Petition urges Kerry
to come clean

October 5, 2004

An online petition by the swiftboat veterans group challenging John Kerry’s actions during and after the Vietnam war calls on the Massachusetts senator to apologize to American servicemen or provide evidence of his charges against them.

“Upon your return from Vietnam, you betrayed your fellow veterans by accusing them of engaging in horrendous war crimes,” the petition begins. “Through your post-war activities, and during Senate testimony viewed by the entire nation, you created and nurtured the myth that American soldiers in Vietnam were involved in such crimes on a daily basis and that such activity was sanctioned by our commanding officers.”

The petition, which last night had more than 6,000 signatures, was produced by Swift Boat Veterans and POWs for Truth, which recently changed its name to reflect cooperation with Americans imprisoned during the Vietnam War.

The group says Kerry has made claims of atrocities without any documentation. In his 1971 testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Kerry said American servicemen regularly engaged in crimes, including charges they “had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians [and] razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan.”

The petition also notes Kerry met with North Vietnamese officials in Paris “and worked with them in the furtherance of their political and military objectives against the United States.”

As he seeks to become commander in chief, Kerry must do the following, the petition says.

Acknowledge to the American public that you did not personally witness any such atrocities or, in the alternative, cite such examples and then provide an explanation of what actions you took relative to these alleged war crimes.
Explain to the American public the nature and extent of war crimes in which you participated.
Explain to the American public your justification for contacting and working in conjunction with a foreign government then at war with the United States.
Provide an acknowledgment and apology to the American veterans for your all encompassing accusations, and more specifically to our POWs for any extensions of their internment caused by your actions.
Personally respond factually to the challenges made against your service in Vietnam by some 275 men who served with you.

The petition says Kerry has refused to respond directly to the charges made by the swiftboat vets group, “electing instead to have professional political operatives flood the media with efforts to discredit these former comrades.”

“We want to hear from you,” the petition says.

“If you betrayed us once, we need to be assured that you will not do it again. It is time for you to set the record straight.”

Petition urges Kerry
to come clean

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Petition urges Kerry
to come clean