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Pacific Rim Bureau (CNSNews.com) - They may not have a vote in November's U.S. presidential election, but many Vietnamese living in Australia would like to see the campaign focus more on Senator John Kerry's approach toward Vietnam today than on what he did there more than 30 years ago. Comprising mostly refugees who fled the communist regime's repression in Hanoi, the 200,000-plus Vietnamese living in Australia take a keen interest in the situation in their homeland, community general-secretary Trung Doan said Tuesday. Like their counterparts living in the United States, many were incensed when U.S. legislation aimed at forcing the...

NEW YORK CITY - At last month's Democratic convention, former Navy Lt. John Kerry projected himself as ready for duty in the White House, standing alongside his band of brothers from Vietnam and boasting testimonials from no less than four former generals. Now it's George W. Bush's turn to trumpet military toughness. As the Republican National Convention unfolds in New York, the wartime president and commander in chief is firing back against Kerry with a parade of veterans that includes a former rival, his own father and legions of ex-servicemen from World War II to Iraq. Kerry has already been...

You can preview their 4th ad here.

New York (CNSNews.com) - Supporters of Sen. John Kerry can't seem to get enough of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. The issue continued to figure prominently in the political race, popping up repeatedly at the Democrats' rally Monday at Grant's Tomb. One of Kerry's most prominent Vietnam crewmates, Del Sandusky, wasted little time in his speech Monday attacking the anti-Kerry group. "I served with John Kerry," Sandusky said to a round of applause. "Those twinkies on TV are spreading a pack of lies." The Kerry campaign has dispatched Sandusky and other Vietnam veterans to back up the Democrat's record,...

There appears to have been a major shift in the last month in the U.S. presidential campaign from KERRY-IN-THE-LEAD to BUSH-IN-THE-LEAD. And this, before the GOP Convention has really gotten underway.It seems that Kerry supporters and Bush haters are becoming increasingly strident, stressed, psycopathic and perhaps even violent in some cases. Have you personally noticed this in your town and community?.....Because of TeRAYyza's very public meltdown, the SwiftBoatVets, Unfit for Command's booming national sales, devastating Swiftee TV ads in battlegrounds states, and the Kerry slip in the polls? Consider:--A young Bush campaign supporter was sucker-punched yesterday at a Washington State...

A whirlwind seems to have engulfed the Kerry’s campaign blowing it off course and threatening to submerge this floundering vessel. Senator Kerry as a young naval officer never faced a tempest like the one he has encountered coming upon him with the fury of a Hurricane Charley in waves of criticism lashing at his actions both during and after his brief service as a swift boat commander. Judging by the Democrat’s furious reaction to this unexpected change in weather in poll ratings, this political storm of rebuttal is doing some real damage to the facade that has been the Kerry...

The vast army that marched past Madison Square Garden yesterday afternoon yelling, "Bring the Troops Home!" and "Fox News Sucks!" and "Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire!" were united by one great emotion: Contempt for George W. Bush. They denounced the President and all his works in blunt generic slogans and in distinctive New York-ese (my favorite: "Bush is a Tush"), and sang out "No more years!" This chant was almost the only hint that the marchers realize it is an election year. They hate Bush but they didn't show any love for his opponent, either. They didn't even mention him....

From www.MichNews.com GuestSwift Boat Vets relive John Kerry’s Genghis “Con” By Doug Schmitz Aug 29, 2004, 12:20 “[The] mainstream media refuse to pursue [Kerry’s war record charges].  They have an agenda.  The agenda is to bring down George Bush.  If they really made these charges a burning issue, Kerry would go down in flames.  Because they refuse to make these matters an issue, they won’t be." — Paul M. Weyrich, Accuracy in Media, 8/17/04 COLUMNIST’S NOTE: The following is an in-depth analysis of the 24-hour smear campaign that John Kerry, his media allies and his countless anti-Bush ‘527’ groups have launched...

