POW's Lawsuit tests John Kerry and supporters under oath
BY GREGOR

A group of Vietnam veterans have filed suit against John Kerry challenging the basis of his testimony before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1971. Basically what this means is that John Kerry - along with some of his supporters - will possibly be forced to testify under oath against charges that they fabricated and distorted the factual events that took place during their military careers.

The Vietnam Veterans Legacy Foundation has the announcement on their website:

Thirty five years ago John Kerry slandered an entire generation of men who fought in Vietnam branding them as a "war criminals." Today, much of the same thing is being said about our young men and women in Iraq.

Now, a lawsuit filed in Philadelphia's Court of Common Pleas will test the very foundation of Kerry'’s anti-war persona for the first time. It isn't dubious medals or Kerry'’s disputed service record in Vietnam that is being called into question. This time Kerry may finally be forced to answer for the events that launched his public career, one that made him an anti-war hero for many American liberals and a turncoat for millions of Vietnam veterans.

The lawsuit (Vietnam Veterans Legacy Foundation, et al. v. Kenneth Campbell, et al.) challenges the basis, the factual accuracy of then-Lt. (j.g.) Kerry's acrimonious testimony before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1971. It was there Kerry's public career was catapulted with his now ubiquitous portrayal of American soldiers as murderers, rapists and torturers "who ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam . . . [and] razed villages in a fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan."

Kerry said then his accusations were based on the so-called "testimony" of "150 honorably discharged" Vietnam veterans who, like himself, claimed to have committed or witnessed "war crimes, not isolated incidents but crimes committed on a day-to-day basis with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command."
Many if not all were members of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW), an organization led by Kerry and financed by Jane Fonda during the early 1970s. Now, a number of those "witnesses" will be required to testify, under oath for the first time ever, about what they really did and saw in Vietnam.

Only time will tell if this actually makes it to trial but we can hope. My guess is that Kerry will not allow this to become a big story and will most likely not run for President in 2008.

Update: There is one positive sign. This group does not get intimidated easily and they most likely cannot be bought off.

"Vietnam veterans will not be intimidated by the likes of John Kerry," retired Air Force Col. George "Bud" Day said today, responding to news the Massachusetts Senator had created a legal defense trust fund to pay his on-going court battles against a group of highly decorated Vietnam veterans. "No matter how much money Kerry raises he can't buy his way out or hide his disgraceful betrayal of those brave veterans who gave their all in the service of America."

Can we have this trial televised?