Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Proof that John Kerry is Unfit for Command -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: American Spirit who wrote (19936)	10/18/2004 5:02:19 PM
From: PROLIFE	Respond to of 27181

you lie damn near as good as your hunkahunka burnin loveboy, Kerry, girly. Kerry: Betrayal of his Brothers Armstrong Williams Monday, Oct. 18, 2004 Early on in his presidential campaign, John Kerry capitalized on his four months of action in Vietnam to proclaim to the American public that he is a man of courage and valor. The ads were supposed to suggest that having been on the front lines, Kerry is uniquely equipped to offer leadership in the war on terror. A better gage, however, would be the opinions of those who served alongside Kerry, and the track record of weakness and error he accumulated over the past two decades as a legislator. With regard to the former, a new ad produced by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and POWs for Truth seems illuminating. The ad features dozens of Vietnam veterans. The announcer says, "They're the men who served with John Kerry in Vietnam. They're his entire chain of command, most of the officers in Kerry's unit ... And they're the men who spent years in North Vietnamese prison camps. Tortured for refusing to confess what John Kerry accused them of - of being war criminals." The ad refers to accusations by Kerry that his unit engaged in attacks against civilians, in violation of the Geneva code. Upon his return from Vietnam, Kerry called his commanders “war criminals.” At home, the remarks proved a real crowd pleaser, effectively kick-starting Kerry’s political career. Back in the jungle, prisoners of war were brutally tortured unless they signed documents admitting to the accusations Kerry was making stateside. The Vietnam vets lucky enough to make it back haven’t forgotten Kerry’s remarks, or the torture they endured while recordings of his accusations were played on an endless loop at the POW camps. Kerry betrayed these brave men. And they suffered for it—for his political opportunism. “Why is this relevant?" asks he ad. "Because character and honesty matter. Especially in a time of war," says the narrator. This is an important point to make, as is the more immediate question of whether Kerry will make the tough decision with regard to the war on terror. Or will he be neutered by public opinion, just as he was so many years ago? To answer that question, let’s consider his track record: While in Congress, Kerry supported a nuclear freeze (Thankfully Reagan showed the strength we needed to win the Cold War.) Kerry voted against the B-1, B-2, F15, F-14, carriers, planes, and tanks - every major weapons system our troops are now using to fend off terror. He has been a tepid supporter of the intelligence community, even remarking once that the CIA is "unnecessary." He's been a foe of missile defense—the only strategy that really confronts the emerging threat of rogue states with ballistic missiles. He voted against Operation Desert Storm and against the $87B to fund the troops. It’s the same kind of head-in-the-sand foreign policy thinking that liberals espoused for much of the 90’s. When Al Qaeda blew up the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, or detonated a bomb alongside the USS Cole in Yemen, or organized the 1993 bombing of the world Trade center, President Clinton responded with small, measured gestures, like hurling a few missiles at an abandoned al-Qaida training facility, or trying to indict specific terrorists as criminals, rather than confronting the rogue states that were sponsoring them. When evidence emerged that Syria and Iran funneled money and personnel into the terrorist organization that had declared war on our way of life, the Clinton administration stuck its head in the sand. Our response told the world that we were soft. It proclaimed that the United States was built on false stilts, that we could be yanked down. It encouraged our attackers. This is why Saddam Hussein believed in 1991 that if he tied US Soldiers to the front of his tanks, he could sweep undeterred into Kuwait. It is why Al Qaeda thought our society would crumble if they crashed some planes into our buildings. Post 9-11, we can no longer spare ourselves the rigors of dealing with messy realities, like the fact that there are people out there that spend their days trying to figure out ways to kill as many Americans as possible. Our leaders cannot be so neutered by public opinion that they ignore this very real threat. Kerry has tried to convince us that as a brave and decorated Vietnam vet, he is the man for the job. But a closer inspection of his track record tells us that we dare not believe it. www.armstrongwilliams.com