Military Brass Endorses Kerry

Off Topic Politics and World Issues
1

“In an unprecedented display of support from the military establishment, 12 retired generals and admirals endorsed John Kerry for president of the United States on Wednesday. These distinguished flag officers join the ranks of tens of thousands of veterans – including over 500 veteran delegates in Boston – who want a stronger, more secure America and their fellow veteran John Kerry to be the next Commander-in-Chief.”

“The current administration has an overly simplistic view of how and when to use our military. By not bringing in our friends and allies, they have created a mess in Iraq and are crippling our forces around the world. John Kerry has a realistic understanding of the requirements of our military and the threats that we face.” - ADM William J. Crowe (USN, Ret.)

“My son is a Navy sailor, my son-in-law is a Navy sailor, and my nephew is a Navy sailor. I want them, and all of America’s sons and daughters in uniform to have a new, wiser, better, and courageous commander-in-chief in John Kerry,” said Vice Admiral Lee F. Gunn (USN, Ret.)

I am proud to have served our country in the military for over 41 years. I am even prouder that 4 of my children have worn the uniform of our armed forces. Three are still serving. As a combat veteran and proven leader, I know that John Kerry will never send them in harm’s way, without exhausting all means of diplomacy. Even then, it will be a last resort. God forbid if he ever has to, he will make sure that they are part of an armed force as best equipped, best training, and most respected in the world." - LTG Edward Baca (USA, Ret.)

“I ask you to join me in standing up for an American who has given truly outstanding service to his country in peace and in war. John Kerry has the right message and right character to bring the nation forward. Both John and I served in Vietnam – and know what it is to be tested on the battlefield, fighting for your country. John Kerry never quit fighting for his country.” - GEN Wesley K. Clark (USA, Ret.)

“Success in the global war on terror requires enlightened U.S. leadership - leadership that knows the importance of listening to and working with other countries. Senator Kerry is such a leader, and as Commander-in-Chief, he will adapt our military to the unprecedented security demands faced by our country and its armed forces.” - LTG Daniel Christman (USA, Ret.)

“Sen. Kerry has demonstrated his courage in combat and his broad knowledge of international relations while in the Senate. He’s a leader who is not afraid to lead.” - GEN Joseph Hoar (USMC, Ret.)

“John Kerry understands the future as it is framed by the international community and by the people at home. He will make the right decisions about education, defense, intelligence, economic development both foreign and domestic, and sustaining international relationships. He is a leader I trust.” - LTG Claudia J. Kennedy (USA, Ret.)

“The miscalculations of the last three years have severely stressed our armed forces both around the world and here at home. John Kerry understands the military and war. He is the right leader at the right time to restore America’s credibility around the world.” - LTG Donald Kerrick (USA, Ret.)

“I’m a registered independent, but I like and admire John Kerry. He simply has a great record of brave and skillful service to the country. He is sure to be a fine Commander-in-Chief, one we can all be proud of, and proud to follow.” - GEN Merrill “Tony” A. McPeak (USAF, Ret.)

“I believe in John Kerry. As a young man, he heeded his country’s call to service when it needed him. He commanded in combat and did so with bravery and distinction. He knows from experience a commander’s responsibility to his troops. He stands with our troops and with their families.” - GEN John M. Shalikashvili (USA, Ret.)

“George Bush as the Commander-in-Chief has got us into a morass in both Iraq and Afghanistan. John Kerry is a true veteran, and would be a much better commander-in-chief.” - ADM Stansfield Turner (USN, Ret.)

“Senator Kerry is a principled, patriotic leader with the requisite skills to lead America in the 21st century.” - GEN Johnnie E. Wilson (USA, Ret.)

2

Why has nearly every single person in Kerry’s chain of command said he is unfit to lead our country?

3

what is 12 generals 1%, 2 % of our military commanders…I think I could round up that many senile old generals to support me too.
What about the tons of military people that think donald rumsfeld is the best secretary of Defense in U.S. history, someone in the Admiral John Fisher of Kilverstone mold who is revolutionize they way a stodgy force is fighting.

I am sure Kerry will carry the military vote…oh wait…there isnt a chance in hell of that happening.

4 
 6 Vietnam vets this weekend at HS reunion, all oppose Kerry. Dan Haney - 602nd Air Commando Sq. A1 pilot ?67

? Out of 45 Vietnam veterans… all say pooh on JFK…100%. powmiavets

? Our heli-vets pol shows 160 against and 6 for Kerry. Ron Leonard, 25th Aviation Battalion

? I know about 650 Vietnam vets and their attitude toward about Kerry is 100% negative. Dan Decker, TSgt. USAF (ret.)

