Kerry hones statements on the Vietnam War

[kalian]

http://www.iht.com/articles/515928.html

MIAMI Senator John Kerry has distanced himself from contentious statements he made three decades ago after returning from the Vietnam War, saying that his long-ago use of the word "atrocities" to describe his and others' actions was inappropriate and "a little bit excessive."
.
"If you wanted to ask me, 'Have you ever made mistakes in your life?' sure," Kerry, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, said on Sunday in an hourlong interview on the NBC News program "Meet the Press."
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"I think some of the language that I used was a language that reflected an anger."

...more...

Ummm...would somebody like to comment on this. Kerry is REALLY
starting to piss me off. :mad:

[stepnw1f]

1. What's The Prob?

[girl gone mad]

2. the problem is...

he was right 3 decades ago.

[coltman]

3. Miami Senator?????????????

[freetobegay]

4. someone forgot a comma

eom

[lastknowngood]

5. does anyone remember Mi Li ? the village in which every man

woman and child were killed to show them who was boss. By the way that is where Powell won his bones, he was the officer in charge of the cover up. By the way why did he admit mistakes the shrub said he couldn't think of any.

[ezee]

7. He admitted he made a mistake

perhaps because he is a man, Shrub wont admitt a mistake because he is not! I prefer having the MAN in office, not a shrub bush!

[James T. Kirk]

6. Transcript

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4772030/
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MR. RUSSERT: Before we take a break, I want to talk about Vietnam. You are a decorated war hero of Vietnam, prominently used in your advertising. You first appeared on MEET THE PRESS back in 1971, your first appearance. I want to roll what you told the country then and come back and talk about it:

(Videotape, MEET THE PRESS, April 18, 1971):

MR. KERRY (Vietnam Veterans Against the War): There are all kinds of atrocities and I would have to say that, yes, yes, I committed the same kind of atrocities as thousands of other soldiers have committed in that I took part in shootings in free-fire zones. I conducted harassment and interdiction fire. I used 50-caliber machine guns which we were granted and ordered to use, which were our only weapon against people. I took part in search-and-destroy missions, in the burning of villages. All of this is contrary to the laws of warfare. All of this is contrary to the Geneva Conventions and all of this ordered as a matter of written established policy by the government of the United States from the top down. And I believe that the men who designed these, the men who designed the free-fire zone, the men who ordered us, the men who signed off the air raid strike areas, I think these men, by the letter of the law, the same letter of the law that tried Lieutenant Calley, are war criminals.

(End videotape)

MR. RUSSERT: You committed atrocities.

SEN. KERRY: Where did all that dark hair go, Tim? That's a big question for me. You know, I
thought a lot, for a long time, about that period of time, the things we said, and I think the word is a bad word. I think it's an inappropriate word. I mean, if you wanted to ask me have you ever made mistakes in your life, sure. I think some of the language that I used was a language that reflected an anger. It was honest, but it was in anger, it was a little bit excessive.
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