have so many been so libelled by so few".

Just grinding his axe.

Comments

[bushgirlsgonewild]

Kerry never 'tagged' O'Neil personally as a war crimminal.

However, it's possible he was. I wasn't there, but I had relatives, met teachers, fathers of friends, and complete strangers that all admitted that there were atrocities commited by Americans.

Ever seen the movie, Casualties of War? It was written by a Vietnam vet and based on a true story. This film casts Michael J. Fox as a soldier in Vietnam in a squad led by Sean Penn. While on patrol, in the wake of an ambush that has left friends dead, they kidnap and rape a Vietnamese woman--then murder her. But Fox, one of the soldiers who refused to participate in the rape, is so appalled by the killing that he reports it--and finds himself being treated as the villain.

Nobody thinks of themself as or wants to be called a war crimminal even when it's true; the Nazi's and Japanese participating in war crimes in WWII certianly have never stood up and said, "Yes! Yes! I'm a war crimminal!"

[capt joe]

Now I know you never were in the military.

I will rasie your movie with a much better representation. Besides being the name of a great book and mini series, the term "band of brothers" applies here.

O'Neil and Kerry were both swift boat commanders. When Kerry brought all those liars to the congressional committee he slandered everyone he served with. He admitted never seen atrocities. The majority of those people giving testimony were never in vietnam or even in the military. It was that performance that gave the impression that those serving in vietnam were f**ked up, insane, druggy, losers.

O'Neil has a good reason to be pissed.

I bet you are a 12 year in his mom's basement.

[bushgirlsgonewild]

'Band of Brothers' was not about Vietnam and does not represent the Vietnam experience.

"He admitted never seen atrocities." WRONG.

"The majority of those people giving testimony were never in vietnam or even in the military." WRONG.

Aside from you lack of coherent writing, you propose things which are not facts…

PUBLIC RECORD: DELLUMS COMMITTEE HEARINGS ON WAR CRIMES IN VIETNAM
April 25, 1971
Caucus Room, Cannon House Office Bdlg

DELLUMS: This morning we will look at policy and command responsibility, and we have with us 5 West Point graduates, 4 captains and a major. We also have Capt O'mera, who is not a West Point grad, who will be a corroborating witness with 1 of our capt's, Capt Bartek. Our 1st witness this morning will be Capt Fred Laughlin.
Statement of Fred Laughlin, Capt, US Army, West Point, Class of 1965, Bethesda, MD LAUGHLIN: I graduated in 1965, spent 5 years in the service, 2 1/2 years in infantry, 1 year in Vietnam as a company commander and as a platoon leader.
I was a 1st LT.
I would like my testimony to center more on the distortions of war and my examples to be more illustrative than shocking. I would like to give 3 examples and hope that I can--I, we can--draw something from it. When I arrived in Vietnam in 1966, in October, I was sent to a jungle warfare school in Lai Khe. Lai Khe is on the northeastern tip of the eastern triangle. I spent a week in the jungle warfare school being taught the way it really was in Vietnam by non-commissioned officers [NCO's], some of whom had been in battle themselves. At the time the BODY COUNT idea pretty will hit the military in Vietnam, and we were taught at the jungle school, that it is very important to get BC. There is a big difference between BODY COUNT and so-called killed in action [KIA].
It is very important to verify some member of the body, particularly the ears.
The ears seemed to be the favorite in order to report validly a BC. This was not promulgated officially. It could not be, of course. but this was taught in the school and it was clear to a what the sergeant [Sgt] was talking about. and these people were blank pages when they came to Vietnam, They had no idea what was coming off. I did not. I was supposed to be educated. I did not know. As far as I knew, he was giving me the straight story. The 2d example that I would like to give of the distortions in Vietnam occurred during my 2d month in Vietnam as a platoon leader. VC had reportedly run into a village, a village not unlike my Lai. We surrounded the village with our platoon and began to seal it off in the typical manner. Civilians were pouring out of the village at the time. It was late in the evening. All of a sudden, with no warning, the platoon opened up on the civilians. It was their job to keep the civilians in, and God knows where they got the order.
I was in charge, completely. By the time I could get the firing stopped, which seemed like an hour--it was probably 30 seconds--1 man was shot in the back, an old Vietnamese. We picked the man up and took him back to base camp, which was not far from civilization. It was about a 2 minutes' helicopter ride from Du Lai. The man was clearly bleeding internally and didn't have long to go. I wasn't a doctor, but that was pretty clear. I reported this to my company command, said that we needed immediate evacuation, and there was none forthcoming. The man died about 5 the next morning.

[capt joe]

yes bush girlie, I know it isn't a vietnam war movie. I was making a point about a band-of-brothers as those who served in combat often are. Reading comprehension is not very good on your part. Ok, my mistake, a 9 year old in its mom's basement.

During meet the press, he admitted he did not personally see any atrocities. When asked about this, he said he was "over the top". So is Kerry a liar now or did he flip flop again on that too?

Oh and the guys he brought in were NOT real vets. Fake vets were very common during the vietnam war and afterward. Whether Kerry knew these guys were fake is another matter. But they were fake. Go to http://sec-global.com/services/ctp/vsg/list.html to see this and other stories. Some of the fake vets were also fake seals. They are listed there.

Kerry, fake then, fake now. the only thing the same is that he changes his story on demand.

[Jon H]

The Japanese still deny the rape of Nanking and their enslavement of Korean women as whores for the Japanese troops.

[Paul Zrimsek]

Dear God, PLEASE let Jon's hysterical parallel be the new DNC talking points!