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trekrider
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 Posted: Thu, 28 Oct 2004 10:05:08 Post Subject: Military record..................????? |
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Kerry's Dishonorable Discharge...
Mark Alexander
10/22/2004
(archive)
"Never suppose that in any possible situation, or under any circumstances, it is best for you to do a dishonorable thing..." --Thomas Jefferson
"Reporting for duty"? For a guy who's hitched his entire presidential campaign to his military service record, John Kerry sure is parsimonious when it comes to releasing that record. As noted in this column on more than one occasion, Kerry has consistently refused to sign a Standard Form 180 authorizing the Department of Defense to release all of his records.
George W. Bush's military records were so spotless that Dan Rather gleefully trotted out some fabricated documents in order to kick up a little dust. Of course, if Rather were a real journalist rather than just a TV talking head, he might actually develop a source who could find out what the remaining (approximately 100) pages in Kerry's DoD service jacket reveal.
What, exactly, is Kerry hiding? It is already common knowledge that most of his celebrated heroics were spurious, and that most of his medals were without merit (see "Kerry's Quagmire" at http://FederalistPatriot.US/alexander/ ). But given that the cat's already out of the bag, why not just sign the Standard Form 180?
For his part, Kerry claims he received an "Honorable Discharge" and that all his records have been released and are posted on his website, Kerry-04.com -- uh, make that JohnKerry.com. But Kerry has refused to say when he received an Honorable Discharge. Indeed, some of his military records are posted on his site -- but not all of them. Here, an experienced eye can read enough into what has been released by Kerry to develop a good profile of what hasn't been released.
It is our considered opinion, therefore, that John Kerry was separated from the military under a less than honorable discharge.
Among Kerry's released records is a 1977 cover letter from Jimmy Carter's Navy Secretary, W. Graham Claytor. What is revealing about this document is that it notes Kerry's original discharge was subject to review by a "board of officers" -- yet no such review should be necessary for an Honorable Discharge.
The review was conducted in accordance with "Title 10, U.S. Code Section 1162 and 1163," which pertains to grounds for involuntary separation from military service.
As many Vietnam veterans who served their nation with dignity and honor will recall, Jimmy Carter's first official act as president was the signing of Executive Order 4483 --less than an hour after his inauguration on 21 January 1977. EO 4483 provided general amnesty for draft evaders, war protesters and other offenders of that era. Its corresponding, and equally dubious, DoD directive took effect in March of 1977, expanding that amnesty to include separation from military service by other than honorable discharges. The DoD specified an appeal procedure whereby discharges could be reviewed on an individual basis to determine whether the status of a particular discharge could be revised.
Having lost his first bid for Congress, Kerry no doubt decided that his political future would be brighter as a war hero rather than a war protestor. While there are several categories of discharges beneath honorable, including general, medical, bad conduct and other than honorable, it is very likely that Kerry's discharge was dishonorable.
Supporting this assertion is the fact that Kerry had all his medals mysteriously reinstated in 1985. He claims that he lost his medal certificates (perhaps these are what he famously threw over that Capitol fence in protest), but when a military officer is subject to a Dishonorable Discharge, in addition to the loss of pay benefits and allowances, all medals and honors are revoked. In any case, it would be a cinch for John Kerry to refute our claim by simply signing that Standard Form 180. But he won't. Nor will hard-hitting journalists like Katie Couric and Dr. Phil press him on this issue.
Thus, while Kerry can correctly say -- thanks to Jimmy Carter -- that he received an Honorable Discharge, he could also say with equal precision that he received "other than honorable discharge." His activities as a leader of Vietnam Veterans Against the War were, indeed, forgiven by Carter's EO 4483 and the subsequent DoD directive.