NASSAU BAY, Texas - Nearly 40 protesters gathered Saturday at the suburban Houston home of the chief financial backer of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth's television ad criticizing Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's military record. But the elusive Bob J. Perry didn't appear to be at his Nassau Bay home and didn't answer three doorbell rings by several veterans seeking to hand-deliver a letter asking him to stop supporting the swift boat veterans group. "We deeply resent what he's doing to the veterans," said Richard Zaner, a 70-year-old veteran of the Korean War who lives in the same suburb...

Former Navy Secretary John Lehman denied at week's end having written the Silver Star citation that appears on John Kerry's campaign Web site over Lehman's signature, dealing the Democrat's presidential campaign another stunning blow. Which makes us wonder: Does Kerry still believe that running on his Vietnam will gain him the White House? Kerry's Silver Star is the most prestigious of his Vietnam decorations — it's the nation's third-highest for combat valor — but there are at least three official versions of how he earned it. The most recent — and the one with the most florid rhetoric — allegedly...

< snip> After weeks of denigration of the Democratic challenger's Vietnam war record, Mr Kerry's backers have responded with allegations against the President - including the claim that he was once photographed in uniform wearing a medal ribbon he had not earned. As polls showed that Mr Bush had edged ahead of Mr Kerry for the first time, a pro-Kerry organisation labelled the President an "impostor" over the photograph, taken in 1970 and discovered in his father's Presidential Library in Houston, Texas. The ribbon is an Air Force Outstanding Unit Award - which was not awarded to the 111th Fighter...

The Scorecard: Swiftees vs. Kerry David Limbaugh Monday, August 30, 2004 Despite the partisan media's claims to the contrary, John Kerry has not successfully refuted "almost all the Swiftees' charges." Though he has attempted to dodge the bullets, he has been deeply wounded by them. Instead of responding factually to the charges, Kerry and his defenders have: personally attacked the Swiftees and reportedly hired private investigators to look for dirt on them mischaracterized Swiftee John O'Neill as a Nixon dirty trickster reiterated their lies about President Bush's Air National Guard service filed complaints with the FEC to muzzle the Swiftees...

The US presidential election could not be tighter as the Republican Party convention gets under way this week. Bush will face off for the presidency in November against Senator John Kerry, he of the lantern jaw, the growling voice and the preposterous hair. The candidates look ever more alike in their policies, and the election looks ever closer. Going in to the Republican convention the polls seem to have Bush just ahead. Assuming he gets a bounce from the convention itself, even of a few points, he's probably narrowly in the lead. But a lot of factors favour the challenger,...

Military veterans in North Carolina solidly back President Bush's bid for re-election, according to a survey conducted this week for The News & Observer. Fifty-seven percent of Tar Heel vets said this week that they would vote for Bush, the Republican, while 35 percent prefer Democratic challenger John Kerry. And after weeks of public focus on Kerry's war record, 40 percent of North Carolina's veterans don't think he is being honest about his Navy service in Vietnam, while 35 percent believe him. The responses varied sharply by party affiliation: 71 percent of the Democratic veterans said they believed Kerry, while...

Vietnam veterans are honored all over the country these days. However, that wasn't the way it was when the war was being waged or even after it ended. There were no welcome home parades. Vietnam vets suffered public scorn in ways that have no parallel anywhere in American history. What happened 35 years ago has dimmed in memory, but as veterans remember, John Kerry's standing among them is slipping every day. Veterans are a respectful group, yet some turn their backs whenever John Kerry addresses them. The record shows that Kerry served in Vietnam four months. During that time, he...

Throng vocal but well-behaved during visit A Kerry supporter hits a Bush supporter, but the rest of the scuffles are verbal. Maybe he wasn't a swing voter, but a man holding a Kerry sign swung fast - with his fist - and connected with the cheek of a Bush supporter outside the Everett Events Center on Friday. Otherwise, it was a mostly peaceful gathering of hundreds of supporters of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry and President Bush drawn by Kerry's private appearance. Police did not report any other disturbances. Everett police Lt. Butch Braley estimated a couple of thousand people...

