THE NEW SOLDIER
Ed at Monkeywatch informs me that John Kerry's antiwar book (a picture of the cover is linked in my previous post) is available online. You can read it here. Spread the word. This is something the voting public needs to see.

HERO OR GOAT?
Apparently the Swift Boat Veterans for the Truth have hit a nerve. The Kerry campaign has sprung into action as Kerry's support from veterans has fallen in recent weeks. He has even enlisted the assistance of former Senator Max Cleland in stopping the Swiftvet ads (poor Cleland has become nothing more than a pathetic mascot for the Democratic party).

The debate over Kerry's medals and whether he deserved them are a moot point, in my opinion. Medal Inflation has been going on for years. The sad truth is that an officer will often receive a higher award for the same deed as an enlsited person. This is nothing new, and there is no end in sight (this is less likely when the chain of command is populated by high quality officers). This debate clouds the real issue at work here.



The real issue at here is Kerry's conduct after he returned from Vietnam. When he returned, Kerry turned on his fellow veterans, calling them war criminals. In 1971, he told the following story to the Washington Star newspaper:

"We established an American presence in most cases by showing the flag and firing at sampans and villages along the banks. Those were our instructions, but they seemed so out of line that we finally began to go ashore, against our orders, and investigate the villages that were supposed to be our targets. We discovered we were butchering a lot of innocent people, and morale became so low among the officers on those 'swift boats' that we were called back to Saigon for special instructions from Gen. Abrams. He told us we were doing the right thing. He said our efforts would help win the war in the long run. That's when I realized I could never remain silent about the realities of the war in Vietnam."

Following his "Winter Soldier Investigation", he told the following story to Congress in 1971:

They told the stories at times they had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, tape wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the country side of South Vietnam in addition to the normal ravage of war, and the normal and very particular ravaging which is done by the applied bombing power of this country.

These statements made life harder for his fellow veterans, giving the antiwar crowd an excuse for their mistreatment of returning veterans. Even worse, the propaganda victory that Kerry gave to the North Vietnamese and Vietcong undoubtedly encouraged them to fight harder, costing more military and civilian lives.

Whether the Swiftvets' allegations are true or not, John Kerry has already shown America he is unfit for command. If he was telling the truth in 1971, and I don't believe that he was, he is a war criminal. If he was lying, he is a traitor. Either way, he is hardly Commander-in-Chief material.

PROBLEM SOLVED
I finally resolved my font issues. Unfortunately, it required that I delete all of the posts I have made since I first attempted posting by email. I lost about a half dozen posts. Oh well, sh*t happens. I guess that I was lucky that I've been lazy about posting lately. I guess posting by email was a bust.

BACK TO THE GRIND
After 2 weeks of lying around, it was time to go back to work. I had drill last weekend, so I got to wear the green cammo uniform (they still look weird after a few months of the desert uniforms). I went back to my civilian job today to find a pile of work waiting for me. My supervisor is on vacation this week, so at least I won't have him looking over my shoulder while I get caught up.

Vacation was good. We went to Virginia Beach. This was the third time there for us. We did the usual tourist/beach stuff. We also
-went to an aquarium
-heard some ghost stories
-solved a murder at a mystery dinner theater
-rode roller coasters at Busch Gardens

On the way back we stopped in Pennsylvania for a couple days to ride more roller coasters at Hershey Park (The Great Bear is a trip).

I also got some reading done. I read three novels and a book of short stories. All were by Donald Westlake. There's nothing like good crime fiction to take your mind off the routine.

Speaking of crime, there were a number of developments in the world of politics while I was on vacation. It'll take me awhile to catch up, but I trust the archives of my favorite bloggers will be useful in getting up to speed.