? I know thousands of vets .I would say the opinion is about 98% against Kerry. Tony Cartlidge-Vietnam Combat Marine, 1968

? Of 27 Vietnam Veterans I know, including myself, not one is willing to vote for John Kerry. Charles Banto, USMC 1958-1974

? 100,000 e-mails, almost all veterans, around 100 to 1 against Kerry. Don Bendell, Special Forces, Vietnam, 1968-69, noted author

? Out of 25 guys, 90% against Kerry. Mike- mleonardos

? 240 vets, mostly Vietnam, 85% against Kerry. Tony Newcomb, Cpt.U.S.Army (ret.)

? Of the more than 2500 veterans of all ranks who responded, 59 took umbrage with what I had to say (against Kerry). Mark A. Smith, former POW, Vietnam

? An ongoing poll, with names and comments at 11thcavnam.com is running 16 for Bush, 4 for Kerry (80% for Bush.)

? 12 Vietnam vets, all of whom are against John Kerry. Vietnam vet, Tom Taylor

? I?d make the numbers 80 to 20 against Kerry. Philip Topps, Cpt. Inf.(ret), 1st Inf. Div. 69-70

? 100 against Kerry - 0 for him. Storrs Warinner- Vietnam veteran

? Bush 2115 (88%) - Kerry 275 (12%) - viperaqsh50

? A summary of individual votes sent in to V.V.A.R. is running 16 for Bush, 3 for Kerry.

GROUPS WITH NO DATA

? Every vet we know is opposed to Kerry. Chuck and Mary Schantag, P.O.W. Network

? Rangers are 100% against Kerry. NOATLMUS44 - President

? Every veteran I?ve talked to is against Kerry. Major General Carl Schneider (ret.), Air Force, Korea and Vietnam

? I am anti-Kerry, as are most of my friends who are Vietnam veterans. Stud 369

? I share the distrust I hear from my veteran colleagues. Peter McHugh, CW4 USA, ?67-?68 ,?71-?72

? I would say 90% of the military here (power plant) are against Kerry. P.Rein

? 99.5% against Kerry - at www.paltalk.com

“We represent hundreds of thousands of American veterans who do not want to see John Kerry any where near the Oval Office,” said Ted Sampley, founder of V.V.A.J.K, and a U.S. Army Green Beret and veteran of two combat tours in Vietnam.

Said Sampley, “I have personally dealt with John Kerry on the issue of US POWs left behind in Vietnam. Kerry is not truthful and is not worthy of the support of US veterans. Many Vietnam vets have been duped into thinking Kerry is their friend. He is not. To us, he is ‘Hanoi John?’.”

Dan Tran said speaking as a member of Vietnamese Americans Against John Kerry, “On behalf of tens of thousands of Vietnamese-Americans, we are determined to demonstrate against Senator Kerry all across this nation.”

Dan Tran, a NASA engineer and president of the Vietnam Human Rights Project, said, “John Kerry aided and abetted the communist government in Hanoi and has hindered any human rights progress in Vietnam.”

“John Kerry has fought harder for the Vietnamese communists than he fought against them in Vietnam,” says Mike Benge, former civilian Viet Nam POW. “In the Senate, Kerry blocked Vietnam Human Rights (and religious freedom) Bill on behalf of Hanoi, while the Vietnamese communists continue to wage a war of repression against the non-communist Vietnamese and a war of genocide against our former allies the Montagnard ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands of Vietnam.”

Vets refuse to forgive Kerry for antiwar acts

By Charles Hurt
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

VIETNAM SPECIAL FORCES/ AND SPECIAL OPERATIONS OTHER VIETNAM VETERANS EX-POWS-KIA/MIA FAMILIES AND FRIENDS AND THE VIETNAMESE COMMUNITY AGAINST KERRY

Anyone who spends time visiting Vietnam veterans? websites will soon find out that Sen. John Kerry is not only disliked but is emphatically despised by his brethren and for good reasons:

http://www.vnsfvetakerry.com/

Sponsered by “KerryLied.Com”
To tell the truth about Vietnam veterans

Where: Washington, DC
When: Sunday, Sept 12, 2004 2:00-4:00 PM (EDT)
Why: To tell the truth about Vietnam veterans. To counter the lies told about Vietnam veterans by John Kerry

Joe

5 
 6 Vietnam vets this weekend at HS reunion, all oppose Kerry. Dan Haney - 602nd Air Commando Sq. A1 pilot ?67

? Out of 45 Vietnam veterans… all say pooh on JFK…100%. powmiavets

? Our heli-vets pol shows 160 against and 6 for Kerry. Ron Leonard, 25th Aviation Battalion

? I know about 650 Vietnam vets and their attitude toward about Kerry is 100% negative. Dan Decker, TSgt. USAF (ret.)

