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Posted on 08/06/2004 9:14:15 AM PDT by Destro
Anti-Kerry Swift boat vet Lt. Commander George Elliot retracts and regrets anti Kerry statements. He is the one that said Kerry did not deserve the Silver Star medal and was featured in the commercial. Heard it just now on the radio - nothing in print yet.
Elliot was a Kerry plant then???? Seems like it with that resume, no?
Possible .. So far it just saying he regrets saying it ..
>Yesterday, reached at his home, Elliott said he regretted signing the affidavit and said he still thinks Kerry deserved the Silver Star.
''I still don't think he shot the guy in the back," Elliott said. ''It was a terrible mistake probably for me to sign the affidavit with those words. I'm the one in trouble here."
Elliott said he was no under personal or political pressure to sign the statement, but he did feel ''time pressure" from those involved in the book. ''That's no excuse," Elliott said. ''I knew it was wrong . . . In a hurry I signed it and faxed it back. That was a mistake."
The affidavit also contradicted earlier statements by Elliott, who came to Boston during Kerry's 1996 Senate campaign to defend Kerry on similar charges, saying that Kerry acted properly and deserved the Silver Star.
That's my thinking. However, it could also be the fact that he realized "Oh crap. I was the one that put him in for the medal, and if he didn't deserve one then I look like I wasn't doing my job..." and decided to change his mind to avoid looking like a fool.
But yeah, I lean towards him being a plant. Not sure, though.
What the heck did they threaten him with?
That should be the story here!
And so, if the swiftvets fell for the setup, it shows me that the swiftvets are not too swift.
Who knows. It doesn't look like a total retraction, just regret for saying it, so I will give him the benefit of the doubt - for now.
I notice he isn't denying all of the other stuff, so I'm gonna just wait and see, I guess.
what about the other swift boat vets?
this is just one of them.
Congrats to McCain for playing this up to get national coverage. McCain is Bush's best secret weapon.
Probably the same thing he is now, living in the same place, thankful to not be facing a lawsuit which, even if decided in his favor would bankrupt him and take years. The average retiree/near retiree cannot afford to spend as much as the Kerry war chest could pony up, and then never recover it in their lifetime, especially if the Kerry bunch dropped the suit.
This could be the October surprise that Hillary is talking about....
That's what I lean towards. Why hasn't anyone checked his bank accounts and such--money works so much better than threats on some people.
Of course, when someone retracts they lose all credibility to me--it doesn't go back to the first statement being true.
From Capitol Hill Blue
FUBAR
Key Figure in Anti-Kerry Book Recants; Admits He Lied
By Staff and Wire Reports
Aug 6, 2004, 08:41
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/printer_4985.shtml
A key figure in a veterans' anti-Kerry campaign, Kerry's former commanding officer, admitted today he lied when he said the Democratic candidate for President did not deserve the Silver Star.
Lieutenant Commander George Elliott now says he made a ''terrible mistake" in signing an affidavit that suggests Kerry did not deserve the Silver Star -- one of the main allegations in a new book, "Unfit For Command," which questions Kerry's fitness for President.
In the book, which is being promoted on conservative web sites, Elliott is quoted as claiming Kerry ''lied about what occurred in Vietnam . . . for example, in connection with his Silver Star, I was never informed that he had simply shot a wounded, fleeing Viet Cong in the back."
Elliott's statement refers to an episode in which Kerry killed a Viet Cong soldier who had been carrying a rocket launcher, part of a chain of events that formed the basis of his Silver Star. Kerry critics who were not present at the event have questioned whether the soldier posed a danger to Kerry's crew but his crew members have said Kerry's actions saved their lives.
Elliott now says he regretted signing the affidavit and feels Kerry deserved the Silver Star.
''It was a terrible mistake probably for me to sign the affidavit with those words. I'm the one in trouble here," Elliott added.
Elliott said he was no under personal or political pressure to sign the statement, but he did feel ''time pressure" from those involved in the book. ''That's no excuse," Elliott said. ''I knew it was wrong . . . In a hurry I signed it and faxed it back. That was a mistake."
The affidavit also contradicted earlier statements by Elliott, who came to Boston during Kerry's 1996 Senate campaign to defend Kerry on similar charges, saying that Kerry acted properly and deserved the Silver Star.
"What I did (signing the statement) was wrong," Elliott said. "Terribly, terribly wrong. I'm sorry."
© Copyright 2004 Capitol Hill Blue
He also said "I'm the one in trouble here." Threats?
I expect a mole in anything since the advent of the Clintons. Is George Elliot a mole? I don't know... but some of these vets may have been more trusting of this gentleman than I would have been, given his previous history with J F-in' K.
Sounds like a good idea till we get more information of what brought this up
What does he regret? Making the statements because they are false? Or making them because now he is being harrassed by lots of powerful people to take them back?
The obvious follow up to this is "WHAT DOES HE EXACTLY REGRET?" and then "WHY?" I can regret disparaging my boss after he fires me for it... that doesn't mean I didn't speak the truth.
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