Kerry's enemies are rewriting US history

[T_i_B]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1179203,00.html

Now that John Kerry has secured the Democratic nomination for president, recent attacks on his anti-war activities in the Vietnam era are sure to intensify. His political opponents - Vietnamese emigres and pro-war veterans - have been attacking the former national spokesman for Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW), painting him as an extremist, weak on issues of national security, or even disloyal.

This is more than an assault on Kerry's politics, it is part of a larger, and sustained effort by conservatives to revise the Vietnam war into a righteous cause that was not lost on the battlefield but undermined at home. In trying to make Americans forget how unpopular and divisive the war was, these people are trying to make it easier to justify interventions in Iraq, Haiti, Venezuela or elsewhere.

In truth, however, Kerry's views on the war reflected the mindset of a large majority of Americans and, crucially, were widely shared within the military establishment. Indeed, military leaders were never optimistic about their prospects in Vietnam, were realistic about the problems there, and often openly opposed the war. That same dynamic is at play today: a significant number of high-ranking US military officials warned against war in Iraq and have continued to criticise the Bush administration's efforts there, putting the president in the anomalous position of offering pro-military rhetoric while ignoring the counsel of his armed forces.

In the Vietnam era, tens of thousands of soldiers and veterans publicly opposed the war. But it was not just the "grunts" who spoke out and demanded an end to the conflict. Military officers, both in the Pentagon and holding commands inside Vietnam, likewise admitted and confronted the US failures. As various US administrations began to escalate the war and commit forces to the defence of the country they created in southern Vietnam, military scepticism was common.

[shance]

1. How legitimate. Those who avoided the war are criticizing Kerry?

That should be so legitimate in sane peoples eyes.

[joshdawg]

2. Just had to pop in and say

I also, am a Vietnam Vet who, at the time, thought that our country was doing the "right thing" by fighting Communism. Hell, I was a snot-nosed kid of 18. What did I know?!
Several years after I got out of the military, I had the chance to reflect about what the war was all about and my role in it. And I came to the decision that the war was wrong and I was wrong to have taken part in it. I still strongly believe that today!
This war in Iraq is wrong. It always has been and I am behind any veteran who expresses that same belief. We need to support our troops and get them out of Iraq asap!
End of rant.

[izzie]

4. Well I was married to a service man in that time and this is how,,,,

I felt. War was right, at first, then you started to question it and wonder just what we were watching our husbands go over their for and also their friends. When the hospitals were telling things the govt was not it started to turn.In the end we were joining the people on the street yelling and talking about sending our children to Canada.Many men knew if they did not go over they would not make their next rate also.To this day I can not figure what we were trying to do in that poor country but I sure understand why they won and we left. That type war is hard to fight and has been all of history.

[ulysses]

3. yup

it is part of a larger, and sustained effort by conservatives to revise the Vietnam war into a righteous cause that was not lost on the battlefield but undermined at home.

There was a similar little movement regarding the Great War in 1920s Germany, as I recall...

[jumptheshadow]

5. Saw a CNN reporter the other day

She did a story about how the Nixon administration had snooped on John Kerry because of his anti-war political activities. The empty-headed, peroxide-addled wench ended the piece with a smirky smile and proclaimed (I'm paraphrasing): "So John Kerry, who is running as a Vietnam veteran, might find himself in trouble because of that war!"

WTF? I said to myself. When did Richard Nixon become a good guy and how did an anti-war stance become dishonorable?

It says a lot about a society that doesn't read books.

[MoonRiver]

6. If Pukes go that route they're opening the door to more AWOL * attacks.

Put the two Vietnam veterans' records side by side, and let the chips falls where they may. :D