? I know thousands of vets .I would say the opinion is about 98% against Kerry. Tony Cartlidge-Vietnam Combat Marine, 1968

? Of 27 Vietnam Veterans I know, including myself, not one is willing to vote for John Kerry. Charles Banto, USMC 1958-1974

? 100,000 e-mails, almost all veterans, around 100 to 1 against Kerry. Don Bendell, Special Forces, Vietnam, 1968-69, noted author

? Out of 25 guys, 90% against Kerry. Mike- mleonardos

? 240 vets, mostly Vietnam, 85% against Kerry. Tony Newcomb, Cpt.U.S.Army (ret.)

? Of the more than 2500 veterans of all ranks who responded, 59 took umbrage with what I had to say (against Kerry). Mark A. Smith, former POW, Vietnam

? An ongoing poll, with names and comments at 11thcavnam.com is running 16 for Bush, 4 for Kerry (80% for Bush.)

? 12 Vietnam vets, all of whom are against John Kerry. Vietnam vet, Tom Taylor

? I?d make the numbers 80 to 20 against Kerry. Philip Topps, Cpt. Inf.(ret), 1st Inf. Div. 69-70

? 100 against Kerry - 0 for him. Storrs Warinner- Vietnam veteran

? Bush 2115 (88%) - Kerry 275 (12%) - viperaqsh50

? A summary of individual votes sent in to V.V.A.R. is running 16 for Bush, 3 for Kerry.

GROUPS WITH NO DATA

? Every vet we know is opposed to Kerry. Chuck and Mary Schantag, P.O.W. Network

? Rangers are 100% against Kerry. NOATLMUS44 - President

? Every veteran I?ve talked to is against Kerry. Major General Carl Schneider (ret.), Air Force, Korea and Vietnam

? I am anti-Kerry, as are most of my friends who are Vietnam veterans. Stud 369

? I share the distrust I hear from my veteran colleagues. Peter McHugh, CW4 USA, ?67-?68 ,?71-?72

? I would say 90% of the military here (power plant) are against Kerry. P.Rein

? 99.5% against Kerry - at www.paltalk.com

“We represent hundreds of thousands of American veterans who do not want to see John Kerry any where near the Oval Office,” said Ted Sampley, founder of V.V.A.J.K, and a U.S. Army Green Beret and veteran of two combat tours in Vietnam.

Said Sampley, “I have personally dealt with John Kerry on the issue of US POWs left behind in Vietnam. Kerry is not truthful and is not worthy of the support of US veterans. Many Vietnam vets have been duped into thinking Kerry is their friend. He is not. To us, he is ‘Hanoi John?’.”

Dan Tran said speaking as a member of Vietnamese Americans Against John Kerry, “On behalf of tens of thousands of Vietnamese-Americans, we are determined to demonstrate against Senator Kerry all across this nation.”

Dan Tran, a NASA engineer and president of the Vietnam Human Rights Project, said, “John Kerry aided and abetted the communist government in Hanoi and has hindered any human rights progress in Vietnam.”

“John Kerry has fought harder for the Vietnamese communists than he fought against them in Vietnam,” says Mike Benge, former civilian Viet Nam POW. “In the Senate, Kerry blocked Vietnam Human Rights (and religious freedom) Bill on behalf of Hanoi, while the Vietnamese communists continue to wage a war of repression against the non-communist Vietnamese and a war of genocide against our former allies the Montagnard ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands of Vietnam.”

