Kerry's '72 Army Comments Mirror Latest
By JOHN SOLOMON, Associated Press Writer
3 hours ago

WASHINGTON - During a Vietnam-era run for Congress three decades ago, John Kerry said he opposed a volunteer Army because it would be dominated by the underprivileged, be less accountable and be more prone to "the perpetuation of war crimes."

Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran who turned against the war, made the observations in answers to a 1972 candidate questionnaire from a Massachusetts peace group.

After Kerry caused a firestorm this week with what he termed a botched campaign joke that Republicans said insulted current soldiers, The Associated Press was alerted to the historical comments by a former law enforcement official who monitored 1970s anti-war activities

Kerry apologized Wednesday for the 2006 campaign trail gaffe that some took as suggesting U.S. soldiers fighting in Iraq were undereducated. He contended the remark was aimed at Bush, not the soldiers.

In 1972, as he ran for the House, he was less apologetic in his comments about the merits of a volunteer army. He declared in the questionnaire that he opposed the draft but considered a volunteer army "a greater anathema."

"I am convinced a volunteer army would be an army of the poor and the black and the brown," Kerry wrote. "We must not repeat the travesty of the inequities present during Vietnam. I also fear having a professional army that views the perpetuation of war crimes as simply 'doing its job.'

"Equally as important, a volunteer army with our present constitutional crisis takes accountability away from the president and put the people further from control over military activities," he wrote.

Kerry's spokesman, David Wade, said Wednesday the historical document needed to be viewed in the era in which it was written but that it nonetheless raised a "bedrock question in a time of war when sacrifice should be shared by all Americans."

"These are the words 34 years ago of a 28-year-old veteran home from a war gone wrong, wondering who in America will bear the cost of battle and shoulder the responsibility of military service," Wade said.

Kerry filled out the candidate questionnaire at the request of Massachusetts Political Action for Peace, an anti-war group that decades later turned over its historical documents to university researchers.

AP obtained the document from someone who gathered it from archives during Kerry's unsuccessful 2004 presidential campaign against President Bush. Republicans in that election relentlessly assailed Kerry's role in the anti-war movement decades earlier.

Kerry and Bush renewed their rivalry again this week, with the president accusing Kerry of offending troops. Kerry said he botched the text of a joke and didn't mean to insult troops.

This man is disgusting and despicable.

I heard this thing on Hugh Hewitt's radio talk show and I was stunned

Originally Posted by phoenix80

This man is disgusting and despicable.

I heard this thing on Hugh Hewitt's radio talk show and I was stunned

I agree...I was just thinking "Oh man...He has no IDEA how deep he's in it."

Good find Luis, most instructive. This POS needs to be voted out of office... I thought the Swift Boat Vets had been rough on him last go around... I have since revised that opinion to reflect new information.

If he gets President...I swear I'll move to Canada as soon as I find transportation.

Two points make a straight line... Kerry and Fonda sitting in a tree...

Originally Posted by C/1Lt Henderson

I agree...I was just thinking "Oh man...He has no IDEA how deep he's in it."

He should resign over his silly and nasty remarks

Originally Posted by phoenix80

He should resign over his silly and nasty remarks

But he wont...He will try just as hard as if he had never said anything so disgraceful and insulting.

Originally Posted by C/1Lt Henderson

If he gets President...I swear I'll move to Canada as soon as I find transportation.

Nope, screw Canada. They're about as bad as John Kerry is. I'll move to Israel. They know how to deal with terrorist and they don't care what the world community thinks.

Originally Posted by C/1Lt Henderson

If he gets President...I swear I'll move to Canada as soon as I find transportation.

If he ever get's elected as President I think we all will be looking for other places to hang our hat. We'll probably all immigrate to Mexico illegally!