Is John Kerry in the National Vietnamese Museum as a war hero, a site

[juajen]

dedicated to him because of his speech to Congress in 1971(?). Also did John Kerry meet with the N. Vietnamese in Paris on his own, without any approval of this Country or Congress?

I need this info to combat a retired Green Beret's slant on John Kerry. This guy has some influence, and I think is misinformed, but I cannot remember this info in an exact form to refute his argument. He is dubious right now about * so I am anxious for this info. Please don't send me to google. I get lost amid all of the information.

I seem to remember that he went to Paris as a representative of a vet group and I know he was searching for info on POW/MIA's. More info anyone, please. The museum thing I haven't the foggiest idea how to research. Sounds like pure propaganda to me, because if this was so, I'm sure the pugs would have it all over the tellie by now.

[Cassandra]

1. He appears to have gone to the Paris peace talks...

for fact-finding. He reported what he found to Congress during his testimony. He has said it was unusual for him, as a private citizen, to have gone but he spoke openly to the participants there; it was not a secret mission. He did NOT negotiate, which would have been illegal. The North Vietnamese apparently do have Kerry's photo in a museum, apparently from the time he went with McCain on a POW-MIA trip. I have no idea where to find hard evidence of this.

[patdem]

2. I have heard that the picture of Kerry is with McCain when they went

regarding the POW issues. I think we need to visit the Museum maybe through google??

[JI7]

3. Kerry is a hero because he helped end the unjust war

tell that person that the vietnamese were never the enemy .

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[juajen]

5. I'm assuming that this is being blown out of proportion, like everything

else. I refuse to believe that John Kerry would every do anything that was not honorable. More and more, I believe that he is a hero in every way. Thanks folks. More info, please. Ya'll are great!!

[Lithos]

6. John Kerry...

Met with representatives of both sides in Paris to deal with the issue of MIA's and POW's (fact checking). He did not attempt to discuss any treaty deals or negotiate with them in any way which would have been against the law. This is the slam that the swiftboaters are trying to paint him with. He also freely discussed his trip in 1971 with the Foreign Relations Committee.

This is part of the Swift Boat crap which is being financed by Bush's friends.

There indeed is a Photograph in the museum from a 1993 junket to N. Vietnam as part of the first official US delegation to visit that country since the start of normalization. The subject again was MIA's. The Vietnamese placed the picture supposedly in an area reserved for those in the US who were against the war.

Kerry was indeed against the war, for he knew it was wrong. He wasn't the only one. Nixon used it as part of his platform in 1968 to beat Humphrey. The slogans then were Peace with Honor and Vietnamization of Vietnam (getting the US out). The change point was 'Tet' in 1968 where a majority of people realized for the first time that the war could not be won in a traditional military sense.

In the end, it was Nixon who perpetuated the war far beyond what was necessary and ultimately failed to deliver on his campaign promises. Even by the admission of Nixon's own Secretary of Defense and other advisors, the war was carried on unnecessarily for four years with the unnecessary deaths of thousands of US soldiers. Kerry realized this and was acting to end these unnecessary deaths of his comrades in arms. It was then he stated the "who wants to be the last to die for a mistake".

Kerry did not abandon the troops in Vietnam, Nixon did. Even after Kerry had left the service, he still was fighting for the troops whose lives were being squandered in order to fill the coffers of Nixon's buddies. (Sound familiar?)

So the logic of the swiftboaters is to try and destroy the military record of a man by trying to justify the mistaken policies of a discredited President in order to brazenly and partisanly support the mistaken policies of a Presidential failure.



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[juajen]

7. Thanks so much!!

Do you know if his picture was a solo one, or was it with McCain as another poster offered.

[Lithos]

8. Solo.

I do not recall a trip with McCain. This was not the first official contact between a US official and the Vietnamese government since the ending of hostilities in 1973. Sec of State James Baker met with Vietnam's foreign minister in 1990 to discuss a roadmap for normalization of relationship between the two countries.

As for McCain, in 1995, both Kerry and McCain did co-sponsor an effort for full normalization of relations with Vietnam.

[Lithos]

9. Here is part of the press release for that trip

In an effort to encourage further progress, it is appropriate at this time to recognize what the Vietnamese have done in our effort to account for our missing. Attached is a summary outing that progress. Therefore, I have decided to end our opposition to the efforts of other nations to clear Vietnam's arrears in the IMF. I believe, as do former POWs John McCain and Douglas "Pete" Peterson and others veterans such as John Kerry and others in Congress, that such action will best serve the goal of achieving further progress toward the fullest possible accounting.

Any further steps in US-Vietnamese relations will strictly depend on further progress by the Vietnamese on the POW/MIA issue. We should not be swayed from that course; America owes no less to the brave men and women who fought in Vietnam and to their loved ones. Progress to date is simply not sufficient to warrant any change in our trade embargo or any further steps toward normalization.

In order to press for further progress and send a clear message to the Vietnamese government, I will send to Hanoi a high level delegation. The official delegation will include Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs Hershel Gober, Assistant Secretary of State Winston Lord and Lieutenant General Michael E. Ryan.

I also have invited representatives of the three largest veterans group to accompany the delegation. The American Legion, The Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Disabled American Veterans have each agreed to send representatives with the delegation and I am grateful for their willingness to participate in this important mission. In addition, I have invited the National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia to send a representative. I have also asked our current Ambassador in Thailand, David Floyd Lambertson, who has extensive experience in Vietnam, to assist the delegation.

The delegation will make clear to the Vietnamese that any further steps in relations between our two nations depend on tangible progress on the outstanding POW/MIA cases. We insist upon efforts by the Vietnamese in four key areas:

Remains: Concrete results from efforts on their part to recover remains and repatriate American remains.

Discrepancy cases: Continued resolution of 92 discrepancy cases, live sightings and field activities.

Laos: Further assistance in implementing trilateral investigation with the Lao.

Archives: Accelerated efforts to provide all POW/MIA related documents that will help lead to genuine answers.

http://www.aiipowmia.com/wh/wh04.html

Clearly his intent was focused as mentioned above.

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