April 23, 2009
Senator John F. Kerry, opening a hearing with Iraq and Afghanistan veterans today, said while he resists comparisons to the Vietnam War, the conflicts in the two nations now do hold some parallels.
Once again, we are fighting an insurgency in a rural country with a weak central government. Our enemy blends in with the local population and easily crosses a long border to find sanctuary in a neighboring country. Our efforts to win the loyalty of the locals are hampered by civilian casualties and an inability to deliver the security that we promised more than seven years ago," he said, presiding over the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
"We ignore these similarities at our peril."
"There are fundamental differences, too," he added. "We have a responsibility to the men and women fighting in Afghanistan to understand those differences and adapt to them.
"First and foremost, the North Vietnamese never posed a direct threat to our country. The extremists we are fighting today in Afghanistan and across the border in Pakistan do represent a direct threat to the security of the United States. They planned the attacks on New York and Washington that killed 3,000 Americans. They have killed hundreds of other innocents in terrorist attacks worldwide since then. And they are preparing new attacks on the United States and our interests even as we sit here today."
Unlike the divisive Vietnam conflict, Kerry said, there is universal support for the troops. "We are all standing on common ground now: We are saying thank you to the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who have served. We are not confusing the war with the warriors. So I want to thank you, your fellow veterans and those who are still serving," he said.
read more:
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2009/04/kerry_panel_lis.htmlRick Reyes, The New John Kerry: Afghanistan Vet Speaks Out Against War Before Congress{snip}
The similarities between the situation that retired Marine Corporal Rick Reyes finds himself in today and that which confronted Sen. John Kerry in April 1971 are obvious. At 28 and a few years removed from combat, Reyes has chosen to go public with reservations about the scope and direction of the military strategy his government is pursuing in a difficult terrain. Having supported Barack Obama in the 2008 election, he now is deeply skeptical about the president's decision to send 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan.
"We were basically destroying innocent lives and creating more enemies," he said in an interview with the Huffington Post. "That is exactly what is happening. The escalation and occupation in Afghanistan is counterproductive to what we want to accomplish and the Senate and the president should to rethink Afghanistan."
Nearly 38 years earlier, John Forbes Kerry was in a similar spot. Called before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the three-time recipient of the Purple Heart declared that an "attempt to justify the loss of one American life in Vietnam, Cambodia or Laos by linking such loss to the preservation of freedom, which those misfits supposedly abuse, is to us the height of criminal hypocrisy."
It was a scathing rebuke from an experienced soldier, one that thrust Kerry into the political spotlight. And, as the cause-and-effect of history goes, it led in a way to his current position as chair of the foreign relations where he oversaw Thursday's "Afghanistan War Experiences" hearing and Reyes' testimony.
read more:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/23/the-new-john-kerry-afghan_n_190617.htmlPeace Action Responds to Kerry’s Hearing with Soldiers on Afghanistan OccupationWASHINGTON - April 23 -
"It is important to hear the views of U.S. soldiers at all ranks regarding the occupation of Afghanistan. Senators Kerry and Lugar's hearing is a good start. The Afghanistan occupation deserves full, robust hearings like those Senator Fulbright conducted during the Vietnam war and where the young Sen. Kerry testified.
"Peace Action agrees with the wisdom of many U.S. troops such as Corporal Rick Reyes who testified ‘Sending more troops will not make the U.S. safer, it will only build more opposition against us . . . More troops, more war is not the answer.'
"Corporal Reyes is right: 21,000 more troops, air and Predator drone strikes and night raids that kill, injure and traumatize innocent civilians drive people to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. Instead, the U.S. and international community should increase funding for Afghan-led humanitarian aid, development work, and landmine clean up while supporting regional diplomacy.
"The public yearns to hear the Obama Administration's exit strategy and ‘metrics' that will get us out of the costly occupation of Afghanistan and into providing more resources for smarter foreign policy and solving Americans' problems."
read:
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/04/23-12
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