However, according to legal scholars, John Kerry's meetings with enemy agents from Communist North Vietnam on multiple occasions between 1970 and 1972 are not covered under EO 4483. For that reason, we delivered to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft on Monday of this week a "Petition for Investigation and Indictment," calling on the Department of Justice to determine conclusively whether Kerry's actions, in direct violation of UCMJ (Article 104 part 904), U.S. Code (18 USC Sec. 2381 and 18 USC Sec. 953) and other applicable laws and acts of Congress, constitute treason. (To read the text of the petitioners' request, link to -- http://patriotpetitions.us/kerry/letter.asp )
Why prosecute Kerry now?
In October, 2003, Mr. Kerry chose to make his disputed Vietnam War record the centerpiece of his campaign for the presidency. In response, the more than 180,000 signatories of the above-referenced petition chose to make Mr. Kerry's war record the centerpiece of their campaign to determine whether his actions are subject to the Constitution's Fourteenth Amendment, Section 3.
The pertinent language states: "No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President ... having previously taken an oath ... to support the Constitution of the United States, [who has] engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."
While it is clear that no action will be taken on the petitioners' request prior to 2 November, we remain committed to holding Senator Kerry accountable for his actions regardless of the outcome of his presidential bid. Indeed, we are all committed to serving Kerry with an irrevocable dishonorable discharge from public office.
Quote of the week...
"They're the men who served with John Kerry in Vietnam. They're his entire chain of command, most of the officers in Kerry's unit. ... And they're the men who spent years in North Vietnamese prison camps. Tortured for refusing to confess to what John Kerry accused them of being -- war criminals. ... Why is this relevant? Because character and honesty matter. Especially in a time of war." --Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and POWs for Truth in their most recent ad on Kerry's war record and character.
On cross-examination...
"On more than one occasion, Senator Kerry has referred to the fight at Tora Bora in Afghanistan during late 2001 as a missed opportunity for America. He claims that our forces had Osama bin Laden cornered and allowed him to escape. ... As commander of the allied forces in the Middle East, I was responsible for the operation at Tora Bora, and I can tell you that the senator's understanding of events doesn't square with reality. ... Contrary to Senator Kerry, President Bush never 'took his eye off the ball' when it came to Osama bin Laden. The war on terrorism has a global focus. It cannot be divided into separate and unrelated wars, one in Afghanistan and another in Iraq. Both are part of the same effort to capture and kill terrorists before they are able to strike America again, potentially with weapons of mass destruction. Terrorist cells are operating in some 60 countries, and the United States, in coordination with dozens of allies, is waging this war on many fronts." --General Tommy Franks
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Little Bruin
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dadx2mj
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| Posted: Thu, 28 Oct 2004 10:47:54 Post Subject: |
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vulcan
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trekrider
Feeling: Prehistoric
Joined: 08 Jun 2003
Posts: 2176
Location: Twin cities,MN
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| Posted: Thu, 28 Oct 2004 15:59:10 Post Subject: |
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| vulcan wrote: | | he's only saying what the rest of the (the world) feel |
Does that mean that......We, as Americans should allow the rest of the world decide whom our governmental leaders should be?
Or rather.....Shouldn't we, as Americans change "our" leaders through the established due process (voting) without any outside influance (foriegn or "biased" media)?
**edited to include the following.........**
This is from Col Don Myers USMC (Ret).
It is long, and if you "skip" through it, be sure to fully read the last
paragraphs.
Lt Kevin Brown USMC, the author of this piece, writes way above his pay
grade.
Thanks and Semper Fi, Colonel,
Seamus
JDL is a retired two star Marine. This is a letter written from a young
officer. What insight. This is a fight that must be won or we will not
remain free as we are.
Don
Devildog News Service Comment: This letter was written by Lt. Kevin
Brown, USMC, a Marine Cobra pilot and 2001 graduate of the United States
Naval Academy. He expresses a basic thought that is becoming a common
thread in emails sent by those serving in Iraq.
Those who are serving there are smart enough to detect a basic fallacy
in the words of many. Simply stated, one cannot say that one is
supporting the troops in Iraq while saying that one does not support
what they are doing. In the words of Lieutenant Brown, "you cannot both
support the troops and protest their mission".
