John Kerry VVAW controversy.html |
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John Kerry, the Democratic candidate for President of the United States in 2004, first came to national prominence through his leadership role in Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW). In 1971, when Kerry was 27 years old, he represented VVAW when he testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The next day, H. R. Haldeman, chief of staff to President Richard Nixon, told Nixon that Kerry had done "a superb job" in denouncing the Nixon administration's policy.[1] Nixon, agreeing that Kerry had been "extremely effective", resolved to discredit him.[2]
VVAW consisted of people who, like Kerry, had served in Vietnam, and others, who opposed American involvement in the Vietnam War. Kerry claims he left VVAW because of his disagreement with the organization’s more radical tendencies.citation needed
During the course of his Presidential campaign, as well as his previous campaigns for senatorial seats, his work with VVAW is raised as a subject of controversy. During his campaigns for political office, however, he has been charged with making inconsistent statements about two events in 1971: an antiwar demonstration at the United States Capitol in April, and a VVAW meeting in November.citation needed
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Testimony in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
John Kerry testified in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committed, April 22, 1971. The most explosive allegation was his description of testimony by Vietnam veterans at the Winter Soldier Investigation that they had "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 Ghengis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam...", and their testimony that war crimes had happened "on a day-to-day basis with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command."[3]
Demonstration at the Capitol
On April 23, 1971 John Kerry and other veterans threw their medals, ribbons, discharge papers, photographs, citations and articles of their uniforms over a fence at the Capitol building at Washington, D.C. in protest. One disabled veteran even threw his cane. The stated purpose of the demonstration was to show that this protesting group of veterans thought the war was unjust, and that the administration had betrayed them.citation needed
Thomas Oliphant, a Boston Globe reporter who was present that day, described the scene as follows:
As he neared the spot from which members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War were parting with a few of the trappings of their difficult past to help them face their future more squarely, I watched Kerry reach with his right hand into the breast pocket of his fatigue shirt. The hand emerged with several of the ribbons that most of the vets had been wearing that unique week of protest, much as they are worn on a uniform blouse.
[. . .]
At the spot where the men were symbolically letting go of their participation in the war, the authorities had erected a wood and wire fence that prevented them from getting close to the front of the US Capitol, and Kerry paused for several seconds. We had been talking for days -- about the war, politics, the veterans' demonstration -- but I could tell Kerry was upset to the point of anguish, and I decided to leave him be; his head was down as he approached the fence quietly.
In a voice I doubt I would have heard had I not been so close to him, Kerry said, as I recall vividly, "There is no violent reason for this; I'm doing this for peace and justice and to try to help this country wake up once and for all."
With that, he didn't really throw his handful toward the statue of John Marshall, America's first chief justice. Nor did he drop the decorations. He sort of lobbed them, and then walked off the stage.
Some people have written secondhand accounts of that day stating that Kerry at that moment also threw "medals" that had been given to him by a couple of vets who were not there. I remember Kerry doing that later in the day after the event had broken up. [1]
Later controversy
Some critics have contended that the reports vary about what decorations Kerry returned in 1971, and demonstrate inconsistency on Kerry's part [2].
Kerry contends, however, that he has always been consistent in re-telling what he did that day in protest. In an April 2004 television interview, Kerry described the ribbon/medal tossing issue as "a phony controversy".[3]
The Kansas City VVAW meeting
In 1971, VVAW was holding quarterly meetings and met in different cities, including St. Louis, Missouri in July. From November 12 to November 15, 1971, the group met in Kansas City, Missouri. At this meeting, a VVAW member named Scott Camil advocated the assassination of certain politicians who favored continuing the war, including Senators Strom Thurmond, John Stennis, and John Tower. Some claim the idea was quickly shouted down and was never seriously discussed.citation needed
Years later, Kerry claimed he did remember the meeting in St. Louis, where acrimonious discussions had contributed to his decision to resign from VVAW. He said, however, that he did not recall attending the Kansas City meeting, and thought that he had already resigned by then. Some people who were at the Kansas City meeting claim that he was not there. Historian Gerald Nicosia, recounting the history of the antiwar movement in his book Home to War, stated that Kerry said he had resigned from VVAW at the St. Louis meeting.citation needed
In 2004, however, Nicosia said that new FBI documents included a report from an unnamed confidential source. The source recounted Kerry’s resignation at a VVAW meeting, but placed the event at the meeting in Kansas City rather than at the one in St. Louis. In response, Kerry’s office reiterated Kerry's claim that he did not remember being at the later meeting, but added, "If there are valid FBI surveillance reports from credible sources that place some of those disagreements in Kansas City, we accept that historical footnote in the account of his work to end the difficult and divisive war."citation needed
VVAW member Randy Barnes was also quoted in the media as having seen Kerry at the Kansas City meeting. Thereafter, however, he said that he had thought that Kansas City was first but now realized that St. Louis was first. He concluded that he might have been confusing the two Missouri meetings.citation needed
The focus on the Kansas City meeting arises because of Camil’s suggestion of violence. (Camil himself has said that he does not remember seeing Kerry at that meeting.) No one has contended that Kerry himself ever supported violent action. Instead, he is remembered as having advocated moderation, nonviolence and work within the system. Kerry claims he resigned partly because he was uncomfortable with the radicalism of some VVAW members, and partly because he wanted to run for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, which he did in 1972.citation needed
References
- ^ Blumenthal, Sidney (February 12, 2004), "Kerry will win the patriot game", The Guardian, <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/feb/12/uselections2004.usa3>
- ^ Williams, Brian (March 16, 2004). ""Nixon targeted Kerry for anti-war views"". msnbc.com. Retrieved on 2008-07-01.
- ^ "John Kerry's Testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations committee, April 22, 1971" "Congressional Record"
External links
Accounts of different recollections of Kansas City meeting
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