..........While the demonstration by the Working Senators group was peaceful, the Kerry supporters clashed verbally with Darrell Crate, the state Republican Party chairman, when he stepped forward to accept their letter on behalf of the governor. Crate attempted to turn the tables on the pro-Kerry veterans by offering them a letter from the Working Senators group demanding that Kerry attend more Senate sessions. When Crate tried to read the letter, the Kerry veterans shouted him down. "It was my understanding that we are going to take our letter to the governor's office, and that's what we're going to do," said...

Campaign '04: The media finally have discovered Swift boat veterans. Not to tell their story, mind you. But to attack them for daring to criticize John Kerry. That's why "Unfit for Command" is such an important book. To listen to the mainstream media, you'd think nothing of note came from "Unfit for Command," the book written by former Navy commander John O'Neill that sums up the case made by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. In fact, it's full of damning detail about Kerry's career in Vietnam and his anti-war activity afterward. The overall picture that emerges isn't one that should...

The ideological battle over the Vietnam War has been fought and refought for 30 years, and its veterans are accustomed to having their war pulled and twisted in political debates. But its arrival as a central issue in the 2004 presidential campaign has given the debate an urgency it has not recently had. Vietnam veterans from Berkshire County interviewed yesterday spoke of a mixture of anger, bemusement and frustration that an experience many want only to leave in the past is being dragged back to the center of the national discourse. Support for Sen. John Kerry or President Bush largely...

"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclination, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence." --John Adams There is a chronic state of superciliousness manifest in some members of Congress who are perennially re-elected by their loyal lemmings -- an unmitigated arrogance called "Potomac Mentation Syndrome" (PMS). Its primary symptom is the angry projection of invincibility by its victim, and John Kerry, who's been occupying a seat in the Senate for the last two decades, appears to have a terminal case. Kerry, a privileged but neglected trust baby,...

Calling (Off) John McCain: President Bush called Sen. John McCain on Thursday from Air Force One and says he wants to work with him to pursue court action against political ads by "shadowy" outside groups. Full article here. ============================================================== Smears for Fears: How Kerry's Boat just keeps sinking So why isn't anyone talking about Vietnam? ;-) As the campaign season heats up, the burning question at the People's Republic of the New York Times is: Is this group a "front group" for the evil, diabolical Bush campaign? Or is this group operating independently? Is BushCo secretly pulling the strings? Is...

NEW YORK -- Retired Rear Adm. William L. Schachte Jr. said Thursday in his first on-the-record interview about the Swift boat veterans dispute that "I was absolutely in the skimmer" in the early morning on Dec. 2, 1968, when Lt. (j.g.) John Kerry was involved in an incident which led to his first Purple Heart. "Kerry nicked himself with a M-79 (grenade launcher)," Schachte said in a telephone interview from his home in Charleston, S.C. He said, "Kerry requested a Purple Heart." Schachte, who also was then a lieutenant junior grade, said he was in command of the small Boston...

John Kerry was born in the wrong country; he would be much more at home in Canada than in the United States. He possesses a quality that the majority of Canadians have; that distinguishes us from all other peoples on earth. It’s what unites Canadians from coast to coast to coast. Canadians love to whine. And John F. Kerry is a whiner. This became absolutely apparent after he brought legal action against the Swift Boats Veterans who ran a negative attack ad pointing out that he may not be quite the military hero that he claims to be. As noted...

John Edwards is supposed to be a great lawyer, but at the recent Democratic convention he made a rookie mistake: He raised a question without knowing the answer. "If you have any questions about what John Kerry's made of, just spend three minutes with the men who served with him," he said. Edwards meant Kerry's "band of brothers" -- the small entourage of vets who served under him in Vietnam and now support him for president. Evidently, Edwards did not know at the time that almost every officer who commanded Kerry or served alongside him opposes his candidacy. Worse, they...

