Comments! (Warning, LONG)

A couple weeks ago, I commented on President Bush’s speech at the RNC. I neglected to note a late comment Amy made. They were good and I’ll address them now. But first, I just want to say, that I enjoy the comments, especially when they differ from mine and challenge my own views. The following gets a tad harsh at the end but please understand, that harshness is reserved for John Kerry, NOT for Amy. She asked a question and I answered it.

Also, be sure to tune in tomorrow. I’m really fired up over something that happened at lunch. I’m trying to cool down but I’ll still be spitting nails over it tomorrow, I’m sure. It’s gonna be Ann Coulter harsh and a side of me many of you haven’t seen before. I’ve just been pushed over the edge on an issue and can’t suppress my true feelings on it anymore.

Amy says:

Here is what I'm scared about--re-electing the unqualified disaster that led us into two wars without really planning ahead for either one. Hussein never had any strong Al-Qaida ties. Iraq was not a front for the war on terror until we went in there. And we've just reshuffled the warlords in Afghanistan. How many more wars are we going to get dragged into by this administration?


Valid questions that I should be able to answer with some facts.

First, Hussein never had any strong Al Qaeda ties. I suppose strong is probably a qualifier statement but lets use the 9-11 report, which many have used to cite that there were no ties. It only found that there were no ties in regards to the attacks on Sept 11th.

You can find the 9-11 report here.

On page 78 you can read about Bin Laden re-forming a terrorist organization called Ansar al Islam and that there are indications that the Hussein Regime aided this group in its efforts against the Kurds in N. Iraq. On the same page, Bin Laden himself met w/ a senior Iraqi intelligence agent.

On page 83, it talks about Bin Laden making an effort to engage Hussein in talks. Hussein rebuffed him changed his mind in mid 1998: “…Al Qaeda members reportedly went to Iraq to meet with Iraqi intelligence. In July, an Iraqi delegation traveled to Afghanistan to meet first with the Taliban and then with Bin Laden.” Sources repotred that one, or perhaps both, of these meetings was apparently arranged through Bin Laden’s Egyptian deputy, Zawahiri, who had ties of his to the Iraqis.”

Then on page 145: On November 4, 1998, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York unsealed its indictment of Bin Laden, charging him with conspiracy to attack U.S. defense installations….Al Qaeda had reached an understanding with the government of Iraq that Al Qaeda would not work against that government and that on particular projects, specifically including weapons development, al Qaeda would work cooperatively with the Government of Iraq.” It does go on to say that part of the indictment was dropped at a later time.

That’s just doing a simple word search in that report.

And Iraq was harboring terrorists before the war. Zawahiri was there before the war along with others. But just throwing all of that away, I think it was the right idea to go in regardless of any ties to Al Qaeda. But we won’t argue about whether or not it’s gone well in the past year because I think our opinions, while not identical, will be close.

She also comments on Kerry:

Kerry actually was a soldier, and risked his life, but Bush fell back on his privilege and escaped danger in Vietnam. Why is it that Bush is the one who gets credit for understanding the sacrifices that a soldier makes? This is very puzzling to me.

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They both used privilege to avoid service. Kerry just ran out of opportunities. He filed for multiple deferments. Then he volunteered for Swift Boat duty, probably for 2 reasons. JFK did it, and at the time, it was one of the least dangerous jobs there was. It wasn’t until after he joined up the Naval reserves, that the role of the Swift Boats was changed to shut down smuggling and shipping on the waterways. He did not volunteer for anything more dangerous than just plain military duty. Now, he did serve in dangerous duty and if his actions were truly heroic, deserves credit for it. But he didn’t volunteer for it so let’s not romanticize it too much. And I’ll answer the rest of the question below.

Amy writes:

I think maybe part of the issue could be that Kerry came back after the war and protested it. But who knows better than someone who was there whether there were human rights abuses going on?


It wasn’t just that he protested it, surely within his rights and probably a noble endeavor. Though that is a different discussion that will probably be addressed tomorrow. It’s what Kerry said when he got back. He lied before the Senate about witnessing and COMMITTING horrible atrocities. The entire Winter Soldier saga has been disproved time and again. He met with the N. Vietnamese gov’t in France after he got back. He was part of the VVAW(Vietnam Vets against War), a radical organization.

He came back and protested the war, not on behalf of the troops, but to dishonor them and smear them. Many in captivity recall hearing his false testimony being used against them during their capture and torture.

Kerry is despised by most in the military because when he came back, he attempted to smear it and dishonor those who served. And he did for many years because the media was a willing accomplice. I might grant him a pass on it if he’d admit that he was young, made mistakes and lied. Even Jane Fonda did that much. But he hasn’t and has gone so far as to say that he’s proud of it. He’s a vile despicable son of a bitch.

The truth is, and trust me, there will be more on this tomorrow, the protesters at the time didn’t give a shit about the military members. The military was just a bunch of babykillers to the protesters. The protesters were predominantly un-American, funded by many communist and socialist organizations with ties to the Soviets.

I’ll say it again. John Kerry is a vile and despicable son of a bitch. He’s certainly entitled to his opinions and his right to share them. But please don’t suggest that he should garner more respect than he does, just because he wore the uniform for 4 months in combat. If that’s all he did., then he would have my respect. But he pissed on, disrespected and dishonored anyone one else who has ever worn the uniform, including me, my father, my grandfathers and many of my other relatives and friends, with his actions.

That is why I not only like the current President more than I do John Kerry, it is why most military members do. Hell, we’d like President Bush more even if he had never served whatsoever or even seen anyone in a uniform.

Tune in tomorrow for my nastiest rant ever. But put on your thick skin if you lean to the left poltically.