Steve Malzberg
Monday, Apr. 19, 2004

These "soldiers" were taking part in a farce known as The Winter Soldier Investigation. As a prominent member of the radical Vietnam Veterans Against The War, Kerry was in a position to interview these people and hear their stories. They claimed to be returning veterans of that war but in fact as it turned out, many never served in the armed forces at all.

Based on what he had been told Kerry then told the senate and the world watching via television that our soldiers were committing these crimes with the full knowledge and backing of military brass. Here's some of what he said then:

"They had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan, shot at cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam...we are more guilty than any other body of violations of those Geneva Conventions; in the use of free fire zones, harassment interdiction fire, search and destroy missions, the bombings, the torture of prisoners, all accepted policy by many units in South Vietnam."

Jump ahead to last week at New York's City College. Senator Kerry was making another stop on his college tour. He was holding a town-hall-style meeting when he was confronted by a 64-year-old-retired math professor. Walter Daum read Kerry the riot act on the war in Iraq:

"Senator Kerry you have to talk about Iraq. There is an uprising there that's going on now. The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal have pointed out that it’s an increasingly popular uprising. And the United States, in my view, is on the wrong side. They have ... justice is on the side of the uprising. You have said stay the course. George Bush calls the people there thugs, you call them extremists. But they hated Sadaam Hussein and now they hate us. They wanted Sadaam Hussein out and now they want the United States out. And you say, stay the course.

“What the United States is doing is bombing hospitals, bombing mosques, sniping at civilians, killing hundreds of civilians, wounding thousands of civilians. And you say, stay the course. Is that the criminal course that you want to stay?

“This is an imperialist country. It's fighting an imperialist war. At one time you opposed an imperialist war. I am old enough to have done that myself. And now you're supporting, you say, stay the course of this imperialist war.

And you say you're a stark difference from George Bush? People hate George Bush. By the end of your presidency, people will hate you for the same thing. You may fool some of the Americans, that you are different from George Bush on this war. But you're not fooling most of the world and you're not going to fool Iraqis."

All the while, for the 90 seconds that it took for Daum to recite this anti-American diatribe, Kerry stood and listened intently. He would occasionally nod while Daum matter of factly accused our troops of killing civilians, bombing hospitals and mosques, and waging an imperialist war. Kerry made no effort to interrupt Daum. In fact when Daum finished, Kerry twice asked him if he was sure that he was finished. Once Daum gave the go ahead, the senator gave his reply.

He simply said, "I don't subscribe to the same course George Bush is pursuing. On three different occasions I have laid out a more thoughtful and a more achievable course than George Bush is pursuing....I have constantly been critical of how we got where we are." He then said we need to stay until we can hand over a stable Iraq to the Iraqi people.

But where was the rest of his answer you ask? Surly he must have told this guy that our troops are not committing criminal acts by sniping at civilians. Kerry must have set Daum straight by telling him the only time we've dropped a bomb on a mosque was after our soldiers were fired upon from that mosque, and a six hour fire fight ensued.

The man who would be our commander in chief must have disputed the claim that justice was on the side of the insurgents. The same insurgents who kill Iraqi policemen and civilians. The same insurgents who ambush foreign workers, burn them alive and then drag their bodies through the streets before hanging them from the nearest bridge. Kerry must have told Daum that you can disagree with President Bush, but it's unacceptable to express hatred for our President during a time of war. Kerry did none of these things.

What John Kerry did last week by ignoring the libel put forth by Walter Daum at that town-hall meeting at City College, was endorse it. In fact I believe that Kerry was positively taken with Daum's performance.

I believe that as Daum ranted, and Kerry nodded, the senator was having a flashback to his own 1971 testimony before the Senate. There was little difference between what Daum said last week and what Kerry testified to 33 years ago this month. By dissolving into his flashback Senator Kerry has shown that despite the show he's putting on, he hasn't changed one bit in all these years. How dare he seek the presidency. G-d help us all if he succeeds.

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