Posted on 08/06/2004 11:30:16 AM PDT by Conservative Coulter Fan
Vet denies retraction
of Kerry war criticism
Boston Globe story saying he backed off 'extremely inaccurate', 'highly misleading'
© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com
A Vietnam veteran who appears in a television ad critical of Sen. John Kerry says a Boston Globe article asserting he retracted his criticism of the presidential candidate's war service is "extremely inaccurate" and "highly misleading."
In a statement, Swift Boat Veterans for the Truth says "Captain Elliott reaffirms his affidavit in support of that advertisement, and he reaffirms his request that the ad be played."
The Globe story by Michael Kranish said Elliott, in an interview yesterday, backed off one of the key contentions of a book to be released next week by the veterans group, "Unfit for Command."
Elliott, according to Kranish, said he had made a "terrible mistake" in signing an affidavit that suggests Kerry did not deserve the Silver Star.
But the veterans group says the article is "particularly surprising given page 102 of Mr. Kranish’s own book quoting John Kerry as acknowledging that he killed a single, wounded, fleeing Viet Cong soldier whom he was afraid would turn around."
The group says it has more than 250 members "who are revealing first hand, eyewitness accounts of numerous incidents concerning John Kerry’s military service record."
"The organization will continue to discuss much of what John Kerry has reported as fact concerning his four-month tour of duty in Vietnam," the statement said.
In the affadavit, given to the newspaper to back the group's contentions, Elliott is quoted as saying that 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."
The statement refers to a Feb. 28, 1969 incident in which Kerry won the Silver Star after shooting a Viet Cong soldier who had been carrying a rocket launcher and running toward a hut. Kerry's crewmates said in interviews last year they thought the action was necessary and it was Elliott who recommended Kerry for the Silver Star, the Globe reported.
But some Kerry critics have questioned whether the soldier posed a danger to the crew.
The Globe quotes Elliott as saying yesterday, "I still don't think he shot the guy in the back. It was a terrible mistake probably for me to sign the affidavit with those words. I'm the one in trouble here."
The book says "Elliott indicates that a Silver Star recommendation would not have been made by him had he been aware of the actual facts."
In the television ad, Elliott says, "John Kerry has not been honest about what happened in Vietnam."
The book also raises questions about the action of March 13, 1969, for which Kerry was awarded a Bronze Star and his third Purple Heart.
In the interview with the Globe, Elliott said that based on the affidavits of the veterans on other boats, he now thinks his assessment about the Bronze Star and third Purple Heart may have been based on poor information.
"I simply have no reason for these guys to be lying, and if they are lying in concert, it is one hell of a conspiracy. So, on the basis of all of the information that has come out, I have chosen to believe the other men. I absolutely do not know first hand."
Related offer:
"Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry"
Related stories:
Dems press TV stations to shun vets' ad
White House avoids criticism of Vets' ad
Vets: Kerry lied to get Silver Star
Kerry's Viet comrades call him a liar in TV ad
Kerry's wounds self-inflicted?
Kerry flip-flop on war footage
Controversy over Kerry's re-enacted war scenes
Anti-Kerry vets to sue candidate?
Kerry honored at communist museum
'Kerry lied while good men died'
Vets to Kerry: Stop using photos
Vet: Officers told Kerry to leave Vietnam
This confirms that the Kerry camp is in major panic mode.
This denial of a denial sounds like voting for it before voting against it.
HEY!
Try the story Matt Drudge is reporting on...this Boston Globe reporter has a conflict of interest...he's writing an official book for Kerry/Edwards.
Kranish has been discredited as a pro-Kerry shill but its all there on page 102 of his OWN book about Kerry having shot a kid in the back while on tour in Vietnam. So its not just a bunch of pro-Bush partisans making it all up. The media is in hot war for not asking Kerry the tough questions, like it asked tough questions about President Bush's National Guard service.
Kranish has been discredited as a pro-Kerry shill but its all there on page 102 of his OWN book about Kerry having shot a kid in the back while on tour in Vietnam. So its not just a bunch of pro-Bush partisans making it all up. The media is in hot water for not asking Kerry the tough questions, like it asked tough questions about President Bush's National Guard service.
Wow!
I am waiting to see/hear this confirmed by another source.
Then there are a few doomer and gloomer posters who will be served this roasted crow for lunch and dinner.
HAHAHAHAHAHA
Okay............
Then the guy is an out and out LIAR!
He AND kerry!
Yep...I had them tell me to make sure they are telling the truth because one of them is retracting his story...now I'll be serving crow all day long.
Can't wait for the retraction of the denial of the retraction!
It sounds to me like Elliott intended to retract only the assertion that Kerry shot the VC in the back. And if that assertion was not based on his own firsthand knowledge, but on what he'd heard from other people, he's right: he shouldn't have signed it.
JM Stein7 has a great thread that goes along with your thread:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1186447/posts
Tell The Boston Globe: FIRE Reporter Mike Kranish for Conflict of Interest (Swift Vets)
Drudge ^
Posted on 08/06/2004 11:24:45 AM PDT by jmstein7
If you haven’t heard yet, read the following from Drudge:
BOSTON GLOBE 'REPORTER' PAID TO WRITE CAMPAIGN BOOK FORWARD WHILE COVERING KERRY
BOSTON GLOBE reporter Mike Kranish made waves on Friday by reporting "a key figure in the anti-Kerry campaign, Kerry's former commanding officer, backed off one of the key contentions."
But Captain George Elliott claims the Kranish article is "extremely inaccurate" and highly misstated his actual views.
Oddly, journalist Kranish has been commissioned to write the forward of the official Kerry-Edwards campaign book -- just as he is covering the campaign in an official capacity as a journalist for the BOSTON GLOBE!
This conflict of interest is outrageous! This is a plain case of journalistic malpractice.
Call and email the Globe today – tell them to remove Kranish from the campaign coverage and/or FIRE him!
Teresa M. Hanafin
Editor, Boston Globe
(617) 929-3066
Lisa DeSisto
VP, General Manager, Boston GLobe
(617) 929-7032
ombud@globe.com
Bump to you apropos our chat about "what next" for the book. Read the Vets Hang Tough thread too or catch it at Drudge. The DemonRats have revealed their lying cheating biased black hearts for all to see.
hehehehehe
I was meaning kranish and kerry. Not Captain Elliott.
His reputatoin has been maligned by kranish.
And it confuses me. What exactly is he denying? Has he flip-flopped AGAIN?
The BOSTON GLOBE reporter who did this story is a PAID hack of the KERRY campaign. He is also a biographer of Kerry and will be doing the campaign book on Kerry Edwards..... due out shortly. Of course he maintains he is NOT BIASED!!
"I actually did deny it before I retracted it."
Er, okay...
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