It is no surprise that Senator John Kerry is hypersensitive to anyone linking his name with the charge of traitorous actions. After all, the American people expect their president to be the most patriotic of Americans. They believe a president should be a man in love with his country, a man who puts the interests of his country first. But Senator Kerry’s sensitivity to the word “traitor” has deeper roots than that of the typical politician’s aversion to any namecalling save his own. During his Naval career, he really did commit Treason.

While this charge sounds shocking, the evidence clearly supports it. All of the following evidence is publicly available and undisputed. Indeed, major portions of the evidence are available from Senator Kerry himself. I will show, in detail, why Kerry’s record not merely supports, but rather demands a guilty verdict.

Kerry joined the U.S. Navy in February of 1966. He signed an Officer’s Contract, committing himself to a minimum of five years service. He could split his service time between Active and Inactive duty in the Naval reserves. (Kerry, “Enlistment Contract” and “Officer Candidate Agreement”)

In January of 1970, Kerry was released from active duty to pursue a political career (Kerry, “Release From Active Duty”). It is important to remember that he was still a member of the U.S. Navy at this point. Although he became a member of the Inactive Reserve, he remained an officer — with all of the responsibilities that position entailed.

Kerry and his wife, Julia Thorne, visited Paris during the end of May and the beginning of June 1970. The pair was ostensibly visiting the City of Romance for their honeymoon. But it appears that love was not the only thing on Kerry’s mind. While in Paris, he met with representatives of the Provisional Revolutionary Government (PRG) of South Vietnam. (The military arm of the PRG was known as the Viet Cong.) This is an event that Kerry admitted to during the 1971 Senate hearings: “I have been to Paris. I have talked with … the Provisional Revolutionary Government.” (Kranish)

In February of 1978, Kerry was officially discharged from the Naval Reserves (Kerry, “Honorable Discharge From Reserve”). Prior to his discharge, Kerry was not a private citizen; he was an officer of the United States Navy. Therefore, the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) governed his conduct while he was in Paris.

Treason is defined by the Constitution of the United States (in Article 3, Section 1) as “adhering to America’s Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort”. The UCMJ helpfully defines what it means to give aid or comfort to any enemy. “Any person who … without proper authority, knowingly … communicates or corresponds with or holds any intercourse with the enemy” is guilty of aiding the enemy.

As an affiliate of the Viet Cong, the PRG was clearly seen as the enemy of America. John Kerry, by his own admission, traveled to Paris and met with representatives of the PRG. According to the UCMJ, which Kerry was still honor bound (and legally obligated) to obey, his meetings with the PRG constituted giving aid to the enemy. According the United States Constitution giving aid to the enemy is an act of treason. Therefore, Senator John Forbes Kerry is a traitor to the United States of America.

Now others might argue that simply talking to the enemy does not deserve a charge of treason. Others might, indeed, argue that although Kerry’s conduct violates the letter of the UCMJ his conduct is excusable because he was acting as a (soon to be) politician. But Kerry’s actions had far greater consequences than those implied by the phrase “talking to the enemy”.

Ion Mihai Pacepa was a high ranking intelligence officer in Romania during the Vietnam War. He later defected to the United States. He had this to say regarding the anti-war protestors (such as John Kerry and Jane Fonda):

KGB priority number one at that time was to damage American power, judgment, and credibility. … I produced the very same vitriol Kerry repeated to the U.S. Congress almost word for word and planted it in leftist movements. KGB chairman Yuri Andropov managed our anti-Vietnam War operation. Vietnam was, he once told me, “our most significant success”. (Federalist)

Nor was General Pacepa’s testimony the only evidence that Kerry was partially responsible for undermining the United States government. “General Vo Nguyen Giap, Vietnam’s most decorated military leader, wrote in retrospect that if not for the disunity created by such stateside protesters, Hanoi would have ultimately surrendered.” (Federalist)

A Vietnamese general agreed that America was within striking distance of winning the Vietnam War, had the American public remained united and determined. Instead, the division fostered by John Kerry and Vietnam Veterans Against the War gave the communists incentive to keep fighting a little bit longer. The then Chairman of the KGB indirectly credited Kerry with bringing about his “most significant success”. The subsequent, politically motivated withdrawal from Vietnam severely damaged American prestige, power, and self-confidence.

The facts are not in doubt. Senator Kerry has freely (some might say proudly) acknowledged their validity on multiple occasions. Neither can the verdict be in doubt. That a standing military officer would be capable of such illegal conduct is both disgraceful and dishonorable. The man who continually inveighs against “Benedict Arnold CEOs” is undeniably guilty of the same crime as Benedict Arnold himself. I encourage all American Patriots to remember these facts on November 2, 2004.

Citations

John Kerry’s Official Naval Records

Kerry spoke of meeting negotiators on Vietnam By Michael Kranish and Patrick Healy, Globe Staff, 3/25/2004

Aid and comfort to the enemy, The Kerry Record The Federalist, 04-25, Friday Digest