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Letter: Kerry had good reason to oppose Vietnam War

Friday, Sept. 3, 2004 | 5:34 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION

September 4 - 7, 2004

There is much said about John Kerry's opposition to the Vietnam War, after he returned from it in 1970. By then it was obvious that we could not win that war, and that is the reason that President Lyndon Johnson didn't run for re-election in 1968.

Johnson and his advisers thought that if we sent more than 500,000 troops, the Viet Cong would give up in fear. They didn't fold, and President Richard Nixon, elected in 1968, didn't want to look weak, so we hung around until the cease-fire in 1973.

The Nixon supporters who bashed Kerry in 1971 are at it again. In this country, when a citizen believes that our leaders are making a mistake, it is their right and duty to say so. Even presidents make mistakes, and it is not unpatriotic to point that out.

As a member of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Kerry was trying to persuade Nixon to get us out of Vietnam in order to save American lives.

JIM RILEY

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