What they see coming is another version of Vietnam...eventually the
charade will be played to its natural conclusion and neither the troops
nor what they are doing will be supported. With the rug pulled out, they
will then become a latter day version of the Vietnam Veteran. Those who
had the Vietnam experience know exactly what I mean. It is our duty to
do our best to make certain that it doesn't happen to our successors.
Which, of course, is why this email, one that was provided by a major
retired Marine circuit, is forwarded to so many.
What they are also seeing is that a large segment of the public has
forgotten who attacked whom on 9/11 and who suffered more casualties
that day than were suffered on 7 December 1941.
JDL
Dad, you asked me what I would say to America from Iraq on 9/11 if I
had a podium and a microphone. I have thought about it, and here is my
response.
Your Son,
Kevin
September 11, 2004
Dear America,
"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men
stand ready to do violence on their behalf." -George Orwell
The Marine Corps is tired. I guess I should not say that, as I have no
authority or responsibility to speak for the Marine Corps as a whole,
and my opinions are mine alone. I will rephrase: this Marine is tired. I
write this piece from the sands of Iraq, west of Baghdad, at three
a.m., but I am not tired of the sand. I am neither tired of long days, nor of flying
and fighting. I am not tired of the food, though it does not taste
quite right. I am not tired of the heat; I am not tried of the mortars that
occasionally fall on my base. I am not tired of Marines dying, though
all Marines, past and present, mourn the loss of every brother and
sister that is killed; death is a part of combat and every warrior knows
that going into battle. One dead Marine is too many, but we give more than we take,
and unlike our enemies, we fight with honor. I am not tired of the missions
or the people; I have only been here a month, after all. I am, however,
tired of the hypocrisy and short-sightedness that seems to have gripped
so many of my countrymen and the media. I am tired of political
rhetoric that misses the point, and mostly I am tired of people "not
getting it."
Three years ago I was sitting in a classroom at Quantico, Virginia,
while attending the Marine Corps Basic Officer Course, learning about
the finer points of land navigation. Our Commanding Officer interrupted the class
to inform us that some planes had crashed in New York and Washington
D.C., and that he would return when he knew more. Tears welled in the
eyes of the Lieutenant on my right while class continued, albeit with an
audience that was not very focused; his sister lived in New York and
worked at the World Trade Center. We broke for lunch, though instead of
going to the chow hall proceeded to a small pizza and sub joint which
had a television. Slices of pizza sat cold in front of us as we watched
the same vivid images that you watched on September 11, 2001. I look
back on that moment now and realize even then I grasped, at some level,
that the events of that day would alter both my military career and my
country forever. Though I did not know that three years later, to the
day, I would be flying combat missions in Iraq as an AH-1W Super Cobra
pilot, I did understand that a war had just begun, on television for the
world to see, and that my classmates and I would fight that war. After
lunch we were told to go to our rooms, clean our weapons and pack our
gear for possible deployment to the Pentagon to augment perimeter
security. The parting words of the order were to make sure we packed
gloves, in case we had to handle bodies.
The first Marine killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom was in my company at
The Basic School, and was sitting in that land navigation class on
September 11. He fought bravely, led from the front, and was killed
seizing an oil refinery on the opening day of the war. His heroism made
my emergency procedure memorization for the T-34 primary flight school
trainer seem quite insignificant. This feeling of frustration was
shared by all of the student pilots, but we continued to press on. As
one instructor pointed out to us, "You will fight this war, not me.
Make sure that you are prepared when you get there." He was right; my
classmates from Pensacola are here beside me, flying every day in
support of the Marines on the ground. That instructor has since
retired, but I believe he has retired knowing that he made a
contribution to the greatest country in the history of the world, the
United States of America.