Vets refuse to forgive Kerry for antiwar acts

By Charles Hurt
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

VIETNAM SPECIAL FORCES/ AND SPECIAL OPERATIONS OTHER VIETNAM VETERANS EX-POWS-KIA/MIA FAMILIES AND FRIENDS AND THE VIETNAMESE COMMUNITY AGAINST KERRY

Anyone who spends time visiting Vietnam veterans? websites will soon find out that Sen. John Kerry is not only disliked but is emphatically despised by his brethren and for good reasons:

http://www.vnsfvetakerry.com/

Sponsered by “KerryLied.Com”
To tell the truth about Vietnam veterans

Where: Washington, DC
When: Sunday, Sept 12, 2004 2:00-4:00 PM (EDT)
Why: To tell the truth about Vietnam veterans. To counter the lies told about Vietnam veterans by John Kerry

Joe

6

Interesting quotes. However it is pretty hard to ignore that Bush is one of the most popular presidents with the Military since Reagan.

Bush is a soldiers president. The military does not complain about being sent to fight when being led by GWB. They went kicking and screaming under Clinton.

Kerry is not a popular choice with the vast majority of the military. He is viewed as a somewhat questionable hero and a showboat. The Silver Star is a high award and very honorable to earn. No question about that. However, others should trumpet that distinction, not the person who won it.

My two cents.

7

hedo absolutely correct… :slight_smile:

http://vets4bush.com/index.shtml

ANd what is Kerrys’ record on defense?
Especially now that he says he wants a stronger defense, and will so everything he can for the defense and our men and women in uniform…

  1. In 1996 - Introduced Bill to slash Defense Department Funding by $6.5 Billion.

  2. In 1995 - Voted to freeze Defense spending for 7 years, slashing over $34 billion from Defense.

  3. Fiscal 1996 Budget Resolution - Defense Freeze. “Harkin, D-Iowa, amendment to freeze defense spending for the next seven years and transfer the $34.8 billion in savings to education and job training.”

  4. In 1993 - Introduced plan to cut numerous Defense programs, including:

Cut the number of Navy submarines and their crews
Reduce the number of light infantry units in the Army down to one
Reduce tactical fighter wings in the Air Force
Terminate the Navy’s coastal mine-hunting ship program
Force the retirement of no less than 60,000 members of the Armed Forces in one year.

  1. Has voted repeatedly to cut Defense spending, including:

In 1993, voted against increased Defense spending for Military Pay Raise. Kerry voted to kill an increase in military pay over five years.

In 1992, voted to cut $6 billion from Defense.

In 1991, voted to slash over $3 Billion from Defense. Shift money to social programs.

In 1991, voted to cut defense spending by 2%

Voted repeatedly to cut or eliminate funding for B-2 Stealth Bomber

Voted repeatedly against Missile Defense - Weapons Kerry sought to phase out were VITAL in Iraq. “[K]erry supported cancellation of a host of weapons systems that have become the basis of US military might-the high-tech munitions and delivery systems on display to the world as they leveled the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein in a matter of weeks.” (Brian C. Mooney, “Taking One Prize, Then A Bigger One,” The Boston Globe, 6/19/03)

Military hardware he felt we no longer need since the “cold war” is past. The money would be better spent on “social” programs. These weapons are now the core of our military might.

F-16 Fighting Falcons.
B-1Bs B-2As F-15 And F-16s
M1 Abrams
Patriot Missile
AH-64 Apache Helicopter
Tomahawk Cruise Missile
Aegis Air-Defense Cruiser

  1. During 1980s Kerry And Michael Dukakis joined forces with liberal group dedicated to slashing Defense. Kerry sat on the board of “Jobs With Peace Campaign,” which sought to “develop public support for cutting the defense budget…”(“Pentagon Demonstrators Call For Home-Building, Not Bombs,” The Associated Press, 6/3/88)

  2. While running for Congress in 1972, Kerry promised to cut Defense Spending. “On what he’ll do if he’s elected to Congress,” Kerry said he would 'bring a different kind of message to the president." He said he would, “Vote against military appropriations.” (“Candidate’s For Congress Capture Campus In Andover,” Lawrence [MA] Eagle-Tribune, 4/21/72)

“So you can look at all the potential threats of the world, and when you add the expenditures of all of our allies to the United States of America, you have to stop and say to yourself, ‘What is it that we are really preparing for in a post-cold-war world?’”
(Sen. John Kerry, Congressional Record, 5/15/96, p. S5061)

To take a few lines from Kerry’s acceptance speech…

“And let’s not forget what we did in the 1990s. We balanced the budget. We paid down the debt. We created 23 million new jobs. We lifted millions out of poverty and we lifted the standard of living for the middle class. We just need to believe in ourselves - and we can do it again.
…”

See this is the whole theme of the entire Democratic Convention, right here in a nutshell . Look at America, Sept. 10, 2001.This is what we wnat to see all over again. And days they long for to return. Are we better off then we were 4 years ago?

