<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:verdana, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12pt"><div><span>The nomination of John Kerry is good news for U.S. veterans, for Vietnam, and for our efforts here to reduce and ultimately eliminate the continuing problems of bombs and mines, and Agent Orange, the last two remaining legacies of the war.</span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: verdana,helvetica,sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><br><span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: verdana,helvetica,sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><span>If Chuck Hagel becomes Secretary of Defense that is also a plus for Vietnam and for our efforts.<br></span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: verdana,helvetica,sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style:
normal;"><br><span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: verdana,helvetica,sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><span>CHUCK<br></span></div><div><font size="1"><br><span style="font-style:italic;color:rgb(128, 0, 0);font-weight:bold;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-style:italic;color:rgb(128, 0, 0);font-weight:bold;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><font style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-style:italic;font-weight:bold;color:rgb(128, 0, 0);" size="1">==================================<br>CHUCK SEARCY<br>Project RENEW <br></font></font><font size="1"><font style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-style:italic;font-weight:bold;color:rgb(128, 0, 0);" size="1"><font size="1"><font class="yui_3_2_0_19_134810707705786" style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-style:italic;font-weight:bold;color:rgb(128,
0, 0);" size="1">Vietnam Enterprise Group</font></font><br>Humpty Dumpty Institute<br>Veterans for Peace<br>25 Truong Han Sieu, #302, Hanoi, Vietnam<br>Mobile: +84 (0) 903 420 769<br>Email: chucksearcy@yahoo.com<br>Web: landmines.org.vn<br>Web: vietnamenterprisegroup.com<br>Web: thehdi.org<br>Web: veteransforpeace.org<br>Skype: chucksearcy<br>==================================</font></font><span><br></span><br><span style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><a
href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hG9bX7MlcLouTZdGjZ7IJLcYSKCg?docId=CNG.1c9383c4d32989d1cf9d60748477a5f2.651">http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hG9bX7MlcLouTZdGjZ7IJLcYSKCg?docId=CNG.1c9383c4d32989d1cf9d60748477a5f2.651</a></span></span><br><div id="articleheadline">
<h2>Obama picks John Kerry as secretary of state<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="byline"></span><span class="author2"></span></span><br></h2><div class="title-meta2"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="author2">By Stephen Collinson (AFP Agence France-Presse</span>)<br>
<span class="date2">Posted on 12/22/2012 8:20 AM | Updated 12/22/2012 8:46 AM
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</span><div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="easy_img_caption" style="display:inline-block;line-height:0.5;vertical-align:top;background-color:#F2F2F2;text-align:center;min-width: auto !important; max-width:640px;min-height: auto !important;margin:10px 10px;"><img class="thinglinkFetching" src="http://static.rappler.com/images/US-DIPLOMACY-OBAMA-KERRY.jpg" alt="NOMINATED. US Senator John Kerry (R) watches as US President Barack Obama announces Kerry as his choice for the next secretary of state on December 21, 2012 in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC. AFP PHOTO/Mandel NGAN" title="NOMINATED. US Senator John Kerry (R) watches as US President Barack Obama announces Kerry as his choice for the next secretary of state on December 21, 2012 in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC. AFP PHOTO/Mandel NGAN" style="margin:0;" border="0" height="360" width="640"><span
class="easy_img_caption_inner" style="display:inline-block;line-height:normal;color:#000000;font-size:12px;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;padding:10px 10px;margin:0px;">NOMINATED.
