Kerry Wanted U.N. to Control U.S. Troops
NewsMax.com Wires
Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2004
Flashback: NewsMax reported this "new" story weeks ago.
More: Kerry's History of Voting Against the Military
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Democrat presidential front-runner
John Kerry called for U.N. control of the U.S. military
in an interview 34 years ago with Harvard University's student
newspaper.
Kerry was a long-shot congressional candidate in Massachusetts
when The Crimson interviewed him in February 1970, 10 months
after he returned from a tour of duty in Vietnam.
'Internationalist'
He described himself as "an internationalist," and said he
wanted "to almost eliminate CIA activity."
"I'd like to see our troops dispersed through the world only at
the directive of the United Nations," Kerry said.
"The CIA is fighting its own war in Laos, and nobody seems to
care," he later said.
As a presidential candidate, Kerry has said he supports the
autonomy of the U.S. military and has not called for a reduction in
CIA operations.
"Through 20 years in the United States Senate, John Kerry has
stood up for the strongest military on Earth and a muscular
internationalism that makes America safe while winning the
cooperation of allies," said Kerry spokesman David Wade. "Unlike
George Bush, John Kerry knows that while the United States never
gives veto power over our security to any international
institution, multilateralism is a strength and not a weakness."
Former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, who has endorsed
Kerry, said Kerry's statements were appropriate for their time.
"In the context of the Vietnam War, those comments are
completely understandable," he said.
Kevin Madden, a spokesman for President Bush's re-election
campaign, said Kerry's remarks were a sign of his weakness on
defense.
"President Bush will never cede the best interests of the
national security of the American people to anybody but the
president of the United States, along with the Congress," he said.
© 2004 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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