JunkYardBlog on The New Soldier

Bryan Preston looks at Kerry's 1971 book:

.... And that is why The New Soldier is so fascinating. Through it we see that John Forbes Kerry has changed very little since 1971. His default position then, and through his Senate career and now, has been to mistrust American power and resist its use in the world, no matter the cause. Young John Kerry opposed Vietnam; Senator John Kerry opposed the first Gulf War and the Reagan approach that won the Cold War; Candidate John Kerry first voted for the current Iraq war, then denounced it, then voted for funding it before voting against the same. He has said at various times that it was the right thing to do and that it was the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time, mostly because the United Nations did not sanction it. In that, we can hear the echo of a young John Kerry who wanted to put the US military under permanent UN dictate. That same John Kerry showed up in the presidential debates this year, advocating some kind of “global test” that must be passed before the US should engage in any military action.

The New Soldier shows that, in one sense, the charge that John Kerry is a flip-flopper is somewhat inaccurate. On foreign policy, he has been quite consistent from 1971 through the present day. The problem for him, and for America if it puts him in the White House, is that Kerry has always and in all situations been completely, utterly skeptical of his own country’s intentions, completely and utterly credulous of the intentions of our enemies, and has always come down on the wrong side of every single foreign policy issue. That wrong-headedness is the single thread that runs through the anti-war protestor, the Senator and presidential candidate. The New Soldier, therefore, warns us that John Kerry does not possess the judgment to lead America in peacetime or in war. His true ideals are simply incompatible with America's purpose and place in the world.

Why did John Kerry collaborate with the North Vietnamese and Vietcong during and after he met with them in Paris in 1971? Why did he smear all American soldiers who fought in Vietnam as "war criminals?" Why did he favor nuclear freeze and oppose peace through strength? Why did he oppose the first Gulf War, which of all wars should surely have passed his "global test?" Why does he believe in a global test in the first place? Why is he out there drumming up fears of a draft to undermine support for the war? And why is he now smearing our troops in Iraq based on a bogus story from a highly biased source?

Because that's who he is. That is John Kerry's character, and those are his beliefs. The New Soldier shows us that his character and beliefs have changed little since his radical days of helping our enemies defeat us. It warns us that he is not to be trusted with the power of the presidency....

JYB very kindly gives a nod to your Humble, Faithful Blogster at the end.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Thu. 10/28/04 06:27:27 PM
Categorized as John Kerry.