Many of you will read that statement and balk at its apparently
presumptuous and arrogant nature, and perhaps be tempted to stop reading
right here. I would ask that you keep going, for I did not say that
Americans are better than anyone else, for I do not believe that to be
the case. I did not say that our country, its leaders, military or
intelligence services are perfect or have never made mistakes, because
throughout history they have, and will continue to do so, despite their
best efforts. The Nation is more than the sum of its citizens and
leaders, more than its history, present, or future; a nation has
contemporary values which change as its leaders change, but it also has
timeless character, ideals forged with the blood and courage of
patriots. To quote the Pledge of Allegiance, our nation was founded
"under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." As
Americans, we have more freedom than we can handle sometimes.
If you are an atheist you might have a problem with that whole "under
God" part; if you are against liberating the people of Iraq,
Afghanistan, Asia, all of Europe (twice), and the former Soviet bloc, then perhaps the
"liberty and justice for all" section might leave you fuming. Our
Nation, throughout its history, has watered the seeds of democracy on
many continents, with blood, even when the country was in disagreement
about those decisions. Disagreement is a wonderful thing. To disagree
with your neighbors and your government is at the very heart of freedom.
Citizens have disagreed about every important and controversial decision
made by their leaders throughout history. Truman had the courage to
drop two nuclear weapons in order to end the largest war in history, and
then, by his actions, prevented the Soviets from extinguishing the light
of democracy in Eastern Europe, Berlin. Lincoln preserved our country
through civil war; Reagan knew in his heart that freedom is a more
powerful weapon than oppression. Leaders are paid to make difficult,
sometimes controversial decisions. History will judge the success of
their actions and the purity of their intent in a way that is impossible
at the present moment. In your disagreement and debate about the
current conflict, however, be very careful that you do not jeopardize
your nation or those who serve. The best time to use your freedom of
speech to debate difficult decisions is before they are made, not when
the lives of your countrymen are on the line.
Cherish your civil rights; I know that after having been in Iraq for
only one month I have a new appreciation for mine. You have the right
to say that you "support the troops" but oppose the war in Iraq and
Afghanistan. You have the right to vote for Senator John Kerry because
you believe that he has an exit strategy for Iraq, or because you just
cannot stand President Bush. You have the right to vote for President
George W. Bush if you believe that he has done a good job over the last
four years. You might even decide that you do not want to vote at all
and would rather avoid the issues as much as possible. That is
certainly your option, and doing nothing is the only option for many
people in this world.
It is not my place, nor am I allowed by the Uniformed Code of Military
Justice, to tell you how to vote. But I can explain to you the truth
about what is going on around you. We know, and have known from the
beginning, that the ultimate success or failure of the war in Iraq and
Afghanistan, as well as the future of those countries, rests solely on
the shoulders of the Iraqi and Afghani people. If someone complains
that we should not have gone to war with Saddam Hussein, that our
intelligence was bad, that President Bush's motives were impure, then
take the appropriate action. Exercise your right to vote for Senator
Kerry, but please stop complaining about something that happened over a
year ago. The decision to deploy our military in Iraq and Afghanistan
is in the past, and while I believe that it is important to the
democratic process for our nation to analyze the decisions of our
leadership in order to avoid repeating mistakes, it is far more
important to focus on the future. The question of which candidate will
"get us out of Iraq sooner" should not be a consideration in your mind.
YOU SHOULD NOT WANT US OUT OF IRAQ OR AFGHANISTAN SOONER.
There is only one coherent exit strategy that will make our time here worthwhile
and validate the sacrifice of so many of our countrymen. There is only one
strategy that has a chance of promoting peace and stabilizing the Middle
East. It is the exit strategy of both candidates, though voiced with
varying volumes and differing degrees of clarity. I will speak of Iraq
because that is where I am, though I feel the underlying principle applies to both Iraq and Afghanistan.
The American military must continue to help train and support the Iraqi
Police, National Guard, and Armed Forces. We must continue to give them
both responsibility and the authority with which to carry out those
responsibilities, so that they eventually can kill or capture the former
regime elements and foreign terrorists that are trying to create a
radical, oppressive state. We must continue to repair the infrastructure that we
damaged during the conflict, and improve the infrastructure that was
insufficient when Saddam was in power. We should welcome and encourage
partners in the coalition but recognize that many will choose the path
of least resistance and opt out; many of our traditional allies have
been doing this for years and it should not surprise us. We must respect the
citizens of Iraq and help them to understand the meaning of basic human
rights, for those are something the average Iraqi has never experienced.