ANd you look at defense, views of the military, Kerrys’ record on intelligence. and just compare it to his speech. it really contridicts so much as to the John Kerry in the past.

Also Kerry will once again go to the Un got to the EU for everything. A Neville Chamberlain, an appeaser. all over again. Running to them for everything to get their approval…

And this, I like to ask Senator Kerry,
you are promising so much…How will you pay for it all? And who is going to pay for it? Mean you have to cut something? And would the cuts be made?

And one last thing…He says about adding 40,000 new troops…where he going to get 40,000 new troops? Be preapred you 18-23 year olds, only way that can be done, especially by high school kids choosing not the military is by a draft…And that word John Kerry ommitted from his speech.

This was the reinvention convention of John Kerry.

Joe

8

from http://www.vnsfvetakerry.com/

CBS Poll states 46% of the Vietnam Vets are for Bush and 41% are for Kerry. Before anyone accepts this as valid, you will have to consider Kerry has accepted false Vietnam Vets as real vets in his past, so I’d bet that 41% is far less than 10-20%. From the various Vet organizations the ratio is something like 300 to 400 to 1 against Kerry. These phony Kerry vets just say they’re vets when called and registered as Vietnam Vets. I will need proof, as Ronald Reagan would say, “Trust but Verify”, but in this case, based on Kerry’s history, I don’t even trust.

Joe

9

from http://www.vnsfvetakerry.com/

CBS Poll states 46% of the Vietnam Vets are for Bush and 41% are for Kerry. Before anyone accepts this as valid, you will have to consider Kerry has accepted false Vietnam Vets as real vets in his past, so I’d bet that 41% is far less than 10-20%. From the various Vet organizations the ratio is something like 300 to 400 to 1 against Kerry. These phony Kerry vets just say they’re vets when called and registered as Vietnam Vets. I will need proof, as Ronald Reagan would say, “Trust but Verify”, but in this case, based on Kerry’s history, I don’t even trust.

Joe

10

This is such a non-story. To put it another way:

“NEWSFLASH: Some minority percentage of the military are Democrats!”

11

Yeah, those generals/admirals are some senile morons, aren’t they? Just like Wesley Clarke. I mean, Christ, anyone can see Bush’s strategy in Iraq has been flawless, and his military record speaks for its self.

Any of you all old enough to recall the older Bush (the one with testicles) being questioned about why he didn’t go all the way to Bahdad and take out Sadaam in '91? If so, you might remember his canned response: “With the lives of whose sons and daughters am I supposed to do that?” Who would have guessed his own seed would answer that for him…over a thousand times now, I believe.

Soldier’s president my ass.

12

Kerry has voted for every major defense spending bill except one, in all his years in the Senate.

When you break down Kerry’s voting record on specific weapons, Kerry’s voting record mirrors Dick Cheney’s voting record to a large extent. It’s stupid to point to Kerry’s record and say “he voted against a spending bill” when you are ignorant of the provisions in the bill, and the context of the time the bill is being voted on.

Joe, I will not bother to refute your posts because I think you do a pretty good job of discrediting yourself, on your own. But this one makes me laugh:

Do you think Kerry himself conducted the CBS poll?

Buddy, don’t drop the dumbells on your head.

As far as Bush’s popularity with the military, lets review:

Bush has the Dept of Defense feuding with the State Dept… not good.

Bush blatantly disregarded the recommendations and planning of top military brass and the Army War College, for post-invasion Iraq.

“Suits” in the Defense Dept who have zero military experience are over-riding the military brass, in making key military decisions.

Bush is extending tours for enlisted troops as well as the national guard, beyond their initial contracts, with no end in sight.

Troops in Iraq are buying their own body armor. Hundreds of soldiers were killed or maimed because they didn’t have the right equipment.

In addition, Bush’s also embarrassed the CIA and the FBI, by putting the entire blame for 911 and the bungling over WMDs on them.

How far do you think a sitting president can get, after backstabbing military intelligence, the CIA and the FBI? We’re going to find out!

13

Go to David Hackworth’s website and read up a bit, and then judge the value of those endorsements. Hackworth spent a little bit more than 4 months mixing it up with the Victor Charlies, well as the Chi-coms and the Axis.

