John Kerry’s “Christmas In Cambodia” Story Was A Big Lie

11 Aug, 2004 by John Hawkins

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For more than 30 years, it looks as if John Kerry has been doing this…

For example, here’s John Kerry talking about Cambodian Christmas back in 1986,

“Mr. President, I remember Christmas of 1968 sitting on a gunboat in Cambodia. I remember what it was like to be shot at by Vietnamese and Khmer Rouge and Cambodians, and have the President of the United States telling the American people that I was not there; the troops were not in Cambodia.

I have that memory which is seared — seared — in me ….”

Yes, Kerry flogged his tall tale about “Christmas in Cambodia” to death, even going so far as to tell Laura Blumenfeld at the WAPO this story back in 2003…

“A close associate hints: There’s a secret compartment in Kerry’s briefcase. He carries the black attaché everywhere. Asked about it on several occasions, Kerry brushed it aside. Finally, trapped in an interview, he exhaled and clicked open his case.

He smiled and aimed his finger: “Pow.”

But then, when Swift Boat Veterans for Truth hit the scene and said Kerry was lying through his teeth about going to Cambodia in Christmas of 1968, suddenly the story started to change…

“The Kerry campaign first asserted that the Massachusetts senator never said that he was in Cambodia, only that he was near the country. But when presented with a copy of the Congressional Record and asked about Kerry’s letter in the Boston Herald, the campaign said it would come up with an explanation. After repeated phone calls, there was still no clarification.”

Now, if John Kerry lied about going to Cambodia in Christmas of 1968, what else is he lying about?

The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, men who are Vietnam Vets, men who fought beside of John Kerry, men who were in his chain of command, say Kerry was lying not only about Cambodia, but about his Bronze Star, and his 1st and 3rd Purple Hearts. They also say John Kerry is “Unfit for Command“. Since the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth were right about this, you have wonder: are they right about everything else?

I swiped the nifty ‘Kerry as Pinocchio’ graphic from the fine folks over at Country Store. By the way, that’s a great blog that never gets the credit it deserves. You should check them out.

*** Update #1***: For 30+ years Kerry has been telling people that he spent Christmas of 1968 fighting in Cambodia.

But, just this week so far, Kerry’s people have now come up with two different stories to try to explain Kerry’s lie.

#1) Kerry’s people denied he was ever in Cambodia to Carl Cameron from Fox News. They said he was just near the country. Then after they realized that lie wouldn’t work because Kerry was on the record saying he had been to Cambodia in Christmas of 1968, they went back to the drawing board.

#2) Now, the new spin — which I heard on Fox, it hasn’t shown up on the net as far as I know yet — is that Kerry did go into Cambodia with a bunch of SEALS, but not on Christmas. However, no SEALS were named, no date was given, no information was imparted as to who sent Kerry on this mission or what other Swift Boat Vets were there, so there were no details at all.

Furthermore, Kerry’s latest story makes absolutely no sense given that he’s said things like this before…

“I remember spending Christmas Eve of 1968 five miles across the Cambodian border being shot at by our South Vietnamese allies who were drunk and celebrating Christmas.”

How do you reconcile the fact that John Kerry said that he was shot at by “South Vietnamese…celebrating Christmas” now that he’s admitting he didn’t actually go into Cambodia on Christmas?

Someone should have reminded John Kerry that it’s the cover-up, not the lie that really sinks you…