http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=41062
MISSION: IMPLAUSIBLE
Communist museum
removes Kerry photo
Vet discovers manager put it
in drawer after it got publicity
Posted: October 25, 2004
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Art Moore
© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com
Apparently concerned about influencing the U.S. presidential campaign,
Vietnamese communist officials ordered a war museum in Ho Chi Minh City to
remove a
photograph of John Kerry from a display that was highlighted in "Unfit for
Command," the best-seller challenging the senator's version of his military
service and his antiwar activities.
"Unfit for Command" described the photo as "part of an exhibit honoring
heroes who had helped the Vietnamese communists win the war against the
United
States."
An angered American veteran of the Vietnam War who learned of the photograph
through the book, traveled last week to the former Saigon to see it for
himself.
But Bob Paris, an ex-Army helicopter pilot who now lives in Hawaii, said he
discovered Thursday that the museum manager removed the picture from the
display about one month ago and stuffed it in a desk drawer.
Saturday, however, Paris returned to the museum to find the picture had been
put back on the wall – this time in a display clearly designed to emphasize
Kerry's diplomatic efforts as a senator rather than his more controversial
antiwar activities.
"Unfit for Command" co-author Jerome Corsi believes the removal and
recasting
of the photo is indication Vietnamese officials don't want to embarrass
Kerry.
"The communists don't want to do anything that would be detrimental to him
being elected," Corsi told WND. "If he wants foreign leaders to support him,
he
can certainly count on Vietnam's communist regime."
As WND reported in June, the Vietnamese Communist War Remnants Museum –
formerly known as the "War Crimes Museum" – displayed the picture in a hall
that,
according to a plaque, honored activists around the world for their
"wholehearted support and strong encouragement to our people's patriotic
resistance
against the U.S. for national salvation."
The photograph shows Sen. Kerry meeting communist officials in 1993 as a
member of a U.S. delegation.
The English placard below the photo read: "Mr. Do Muoi, Secretary General of
the Vietnamese Communist Party met with Congressman and Veterans Delegation
in
Vietnam (July 15-18, 1993)."
In an e-mail obtained by WND, Paris said that when he arrived Thursday, he
couldn't find the photo and began searching the grounds.
He found the manager and asked about it.
"This is when I witnessed [the manager] take the picture out of his desk
drawer, and I was told that he had been directed to remove the picture a
month
earlier," Paris said.
The veteran said he was able to get permission to have himself photographed
with the Kerry picture Friday afternoon.
The first documentation of the picture was acquired by Vietnam veteran Bill
Lupetti and publicized by Vietnam Vets for the Truth, a group that held a
rally
against Kerry's candidacy in Washington in September.
The group said the photograph's "unquestionable significance" lies in its
placement in the American protesters' section of the museum.
"The Vietnamese communists clearly recognize John Kerry's contributions to
their victory," group spokesman Jeff Epstein said in June.
Now, according to a report from Paris yesterday, "There was a new display of
pictures and the hard communist war rhetoric that was present in the old
display is now been changed. Kerry is no longer featured as a North
Vietnamese war
hero, but as a visiting American diplomat."
Corsi believes Vietnamese officials' attempt to modify the display
reinforces
a major point made in "Unfit for Command."
"The Vietnamese communists have always seen John Kerry as their go-to guy,"
he said.
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
$9.95 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything.
http://us.click.yahoo.com/J8kdrA/y20IAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->
--------------------------
Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
--------------------------
Brooks Isoldi, editor
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.intellnet.org
Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
*** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been
specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence
Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to
advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their
activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and
other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes
only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this
copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must
obtain permission from the copyright owner.
For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
