The Blue Site

Unfit for Command

I'm reading Unfit for Command, and whether or not you choose to believe what John O'Neill and others have to say about Kerry and what transpired in Vietnam, it's hardly a matter of debate that 1. John Kerry has used his 3 months in Vietnam as a basis for every campaign for office. 2. that John Kerry is an opportunist related to Vietnam- I mean, come on- the guy gets 3 tiny wounds (his first purple heart he applied for after receiving a scratch from hostile fire, as Kerry claims- tho the record shows the shrapnel was most likely from a grenade, from a launcher that Kerry fired that night,), and leaves Vietnam after 3 months...then uses these 3 months as the basis for his entire political career. His website lists that he did 2 tours of duty, but he actually spent his first "tour" on a ship that was off the coast of Vietnam, not in battle, and spent some of the time off the US coast. 3. John Kerry gave aid and comfort with his actions to the enemy. The guy is claiming that the American military was like the army of Ghengis Khan, at a time of war for chrisssakes! If that isn't aid and comfort, I don't know what is.

You also cannot deny that Kerry was lying when he spoke in front of congressional meetings about Vietnam. There is no evidence to suggest that it was US military policy to commit war crimes. No doubt some crimes were committed, but there's no way it was systematic as Kerry claimed, and there's surely no way it was official US policy and that every officer at every level knew about such actions and urged such actions, as Kerry also claimed.

These few things we know are true tell us much about Kerry's character, and who is more likely telling the truth- the handful of men supporting Kerry, tho not supporting many of his "facts" about what took place in Vietnam (that's a big point, even those who support Kerry don't confirm his claims, and many are actively against them), or are we to believe the 300+ men who signed a letter to Kerry after his primary victory this year? My money is on the 400...not only because we know Kerry lied about war crimes, we also know much about the character of the swift boat vets for truth, and to claim they're lying and it's a big campaign against Kerry just doesn't make any sense. Even Kerry's allies attack his ant-war activities and dispute many of the claims he's made about his service...not to mention the fact that throughout the years Kerry, himself, has actually contradicted his version of different events that supposedly took place while he was in Vietnam.

Put the facts we know to be true together, and any reasonable person would have to conclude that John Kerry is not a reliable source on the issue, and that fact isn't being called into play by most of the media out there.