Why is Kerry harp on and on and on and on and on about serving in a criminal war with a bunch of war criminals anyway? Why didn’t he, upon judging himself guilty of committing war crimes, fall on his sword? Why did the Boston Globe in 1996 and that guy now come out with the story about his on camera battle scene re-enactments? Why do many that served with him contradict his accounts of events passed a long, long time ago? Don’t veterans who haved seen more than their share of combat usually keep quiet, very quiet about it?

He has been in the Senate for 19 years and served as Lt Gov. under the Tank Driver from Mass. Yet he takes such pains to remind us of how proud he is to have served four months in a situation that… just read his Senate testimony. Twenty plus years of public service and not a whole lot to see about it?

By the way, that Claudia Kennedy endorsement is a huge pile of packaged bullshit. She know less about those things and Kerry than she does about what war is all about, which is next to nothing. People like her are precisely the idiots that have hollowed out our military.

14

Sorry for the sloppy post. It doesn’t read well due to poor checking of tense and such.

15

Yes it is true, that Kerry did vote for increase in defense budget, BUT and a HUGE but here as you look at hs record… (His entire record on defense is right here)…

http://www.tacitus.org/story/2004/6/9/114420/6465

From 1970’s UP to the late 1990’s, he was no friend to the military or defense. And then in 1997, he started to vote to increase the defense budgets etc… BUT that is because the nation’s military, was in badly in need of funds, etc… and when the Joint Chiefs of Staff went before Congress, that is when they realized they need to
fund more $ for defense. IF the Joint Chiefs never testified, or the nation demanded more for defense be given, Kerry would of kept on doing the same thing…Cutting defense for social programs… One sees this from his record, in these bills…

1993: Kerry introduced S 1163, where the liberal northeastern Senator supported a whole plethora of defense cuts, including: (He introduced it)

Reduction in the operating tempo of ballistic missile submarines.
Reduction in the attack submarine force.
Reduction in the antisubmarine warfare weapon systems of the Navy.
Reduction in number of light divisions.
Reduction in number of tactical fighter wings.
Limitation on expenditures for nuclear weapons research, development, and testing activities of the Department of Energy.
Strategic Defense Initiative (limiting the scope)
Termination of the MHC(V) coastal mine-hunting ship program.
Termination of the Kinetic Energy Anti-satellite Attack program.
Force the Retirement of no less than 60,000 members of the armed forces in one year

6/25/1998, S 2057: Vote on an amendment to transfer $329 million from the Defense Department to the Veterans Affairs Department for veterans health care programs. The transfer would be conducted by the Secretary of Defense in a manner which ‘causes the least significant harm’ to military readiness and to military personnel’s quality of life. Kerry voted YES but the amendment was rejected 38-55. Instead of requesting a straight increase in funds to the VA, or transferring monies from non-defense areas, the preferred is to take it from the defense budget.

Also there is one memo that was in this posting that says it all too

http://users.wi.net/~johnh/KerryOnDefense1984_1.jpg

Now this is the thing with Kerry,I am seeing. And I saw this especially in the Dem “reinvention convention”, when he talked about America before Sept 10, 2001. Rememebr those days? How great the economy was? I will bring those days back to America…Now he is promosing, I am ready for duty… Going to be all for defense. Do everything I can for defense. Going to bring about 40,000 new troops to our servies.

Going back pre Sept 11, 2001, means more money for domsetic issues, less for defense. And with his track record, from the past. And will ALL he is promising to all groups. Something is going to have to be cut. OR the dreaded increase in taxes, he will have to do. To pay for it all… So what is it going to be Mr Kerry? Going to cut defense? But wait I promised I would not cut the defense. Can’t touch that dept. Well you have to cut something.
Well how bout the intelligence depts?
Wait Mr. Kerry. You promised to fund them too. Not cut them. Thats right I did. Well how bout Education Sociial Security,or Children Programs? Wait Mr. Kerry. You promised not to cut them increase funding with all of them… How bout…Mr. Kerry you said… Or…Same thing… Well what is left raise taxes…But you…

Promises, Promises, Promises…which could haunt him in the end IF he can’t
be faithful to everything he is promising.

Joe

Oh and that CBS poll… that came from this sight
http://www.vnsfvetakerry.com/ And if you go to this site…You will see how angry the Vietnam Vets are of Kerry. If they were not so angey at him, OR IF there is no truth to what they are saying, why are they protesting? Why are they planning rallies, and the
huge rally in Wash in Sept.

