It's time to put the Vietnam War behind us.

I wrote this entry back in May, but it seems even more relevant now. It
seems this campaign has become more focused on the Vietnam war than the
vastly different positions each candidate holds on the issues that face
our country today:


I read an article not too long ago which said many Americans of the
younger generation would prefer that the presidential race focus on
politics today as opposed to what the two presidential candidates were
doing during the Vietnam War.

Unfortunately, it has become a great dividing line in our society, one
which is presently being exploited by both the Bush and Kerry campaigns.

In fact, most young American men of draft age did not serve in Vietnam at
that time. As the New York Times reported on May 1, in an article on *****
Cheney's avoidance of service:

"Of the 26.8 million men who were eligible for the draft between 1964 and
1973, only 2.2 million were drafted while 8.7 million joined voluntarily,
according to 'Chance and Circumstance: the Draft, the War, and the Vietnam
Generation,' a 1978 book by Lawrence M. Baskir and William A. Strauss. Mr.
Cheney was among the vast majority of 16 million men -- about 60 percent
of those eligible -- who avoided the draft by legal means."

Of those who were drafted or joined voluntarily, a minority served in
Vietnam. Joining the National Guard, serving in the armed forces reserves,
attending college, getting medical deferments, or marriage deferments,
were among ways young men found to avoid Vietnam service.

In this respect, John Kerry was unusual. As a Yale graduate, it probably
would not have been difficult for him to avoid going to Vietnam or even
the armed services if he had used connections like many of his colleagues.
Instead, he went, was there for four months, and received some medals for
his service. But he became famous after his return, as a leader of the
Vietnam Veterans Against the War, testifying before Congress in 1971.

Kerry's presidential campaign took off after a Vietnam veteran came to a
Iowa primary rally of his, and testified that Kerry had saved his life.
Even though he was a Republican, he said he would vote for Kerry if he was
the Democrat nominee. Subsequently, Kerry has placed much more attention
on his Vietnam war experience, with the "band of brothers", fellow Vietnam
veterans, joining him on the stage. Since he wrapped up the nomination, he
and other Democrats have stepped up attacks on Bush, Cheney and some other
Republicans because they did not serve in Vietnam. For example, after
Cheney attacked Kerry for his voting record on national security issues,
Kerry responded by attacking not only Cheney but also Karl Rove for not
having served in Vietnam or the military.

The other side of this is that Kerry's antiwar statements back in 1971
have come to haunt him. Some naval veterans who, like Kerry, commanded
swift boats in Vietnam, have formed a group called "Swift Boat Veterans
For Truth", claiming he is unfit to be Commander-in-Chief. There was
not much they could find to attack him over his actual service, other than
he was a bit of a hotdog, but they focused their attacks on what Kerry
said about the war and his fellow veterans after his return. Essentially,
they charge him with giving the war criminal image to Vietnam veterans
because he testifed about atrocities committed by U.S. soldiers in
Vietnam.

Karen Hughes also has jumped into the act, accusing Kerry of being
dishonest about whether he threw medals or ribbons over the White House
fence during a 1971 veterans demonstration. Is he a liar or a traitor?
That seems to be the question Bush supporters would like to place in
Americans' minds.

So Democrats are accusing Bush-Cheney, et al., of being "chickenhawks",
while Republicans accuse Kerry of betraying his country. In fact if the
Vietnam War background of Bush and Kerry were reversed, but everything
else about them remained the same, we would probably be hearing exactly
the same arguments, just from the opposite sides.

Personally, I am more concerned about where the candidates stand now than
what they did over three decades ago in their youth. I don't hold it
against Kerry that he became an antiwar activist after he returned, nor do
I hold it against Bush or Cheney that they did not serve in Vietnam. There
is more to measuring the quality of one's life and the character of these
individuals.

The Vietnam war sharply divided our society when it took place. Now, even
as the Iraq war goes on, it is Vietnam which is once again being used to
divide our society, to provide an opportunity for each side to accuse the
other of being led by traitors, or cowards. Let us put the Vietnam war
behind us and focus on the serious problems that loom before us today.

- Steve Denney
http://www.liberalman.blogspot.com