Have what I think is the TV quote and once again, it is quoted out of context. Did John Keerry say he committed atrocities, yes he did. Then he went on to define the attrocities that he said he committed and they were NOT the same sort of atrocities listed in the statement to Congress. Instead he lists "free fire zones" and "burning willages, etc" as the attrocities he participated in. He did not implicate himself in cutting off heads, ears, rape, etc.
Did "free fire zones" (Zones where you just shot whatever moved in order to acheive a body count) exist ? Yes, undisputedly. Did Villages get burned, again, there is no one that knows about Vietnam that would deny that. Atrocities DID happen in Vietname, some were right there on the cover of LIFE magazine. READ about My Lai and what was discovered about the DOD's rules in Vietnam during the Court Martials.
The Quotre I found:
http://ice.he.net/~freepnet/kerry/in...p?topic=Quotes
There are all kinds of atrocities, and I would have to say that, yes, yes, I committed the same kind of atrocities as thousands of other soldiers have committed in that I took part in shootings in free fire zones. I conducted harassment and interdiction fire. I used 50 calibre machine guns, which we were granted and ordered to use, which were our only weapon against people. I took part in search and destroy missions, in the burning of villages. All of this is contrary to the laws of warfare, all of this is contrary to the Geneva Conventions and all of this is ordered as a matter of written established policy by the government of the United States from the top down. And I believe that the men who designed these, the men who designed the free fire zone, the men who ordered us, the men who signed off the air raid strike areas, I think these men, by the letter of the law, the same letter of the law that tried Lieutenant Calley, are war criminals.
-- John Kerry, on NBC's "Meet the Press" April 18, 1971
09-03-2004
Hybrid Mode
