Al Hunt: Sham Charges Against a War Hero

[kskiska]

Calling John Kerry's military service into question is beyond the pale.

(snip)

The next charge is that when he retired and led the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Mr. Kerry accused all of the American forces in Vietnam of committing war crimes. He indisputably engaged in hyperbole back then. Still, what he actually said was that atrocities were widespread, but he never suggested they were committed by most Americans. And his criticism was in the context of the war, not a broadside against his fellow soldiers.

All Vietnam War historians cite atrocities. My Lai was the most publicized at the time, but decorated Vietnam combat veteran David Hackworth has declared "there were hundreds of My Lais." Last year the Toledo Blade won a Pulitzer Prize for documenting how an Army platoon, called Tiger Force, conducted a seven-month reign of terror in the central highlands in 1967, killing countless men, women and children. Just this week, when a Fox News commentator tried to goad Gen. Tommy Franks, the Bush Iraqi war commander, into attacking Mr. Kerry for those old assertions, this Vietnam veteran, to the consternation of his questioner, made clear that atrocities occurred in Vietnam.

All accounts clearly indicate that Mr. Kerry was a moderating influence in the antiwar veterans group, calming the palpable anger and sense of betrayal of so many, and countering the radicals. The Vietnam War was undercut, not by protests at home, but by the war's fundamentally flawed premise and underlying rationale.

more…
http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110005452

[TiredTexan]

1. He comes right out

and says that Rove was behind this, it's false, and that they did the same thing to McCain in 2000.

And this is in the Wall Street Journal. Woohoo.