16

This just read from the NY Post…And I have a few letters to back up what they are saying…

DEM’S MARINE MISFIRE
July 31, 2004 – SCRANTON, Pa. John Kerry’s heavily hyped cross-country bus tour stumbled out of the blocks yesterday, as a group of Marines publicly dissed the Vietnam War hero in the middle of a crowded restaurant.
Kerry was treating running mate Sen. John Edwards and his wife, Elizabeth, to a Wendy’s lunch in Newburgh, N.Y., for their 27th wedding anniversary, an Edwards family tradition, when the candidate approached four Marines and asked them questions.

The Marines, two in uniform and two off-duty, were polite but curt while chatting with Kerry, answering most of his questions with a “yes, sir” or “no, sir.”

But they turned downright nasty after the Massachusetts senator thanked them “for their service” and left.

“He imposed on us and I disagree with him coming over here shaking our hands,” one Marine said, adding, “I’m 100 percent against [him].”

A sergeant with 10 years of service under his belt said, “I speak for all of us. We think that we are doing the right thing in Iraq,” before saying he is to be deployed there in a few weeks and is “eager” to go and serve.

The Marines, all of whom serve at nearby Stewart Air Force Base, wouldn’t give their names.

Joe

17

what is the problem with “flip-flopping” on defense? who cares what kerry voted for before 911. what some people see as “flip-flopping” i see as “changing with the times.”

I surely hope kerry does not slash defense… but instead focus on developing homeland defense over foreign invasions.

18

Former military here. Having 12 Generals and adm. endorse you is no joke. They may be less than .1% of our military, but these are/were the leaders of our military. It takes a special person to reach the rank of general or admiral. These people are all rediculously smart, hardworking, well respected, have good contacts or all of the above. Having this type of endorsement from a military standpoint I believe will influence many members of our armed forces voting decision this year.

19

I think Bill Clinton even had some “former military leaders” endorse him. I don’t think that’s a big deal. There are democrats and republicans alike serving in the armed forces.

20

Retired general: Bush foreign policy a ‘national disaster’
Saturday, July 31, 2004

A former Air Force chief of staff and one-time “Veteran for Bush” said Saturday that America’s foreign relations for the first three years of President Bush’s term have been “a national disaster” but that the president’s Democratic rival was “up to the task” of rebuilding.

Retired Gen. Tony McPeak, the Air Force chief of staff during the first Gulf War, delivered the Democratic radio address supporting implementation of the 9/11 commission’s recommendations for national security.

“As president, John Kerry will not waste a minute in bringing action on the reforms urged by the 9/11 commission,” McPeak said of the Massachusetts senator nominated by the Democrats this week. “And he will not rest until America’s defenses are strong.”

The president, on the other hand, “fought against the very formation of the commission and continues to the present moment to give it only grudging cooperation, no matter what he says,” the general said. “Why should we believe he will do anything to institute the needed change?”

Administration officials have said that Bush could approve some of the commission’s suggested changes by early next week.

McPeak, a former fighter pilot who campaigned for Bob Dole in 1996 as well as Bush in 2000, said Bush’s inability to craft a true allied coalition was a serious deficiency.

“The report of the 9/11 commission makes this clear: Fighting terrorists alone just doesn’t work,” he said. “If our enemy hatches a terror plot in Rome, we will need help from the Italians. If German intelligence knows the whereabouts of a senior al Qaeda member, America must have that information.”

Instead, he said, Bush has “alienated our friends, damaged our credibility around the world, reduced our influence to an all-time low in my lifetime, given hope to our enemies.”

McPeak said he backed Bush in 2000 because he “had hoped this president could provide” the leadership needed to face modern threats. But disillusionment, he said, has led him to change his voter registration from Republican to independent and shift his support to Kerry.

“The real deal for me is not whether a strategy or a plan or an idea is Republican or Democrat, but whether it makes us safer,” he said. “And it means an awful lot to me that John Kerry fought for his country as a young man.”

“We who have some experience – who have seen war close up and sent troops to battle – know that victory is not won by single combat,” he continued. "War is not like that. War is a team sport.

“We built the team that won World War II. We put together the great team that won the Cold War. That’s why what has happened over the last three years is such a tragedy, such a national disaster. Rebuilding the team won’t be easy.”

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/07/31/dems.radio/index.html