US Senator John Kerry (R) watches as US President Barack Obama
announces Kerry as his choice for the next secretary of state on
December 21, 2012 in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in
Washington, DC. AFP PHOTO/Mandel NGAN</span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">WASHINGTON, United States - US President Barack Obama Friday
nominated Senator John Kerry as his new secretary of state, as he began
to reshape his national security team for a second term clouded by
overseas crises.</span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br></span></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Kerry, 69, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, defeated former
presidential candidate and foreign policy sage, will succeed Hillary
Clinton, who is stepping down after four years as the top US diplomat.</span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br></span></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">"John's earned the respect and confidence of leaders around the
world," Obama said at the White House as he announced Kerry's
nomination, his first second-term cabinet pick.</span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br></span></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">"I think it's fair to say that few individuals know as many
presidents and prime ministers or grasp our foreign policies as firmly
as John Kerry."</span></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">"He is not going to need a lot of on-the-job training."</span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br></span></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Kerry stepped up following the withdrawal of UN ambassador Susan
Rice, the early favorite for the post, who was caught in the political
aftermath of the attack of the US mission in Benghazi, Libya in
September.</span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br></span></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Obama said that Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, had played a central role in every US foreign policy debate
for 30 years and that his "entire life" had prepared him for his new
role.</span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br></span></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>'Well-prepared for the job'</b></span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><br></b></span></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Kerry saw life overseas as the son of a Cold War foreign service
officer, served as a navy officer in Vietnam, and spent years wrestling
with foreign policy issues in the Senate.</span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br></span></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Obama said that Clinton had hoped to be at the announcement, but was still recovering from a serious virus and a concussion.</span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br></span></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">The outgoing secretary of state said that Kerry had been tested "in
government, and in diplomacy. Time and again, he has proven his mettle."</span></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Noting their shared heritage on the campaign trail, she said it was
an "enormous asset" to be able to talk candidly to leaders of fragile
and emerging democracies "as someone who has won elections and also lost
them.</span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br></span></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">The White House had hoped to make a clean sweep by announcing all
nominations to the national security team, including new chiefs of the
CIA and Pentagon at once.</span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br></span></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">But a crush of political events, including the "fiscal cliff"
economic crisis, has pushed them back. A battle is already raging as
opponents seek to tar former senator Chuck Hagel, a possible pick for
defense secretary.</span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br></span></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Kerry, who is well known abroad after acting as an unofficial envoy
for Obama, is expected to win easy confirmation from his Senate
colleagues.</span></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">He has recently traveled to the Middle East and South Asia, and met
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad several times as Washington mulled a
diplomatic opening.</span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br></span></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">He also sought a renewal of Arab-Israeli peace talks before the outbreak of the Syrian revolt.</span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br></span></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">In May 2011, Kerry went to Pakistan to try to ease tensions after the
killing of Osama bin Laden, and in February 2009 he made a rare visit
to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, without meeting anyone from the Islamist
group.</span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br></span></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Challenges</b></span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><br></b></span></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">As soon as he is confirmed in his new job, Kerry will face a huge
array of foreign policy challenges, including a critical moment in the
Iranian nuclear showdown and what could be the last throes of the Assad
regime in Syria.</span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br></span></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Kerry's Senate colleagues welcomed his appointment, including fellow
Vietnam war veteran John McCain, who said: "We have known John Kerry for
many years. We have confidence in John Kerry's ability to carry out the
job."</span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br></span></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Kerry played an important role in Obama's political career, notably
by picking him to give the keynote speech in the 2004 Democratic
convention, at which the then unknown Illinois lawmaker burst onto the
political scene.</span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br></span></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">He also played Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in mock
debates staged by the president's team ahead of Obama's successful
re-election effort in November.</span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br></span></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Kerry narrowly lost the 2004 presidential race to president George W.
Bush, after a campaign that included savage attacks on his war service.</span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><br><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"></span></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">He was lambasted by Republicans who accused him of "flip flops" on
the Iraq war, and the Bush campaign ran an ad showing him windsurfing,
with the kicker "John Kerry, whichever way the wind blows."</span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br></span></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Kerry will be the first white, male secretary of state for years,
following three women -- Clinton, Condoleezza Rice and Madeleine
Albright -- and Colin Powell.</span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br></span></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Kerry first shot to prominence in April 1971 when he testified to the
Senate committee he would later lead, and famously asked: "How do you
ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?"</span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br></span></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
Earlier, during his second 48-day tour in Vietnam, Kerry was awarded
three Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star and a Silver Star for valor for his
work as a lieutenant in charge of dangerous "Swift" gunboat missions in
the Mekong Delta.<br><br></span></div><div><span></span></div><div></div></div></body></html>