"Never suppose that in any possible situation,
or under any circumstances, it is best for you to do a dishonorable thing..."
--Thomas Jefferson
"Reporting for duty"? For a guy who's hitched his entire
presidential campaign to his military service record, John Kerry sure is parsimonious
when it comes to releasing that record. As noted in this column on more than one
occasion, Kerry has consistently refused to sign a Standard Form 180 authorizing
the Department of Defense to release all of his records.
George W. Bush's
military records were so spotless that Dan Rather gleefully trotted out some fabricated
documents in order to kick up a little dust. Of course, if Rather were a real
journalist rather than just a TV talking head, he might actually develop a source
who could find out what the remaining (approximately 100) pages in Kerry's DoD
service jacket reveal.
What, exactly, is Kerry hiding? It is already common
knowledge that most of his celebrated heroics were spurious, and that most of
his medals were without merit (see "Kerry's Quagmire" at http://FederalistPatriot.US/alexander/
). But given that the cat's already out of the bag, why not just sign the Standard
Form 180?
For his part, Kerry claims he received an "Honorable Discharge"
and that all his records have been released and are posted on his website, Kerry-04.com
-- uh, make that JohnKerry.com. But Kerry has refused to say when he received
an Honorable Discharge. Indeed, some of his military records are posted on his
site -- but not all of them. Here, an experienced eye can read enough into what
has been released by Kerry to develop a good profile of what hasn't been released.
It is our considered opinion, therefore, that John Kerry was separated
from the military under a less than honorable discharge.
Among Kerry's released
records is a 1977 cover letter from Jimmy Carter's Navy Secretary, W. Graham Claytor.
What is revealing about this document is that it notes Kerry's original discharge
was subject to review by a "board of officers" -- yet no such review should be
necessary for an Honorable Discharge.
The review was conducted in accordance
with "Title 10, U.S. Code Section 1162 and 1163," which pertains to grounds for
involuntary separation from military service.
As many Vietnam veterans
who served their nation with dignity and honor will recall, Jimmy Carter's first
official act as president was the signing of Executive Order 4483 --less than
an hour after his inauguration on 21 January 1977. EO 4483 provided general amnesty
for draft evaders, war protesters and other offenders of that era. Its corresponding,
and equally dubious, DoD directive took effect in March of 1977, expanding that
amnesty to include separation from military service by other than honorable discharges.
The DoD specified an appeal procedure whereby discharges could be reviewed on
an individual basis to determine whether the status of a particular discharge
could be revised.
Having lost his first bid for Congress, Kerry no doubt
decided that his political future would be brighter as a war hero rather than
a war protestor. While there are several categories of discharges beneath honorable,
including general, medical, bad conduct and other than honorable, it is very likely
that Kerry's discharge was dishonorable.
Supporting this assertion is the
fact that Kerry had all his medals mysteriously reinstated in 1985. He claims
that he lost his medal certificates (perhaps these are what he famously threw
over that Capitol fence in protest), but when a military officer is subject to
a Dishonorable Discharge, in addition to the loss of pay benefits and allowances,
all medals and honors are revoked. In any case, it would be a cinch for John Kerry
to refute our claim by simply signing that Standard Form 180. But he won't. Nor
will hard-hitting journalists like Katie Couric and Dr. Phil press him on this
issue.
Thus, while Kerry can correctly say -- thanks to Jimmy Carter --
that he received an Honorable Discharge, he could also say with equal precision
that he received "other than honorable discharge." His activities as a leader
of Vietnam Veterans Against the War were, indeed, forgiven by Carter's EO 4483
and the subsequent DoD directive.
However, according to legal scholars,
John Kerry's meetings with enemy agents from Communist North Vietnam on multiple
occasions between 1970 and 1972 are not covered under EO 4483. For that reason,
we delivered to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft on Monday of this week a "Petition
for Investigation and Indictment," calling on the Department of Justice to determine
conclusively whether Kerry's actions, in direct violation of UCMJ (Article 104
part 904), U.S. Code (18 USC Sec. 2381 and 18 USC Sec. 953) and other applicable
laws and acts of Congress, constitute treason. (To read the text of the petitioners'
request, go to http://patriotpetitions.us/kerry/letter.asp )
Why prosecute
Kerry now?
In October, 2003, Mr. Kerry chose to make his disputed Vietnam
War record the centerpiece of his campaign for the presidency. In response, the
more than 180,000 signatories of the above-referenced petition chose to make Mr.
Kerry's war record the centerpiece of their campaign to determine whether his
actions are subject to the Constitution's Fourteenth Amendment, Section 3.
The
pertinent language states: "No person shall be a Senator or Representative in
Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President ... having previously taken
an oath ... to support the Constitution of the United States, [who has] engaged
in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the
enemies thereof."
While it is clear that no action will be taken on the
petitioners' request prior to 2 November, we remain committed to holding Senator
Kerry accountable for his actions regardless of the outcome of his presidential
bid. Indeed, we are all committed to serving Kerry with an irrevocable dishonorable
discharge from public office.
Quote of the week... "They're the men who
served with John Kerry in Vietnam. They're his entire chain of command, most of
the officers in Kerry's unit. ... And they're the men who spent years in North
Vietnamese prison camps. Tortured for refusing to confess to what John Kerry accused
them of being -- war criminals. ... Why is this relevant? Because character and
honesty matter. Especially in a time of war." --Swift Boat Veterans for Truth
and POWs for Truth in their most recent ad on Kerry's war record and character.
On cross-examination... "On more than one occasion, Senator Kerry has referred
to the fight at Tora Bora in Afghanistan during late 2001 as a missed opportunity
for America. He claims that our forces had Osama bin Laden cornered and allowed
him to escape. ... As commander of the allied forces in the Middle East, I was
responsible for the operation at Tora Bora, and I can tell you that the senator's
understanding of events doesn't square with reality. ... Contrary to Senator Kerry,
President Bush never 'took his eye off the ball' when it came to Osama bin Laden.
The war on terrorism has a global focus. It cannot be divided into separate and
unrelated wars, one in Afghanistan and another in Iraq. Both are part of the same
effort to capture and kill terrorists before they are able to strike America again,
potentially with weapons of mass destruction. Terrorist cells are operating in
some 60 countries, and the United States, in coordination with dozens of allies,
is waging this war on many fronts." --General Tommy Franks
Mark Alexander
is Executive Editor and Publisher of The
Federalist Patriot
©2004 The Federalist Patriot
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Kerry's Discharge
Is Questioned by an Ex-JAG Officer - BY THOMAS LIPSCOMB -
Special
to the Sun November 1, 2004
A former officer in the Navy's
Judge Advocate General Corps Reserve has built a case that Senator Kerry was other
than honorably discharged from the Navy by 1975, The New York Sun has learned.
The "honorable discharge" on the Kerry Web site appears to be a Carter administration
substitute for an original action expunged from Mr. Kerry's record, according
to Mark Sullivan, who retired as a captain in the Navy's Judge Advocate General
Corps Reserve in 2003 after 33 years of service as a judge advocate. Mr. Sullivan
served in the office of the Secretary of the Navy between 1975 and 1977 .....
Read
the whole Story at http://www.nysun.com/article/4040
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