Kevin Drum Debunks Koppel's Nightline Myth (NGUYEN VAN KHOAI)

Washington Monthly ^ | October 16, 2004 | Kevin Drum

[optimistically_conservative]

NGUYEN VAN KHOAI....In their story about John Kerry's Silver Star on Thursday, Nightline interviewed a Vietnamese man who said this wasn't the first time he'd been asked about Kerry's medals:

Back in Tran Thoi, villager Nguyen Van Khoai said that about six months ago he was visited by an American who described himself as a Swift boat veteran and told him another American from the Swift boats was running for president of the United States. Nguyen said the man was accompanied by a cameraman.

When I initially wrote about this, my assumption was that the "Swift boat veteran" in question was probably someone from Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, trying to dig up dirt on Kerry. However, it turns out there are two pieces of evidence that suggest SBVT wasn't involved in this.

First, there's a dispatch from AP reporter Margie Mason, who took a trip up the Bay Hap river in August. Apparently she interviewed the same guy:

"I think it's American politics," said Nguyen Van Khoai, 61, a former Viet Cong who fought American troops in the area but never attacked the Swift boats. "On any side, a soldier who made an outstanding feat is given a medal, but maybe some people try to think otherwise."

Second, a few minutes ago I spoke with a Vietnam vet named Doug Reese, who works with Vietnam's official tourist agency and has visited the country frequently. In particular, Reese visited Tran Thoi in March and spoke with several villagers who were witnesses to the Silver Star incident. He identified himself as a journalist, not a Swift boat vet, and he didn't have a cameraman with him, but he thinks it's likely that Khoai confused his visit (March) with Mason's visit (Swift boat related) to come up with the quote he gave Nightline. Reese is a Kerry supporter and no fan of SBVT, but even so, he says, "I'm confident the Swift boat guys didn't go there."

It's impossible to say for sure who Khoai spoke to in March (Reese doesn't know if Khoai was one of the villagers he talked to), but it appears it probably wasn't someone from SBVT. My apologies for jumping to conclusions about this.

[optimistically_conservative]

Give Kevin credit for following up and apologizing.

I'm sure we'll be seeing Koppel apologize on Nightline any day now.

[Texas Eagle]

Back in Tran Thoi, villager Nguyen Van Khoai said that about six months ago he was visited by an American who described himself as a Swift boat veteran and told him another American from the Swift boats was running for president of the United States.

I want to see the travel records for whoever did the advance work for Koppel. THAT'S probably who this guy talked to.

We aren't expected to believe that Ted went in there and did his own dirty work are we?

[bayourod]

So the Kerry campaign probably set the whole story up with phony witnesses and then used a third party to feed the story to Ted Koppel who was just as willing to use it without authenticating the facts anymore than Dan Rather was."You were had, Ted"

[angkor]

It's so tedious to keep up with the lies and evasions of the MSM.

Here's what Nightline says on their site about the "setup" for the story:

"he Vietnamese government initially rejected "Nightline's" request to visit the village, saying it did not want to somehow influence the U.S. presidential election. Once "Nightline" explained that the intention was to simply find out what the Vietnamese people remember and think of what happened there, permission was granted."

Nowhere in the text do they mention they were provided a minder and a translator, although they do mention it in the filmed version. Nowhere do they mention the date of the intervews. And nowhere do they mention that their interview includes the same fellow interviews by the AP in August.

It does seem that there are some holes and evasions on this story. More later.

[Travis McGee]

Who was the "independent producer" who speaks fluent VN and has spent 25 years in and out of VN who was ABC's "fixer" on the story?

I think backtrailing that commie stooge will blow the story wide open.

[optimistically_conservative]

I'd like to know more about this "setup" also.

Just for complete transparency and if it should come up elsewhere, Bill Lupetti was in Vietnam May 2004 and sent back the Kerry pictures from Vietnam's War Museum.

Communist Vietnamese honor John Kerry, the war protestor, as a hero in their victory over the United States in the Vietnam War.
Communist Vietnamese honor John Kerry, the war protestor, as a hero in their victory over the United States in the Vietnam War -- Part II.