We must be respectful of our cultural and religious differences. We
must help the Iraqis develop national pride, and most importantly, we
must leave this country better than we found it, at the right time, with
a chance of success so that its people will have an opportunity to forge
their own destiny. We must do all of these things as quickly and
efficiently as possible so that we are not seen as occupiers, but rather
liberators and helpers. We must communicate this to the world as
clearly and frequently as possible, both with words and actions.
If we leave before these things are done, then Iraq will fall into
anarchy and possibly plunge the Middle East into another war. The
ability of the United States to conduct foreign policy will be severely,
and perhaps permanently, degraded. Terrorism will increase, both in America and
around the world, as America will have demonstrated that it is not interested
in building and helping, only destroying. If we run or exit early, we
prove to our enemies that terror is more powerful and potent than freedom.
Many nations, like Spain, have already affirmed this in the minds of the
terrorists. Our failure, and its consequences, will be squarely on our
shoulders as a nation. It will be our fault. If we stay the course and
Iraq or Afghanistan falls into civil war on its own, then our hands are
clean. As a citizen of the United States and a U.S. Marine, I will be
able to sleep at night with nothing on my conscience, for I know that I,
and my country, have done as much as we could for these people. If we
leave early, I will not be able to live with myself, and neither should you. The
blood will be on our hands, the failure on our watch.
The bottom line is this: Republican or Democrat, approve or disapprove
of the decision to go to war, you need to support our efforts here. You
cannot both support the troops and protest their mission. Every time
the parent of a fallen Marine gets on CNN with a photo, accusing
President Bush of murdering his son, the enemy wins a strategic victory.
I cannot begin to comprehend the grief he feels at the death of his son,
but he dishonors the memory of my brave brother who paid the ultimate
price. That Marine volunteered to serve, just like the rest of us. No
one here was drafted. I am proud of my service and that of my peers. I
am ashamed of that parent's actions, and I pray to God that if I am
killed my parents will stand with pride before the cameras and reaffirm
their belief that my life and sacrifice mattered; they loved me dearly
and they firmly support the military and its mission in Iraq and
Afghanistan. With that statement, they communicate very clearly to our
enemies around the world that America is united, that we cannot be
intimidated by kidnappings, decapitations and torture, and that we care
enough about the Afghani and Iraqi people to give them a chance at
democracy and basic human rights. Do not support those that seek
failure for us, or seek to trivialize the sacrifices made here. Do not
make the deaths of your countrymen be in vain. Communicate to your
media and elected officials that you are behind us and our mission.
Send letters and encouragement to those who are deployed. When you meet
a person that serves you, whether in the armed forces, police, or fire
department, show them respect. Thank the spouses around you every day,
raising children alone, whose loved ones are deployed. Remember not
only those that have paid the ultimate price, but the veterans that bear
the physical and emotional scars of defending your freedom. At the very
least, follow your mother's advice. "If you can't say something nice,
don't say anything at all." Do not give the enemy a foothold in our
Nation's public opinion. He rejoices at Fahrenheit 9/11 and applauds
every time an American slams our efforts. The military can succeed here
so long as American citizens support us wholeheartedly.
Sleep well on this third anniversary of 9/11, America. Rough men are
standing ready to do violence on your behalf. Many of your sons and
daughters volunteered to stand watch for you. Not just rough men- the
infantry, the Marine grunts, the Special Operations Forces- but lots of
eighteen and nineteen year old kids, teenagers, who are far away from
home, serving as drivers, supply clerks, analysts, and mechanics. They
all have stories, families, and dreams. They miss you, love you, and
are putting their lives on the line for you. Do not make their time
here, their sacrifice, a waste. Support them, and their mission.
_________________
Two wrongs don't make a right!
But, three lefts do!! |
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