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| Kerry called for U.N. control of troops in 1970 |
| 2004-02-11 |
| Ten months after returning home from Vietnam, a young John Kerry strolled into the offices of The Harvard Crimson on Feb. 13, 1970 as an obscure underdog in the Democratic Congressional primary. The decorated veteran, honorably discharged after a tour of duty in the Mekong Delta, spoke in fierce terms during his daylong interview with The Crimsonâs Samuel Z. Goldhaber â72. But almost 34 years later, Kerryâs remarks on American military and intelligence operations vastly diverge from opinions expressed by the present-day Sen. John F. Kerry, D.-Mass., the leading candidate in the Democratic primary for president. âIâm an internationalist,â Kerry told The Crimson in 1970. âIâd like to see our troops dispersed through the world only at the directive of the United Nations.â Only reason I can see for the Clintonâs to support Kerry. Bill gets appointed to UN to ârepair the damage.â Kerry said he wanted âto almost eliminate CIA activity. The CIA is fighting its own war in Laos and nobody seems to care.â His Dim buddies did just that and now complain of the quality of human intel. The Kerry campaign, celebrating primary victories in Virginia and Tennessee last night, declined to comment on the senatorâs remarks. As a candidate for president, Kerry has said he supports the autonomy of the U.S. military and has never called for a scale-back of CIA operations. Reincarnation of the God Janus. Former Secretary of Labor Robert B. Reich defended Kerryâs 1970 statements as appropriate for their time. âIn the context of the Vietnam War, those comments are completely understandable,â said Reich, who has endorsed Kerry. But a spokesperson for President Bushâs reelection campaign said Kerryâs 1970 remarks signaled the senatorâs weakness on defense. âPresident Bush will never cede the best interests of the national security of the American people to anybody but the president of the United States, along with the Congress,â said the spokesperson, Kevin A. Madden. The increasingly likely matchup between Kerry and Bush has already prompted comparisons of the senatorâs record in Vietnam and the presidentâs domestic service in the National Guard. And the two Yale graduates, both members of the secret society Skull and Bones, appeared set to square off in future months under the specter of the ongoing war in Iraq. Goldhaber, whose first-person profile of Kerry ran in The Crimson Feb. 18, 1970, said yesterday he recalled the candidate as an emerging outsider whose campaign focused squarely on his opposition to the Vietnam War. âWe lived, dreamed and breathed Vietnam,â Goldhaber said. Still, Adam Clymer â58, political director of the National Annenberg Election Survey at the University of Pennsylvania, said Kerryâs comments would likely find their way into Bush campaign materials. âIf I were them, Iâd use this,â said Clymer, a former Crimson president. âIâd use it in direct mail.â Kerryâs conservative opponents have already begun painting the Massachusetts senator and former deputy governor as an elite, New England liberal, and his 21-year voting record in the Senate may provide considerable ammunition. Madden said the Bush campaign would highlight Kerryâs Senate votes should he win the Democratic nomination. And Reich forecasted G.O.P. research would extend far beyond Capitol Hill. âIf Kerry is the nominee, Republicans will try and search back into everything he ever said on every issue,â Reich predicted. Kerryâs 1970 remarks to Goldhaber portray a fiery, novice politician inspired by his opposition to the Vietnam War. âHe struck me as very ambitious,â Goldhaber said yesterday. âHe struck me as the sort of personâeven back then, newly returned from Vietnamâwho was thinking about running for president.â Was every hippie of the era thinking of some day running for president? |
| Posted by:GK |
| #6 The increasingly likely matchup between Kerry and Bush has already prompted comparisons of the senatorâs record in Vietnam and the presidentâs domestic service in the National Guard. And the two Yale graduates, both members of the secret society Skull and Bones, appeared set to square off in future months under the specter of the ongoing war in Iraq. Goldhaber, whose first-person profile of Kerry ran in The Crimson Feb. 18, 1970, said yesterday he recalled the candidate as an emerging outsider whose campaign focused squarely on his opposition to the Vietnam War. âWe lived, dreamed and breathed Vietnam,â Goldhaber said. No you didn't. The poor sonsofbitches who were over there did. I don't mind the Left being Anti-War. I just they weren't so damn selective about it! |
| Posted by: Cheddarhead 2004-2-11 6:42:44 PM |
| #5 Damn straight CF.... he should have been looking for women and a bong. BTW I have purloined Halfempty's PVC banger. |
| Posted by: AntiPasto 2004-2-11 6:35:56 PM |
| #4 âHe struck me as the sort of personâeven back then, newly returned from Vietnamâwho was thinking about running for president.â That in itself is a damn good reason he shouldn't be president. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2004-2-11 3:27:46 PM |
| #3 Robert B. Reich defended Kerryâs 1970 statements You mean Robert B. Reiiiiiiichuuuh? (Napoleon VII always wanted the opportunity to do that) |
| Posted by: AntiPasto 2004-2-11 3:06:04 PM |
| #2 Would you guess, we got enought material floating around to write a book, release it just before Boston.....Quotable Kerry? |
| Posted by: john 2004-2-11 3:03:06 PM |
| #1 Former Secretary of Labor Robert B. Reich defended Kerryâs 1970 statements as appropriate for their time. âIn the context of the Vietnam War, those comments are completely understandable,â said Reich, who has endorsed Kerry. Reich just wants another Cabinet position; that cushy job at Brandeis must be killing him. Adam Clymer Guess he's not the same as NYT reporter Adam Clymer, AKA the 'major league asshole' that Bush spoke so fondly of back on the 2000 campaign trail, eh? âIf Kerry is the nominee, Republicans will try and search back into everything he ever said on every issue,â Reich predicted. Brilliant, like I couldn't come up with that angle after twelve shots of whisky... |
| Posted by: Raj 2004-2-11 2:28:00 PM |