Last week I used this space to explore the history of dirty tricks in American politics. As you would remember, the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth had released a sequence of advertisements on television casting doubt on Senator Kerry's much vaunted Vietnam War record. Today, as I sat down to submit my article, I noticed an item in the news concerning the swift boat vets once again. Early yesterday, Max Cleland, a former US Senator from Georgia ventured down to the President's ranch in Crawford, Texas, to deliver a letter to Bush requesting him to personally denounce the Swift Boat...

What if both sides are right? That thought comes to mind repeatedly as I try to hash out the battle between veterans who attack John Kerry's Vietnam combat record and those who defend it. Out of the fog of war, politics and old memories, long ago events have become the focus of an ugly election year mud fight as a group of swift boat veterans and others contend that Kerry didn't deserve the Silver Star, Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts he was awarded for various actions. Watching and reading the various conflicting accounts of what happened or didn't happen,...

..........McCain, a prisoner of war in Vietnam, was among the first to condemn the veterans group for challenging Kerry's combat record and spoke out against the ad throughout his 90-minute luncheon interview. But he also said Kerry had invited scrutiny of his record by putting so much emphasis on Vietnam at the Democratic National Convention in Boston last month. "His critics are saying, 'Look, you made it fair game,' " McCain said. "I mean, that's very legitimate, and I think there's a risk that he took when he made it such a centerpiece. He may be paying a very heavy...

John Kerry placed in the Congressional Record on January 28, 1998 the eulogy he gave (apparently) at the funeral of a former swiftboat companion. He describes what could be an entirely different version of the Rassmann falling in the river/mine exploding story. * * * 

Watching Crossfire on CNN. Novak implied that one of the two men on the boat with Kerry during his first Purple Heart will come forward to contradict Kerry’s story. He wouldn’t tell Carville the name of the person, but said it would come out soon. Should be fun.

Wednesday, August 25, 2004 - WASHINGTON -- A Navy report filed five days after a disputed incident in Vietnam supports John Kerry's version and contradicts critics who say the Democratic presidential nominee never came under enemy gunfire when he won two medals. The Navy task force overseeing Kerry's swift-boat squadron reported his group of boats being fired on during the March 13, 1969, incident. Some of Kerry's critics, including several men who were on other boats that day, say there was no enemy gunfire during the incident that won Kerry a Bronze Star and his third Purple Heart. The March...

Democrat John Kerry has lost ground with voters in their perceptions of his honesty, leadership skills and Vietnam experience during the heated debate over his war record as a swiftboat commander, a poll found. Ads paid for by a group called the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth have questioned Kerry's Vietnam service and claim he lied about his actions while piloting a swiftboat on a Vietnam river in the late 1960s. The Kerry campaign has rebutted the claims with Navy documents and other veteran accounts, and Kerry has accused President Bush of being behind the ads paid for by an...

Poll: Kerry loses ground with voters By WILL LESTER ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER WASHINGTON -- Democrat John Kerry has lost ground with voters in their perceptions of his honesty, leadership skills and Vietnam experience during the heated debate over his war record as a swiftboat commander, a poll found. Ads paid for by a group called the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth have questioned Kerry's Vietnam service and claim he lied about his actions while piloting a swiftboat on a Vietnam river in the late 1960s. The Kerry campaign has rebutted the claims with Navy documents and other veteran accounts, and...

Vietnam Vet Questions Kerry on War Record Thursday August 26, 2004 8:01 PM AP Photo MNJM101 By JERRY SCHWARTZ AP National Writer Twice in 33 years, John O'Neill looked up from a hospital bed and saw John Kerry on television. Each time, he was stirred to action. In 1971, while recovering from leg surgery, O'Neill watched his fellow Vietnam veteran tell a Senate committee that U.S. soldiers had admitted committing war crimes there. Infuriated, O'Neill debated Kerry on national television. He accused him of libel and spreading ``the big lie.'' This year, in intensive care after donating a kidney to...

