[tambourine-man]

I'm not sure what the issue is here.

Does Kerry 'hate' the military and 'hate' veterans? Hmmmmm, no. Hyperbole overload. Lets be realistic, as I've said before, his treatment of MIA's was pretty bad and I'm not exactly Kerry's greatest fan, but war crimes did happen in Vietnam. I doubt that this could be considered as debatable. Actions were taken that did contradict the Geneva Convention - unless you believe that war is civilised?

When I read the quote you posted, made by Kerry, my interpretation was that he was pointing the finger at both the orders given and those who issued them. My interpretation was that Kerry was angered by the at-all-costs nature of the Vietnam conflict. My interpretation is that he was he was stating that 'atrocities' had occured (in which he took part), and that the blame should fall on the shoulders of those who either issued such orders or endorsed them. Apparently, the much-scoffed line of: "I was simply following orders", is an acceptable excuse on this occasion.

Again, lets be realistic - the Geneva Convention says 'this', 'that' and 'the other', but in reality, the laws of war will be flouted at every opportunity. This is not Good V's Evil, or Right V's Wrong (despite how 'the communist threat' was percieved), war is simply about two sides doing whatever they can, sinking to whatever depths to defeat the other - war crimes and 'atrocities' included.

I can understand that some vets will feel anger with Kerry. He made statements in the 70's that sliced through the touchy issue of war and its effects - and slicing usually divides things into two halves.

Trouble is, if you can accept that war crimes will happen, that war will inevitably cough up 'unlawful' actions and manipulate the baser instincts of those involved - why would you balk at the idea that Vietnam was any different?

It's all part of the course. It never changes.