The newest ad from the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth has come out with a new one. This time Kerry's own foregunner from PCF-44 calls Kerry "deceitful."

Until recently, I regarded the Swift Boat Veterans book and ad campaign with indifference generally reserved for Justin Timberflake's latest album. Kerry's constant touting of his Vietnam medals and the Swift Boat Veterans campaign seemed to be a he-said/they-said deal, and since I wasn't there, I have no way to know who was telling the truth. Furthermore, whether Kerry was a war hero or not made no difference to me regarding his views on future policy, such as his vigorous defense of abortions and his openness to same-sex marriages. This type of let's-stick-to-the-issues sentiment was expressed by Sen. John McCain...

Local veterans have mixed views on the validity of recent political attacks on Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's military record in Vietnam. John Mezes, who served in the Air Force from 1956 to 1960, was suspicious of how Kerry could have won three Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star and a Silver Star in a four-month period. "How did he win so many medals in so short a time?" asked Mezes, who owns a Bridgeport business that refurbishes trucks. "Isn't it suspicious it happened in only four months?" In contrast, Marine veteran Kingsley McAlpine of Bridgeport doesn't question Kerry's heroics in...

Twice in 33 years, John O'Neill looked up from a hospital bed and saw John Kerry on television. Each time, he was stirred to action. In 1971, while recovering from leg surgery, O'Neill watched his fellow Vietnam veteran tell a Senate committee that U.S. soldiers had admitted committing war crimes there. Infuriated, O'Neill debated Kerry on national television. He accused him of libel and spreading "the big lie." This year, in intensive care after donating a kidney to his wife, O'Neill watched on television as John Kerry emerged as the leading Democratic presidential candidate. This time, O'Neill wrote a best-selling...

March 13, 1969 1. On March 13, 1969, did you wound yourself in the hip with a rice grenade? 2. Why was the above wound reported to the Navy for a Purple Heart as coming from a water mine? 3. On March 13, 1969, did you suffer a contusion (minor) (i.e., bruise) on your arm, as opposed to a bleeding wounded arm? 4. Did you claim your third Purple Heart and leave Vietnam eight months early on the basis of this bruise? 5. On March 13, 1969, did the boats other than yours stay behind and come to the aid...

EDITOR'S NOTE: This editorial will appear in the September 13, 2004, issue of National Review. Speaking on behalf of Vietnam veterans in his Senate testimony on April 22, 1971, John Kerry said, "We wish that a merciful God could wipe away our own memories of that service..." Thirty-three years later, it's clear that his plea fell on deaf ears. Kerry recalls his Vietnam service in virtually every campaign speech he makes. At the Boston convention, his four-month stint in Vietnam was repeatedly invoked as his primary qualification for the presidency. Kerry's problem is that those who served alongside him haven't...

Using the Freedom of Information Act to request and get a hold of as much of the documentation as possible. The conclusions match what I've been thinking.

CNSNews.com) - Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's 1971 testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee reveals that the then anti-war activist admitted to writing many of the battle reports during his four months of combat in Vietnam. Kerry told the committee on April 22, 1971, "...I can recall often sending in the spot reports which we made after each mission..." Kerry also said that many in the military had "a tendency to report what they want to report and see what they want to see." Kerry's comments about the battle reports came in response to a question from then...

Vietnam-era POWs are lining up to join the Swift Boat Veterans in attacking John Kerry’s readiness to lead the country. The POWs are breaking their silence on how John Kerry’s controversial anti-war activities -- particularly his testimony in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee -- were used to torment them while in captivity. The extent and fallout of Kerry’s anti-war activities are outlined in Unfit for Command, the fast-selling new book by John O’Neill and Jerry Corsi. (Human Events Online reported yesterday the book will vault onto the top of the New York Times Bestseller’s list on 9/5/04.) A...

WASHINGTON (CBS) Sen. John McCain has called on both political parties to declare a cease-fire in the increasingly bitter partisan quarrel over John Kerry's Vietnam war record. "I'm sick and tired of re-fighting the Vietnam War. And most importantly, I'm sick and tired of opening the wounds of the Vietnam War, which I've spent the last 30 years trying to heal," McCain told USA Today. "It's offensive to me, and it's angering to me that we're doing this. It's time to move on." Separately, McCain told the New York Times that he intended to personally "express my displeasure" to President...

After receiving no bounce from his own convention and after weeks of being slammed by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, John Kerry is now 3 point behind President Bush. The latest LA Times poll shows a very polarized race with Democrats strongly backing Kerry and Republicans strongly backing Bush. However, the race has always centered on who will garner the votes of the Independent "swing voters." Kerry has lost ground due to not only his convention performance, but also due to the attacks from the Swift Boat Veterans. At the convention, Kerry decided to focus on the his own...

Although members of the mainstream media continue to support whatever John Kerry and his surrogates tell them (while they continues to comfortably indulge themselves in their never ending Bush-bashing), the extent of Kerry’s lies and lack of any conviction continues to assault those of us in the alternative media. Suffice it to say, Mr. Kerry has taken both anti-war and pro-war positions. Lately, however (with the exception of telling us that President Bush is doing everything wrong in Iraq, he seldom addresses his own stance. Kerry advises us that he and his band of barristers will “prove” collaboration between the...

In a startlingly bad piece of political theater, John Kerry sent his supporter Max Cleland to hand-deliver a letter to President Bush at his ranch in Texas. The 25 August 2004 letter contained a plea for the President to infringe upon the free speech rights of a group known as Swift Boat Veterans for Truth: 254 Vietnam veterans who have collectively questioned the circumstances under which Kerry earned three Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star and a Silver Star in only four months, without spending any time in the hospital. Many of the SBVT are decorated themselves. Because of their questions,...

hen Philadelphians aren't booing their Phillies or Eagles and even Santa Claus, their native scrappiness finds other outlets. If you're from Philly and two guys are quarreling on the street, there's only one thing to do -- ask if this is a private fight or can anybody join. It's hard to say just what the raging firefight between John Kerry and the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth is. I'd like to see it as a private fight between Vietnam vets; we really ought to be debating today's war on terror, not a 40-year-old war. But, of course, the Kerry-Swifties scrap...

.......Many of those who condemn Kerry for opposing the Vietnam War are too young to have been politically aware during that period. The rest are fighting very old battles. But the fact is that the argument over Vietnam was settled long ago, and a majority of Americans decided that Kerry was right. Members of the Swift boat group and like-minded Americans are free to try to re-litigate the basic Vietnam question. They say, from the comfortable perspective of 2004, that the antiwar movement emboldened the enemy and thus lengthened the war. That's their premise: We could have won the war...

Since we devoted an entire editorial Wednesday to denouncing a political ad aimed at Ken Salazar by the Virginia-based Americans for Job Security, permit us now to say a word on behalf of such independent advocacy groups. In just one week's time, their constitutional right to free speech will be curtailed by the single gravest assault on civil liberties approved by Congress during the past four years. No, not the Patriot Act. We refer to the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, aka McCain-Feingold. After Sept. 2, believe it or not, Americans for Job Security will be barred from mentioning...

Politics: Campaign finance reform hasn't ended attack ads. It hasn't stopped MoveOn.org or the Swifties. Good. Let's hear it for loopholes that allow free speech. Both John Kerry and President Bush have done some play-acting in recent days on the issue of negative campaigning. Kerry, stung by ads by fellow Vietnam vets questioning his claims to be a war hero and reminding voters of his over-the-top antiwar rhetoric, says Bush should stop these attacks. As if Bush could. Kerry knows better. Bush, for his part, says he'd be glad to join Kerry in squelching all this nastiness being funded outside...