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. Kranishs 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 Kerrys 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
You suppose Kerryitis is contageous?
An awful lot of people were bailing on the Swiftvets on a different thread that posted Kranish's original article.
Let us not be too "swift" to bail on these guys. You know that the liberal media is going to throw the kitchen sink at them.
Kranish should do what Peggy Noonan announced yesterday she was doing: take a leave of absence from his job with the Globe.
It's the only honorable thing to do!
If he's working for the Kerry/Edwards ticket, then he should not be masquerading as an objective "reporter" or journalist for the Globe or any other newspaper.
I missed something. What's on page 102 of an unpublished book, and how do we know?
The reporter is from the Kerry camp. He is writing a book for Kerry.
Look, it seems this reporter may have edited some words around. Its not hard to do. You can even tape record a conversation...and edit the tape...and try and use it as back up. The NYT, Dallas Morning News, Alanta Journal Const., and others have been busted for doing just that.
The Reporter does not even have to show a tape to try and save his neck for lying about an interview. The Globe can simply print a retraction buried way in the back pages and, to an extent, cover themselves legally.
I think the reporter intentionally misrepresented the interview. He works for the Kerry Goons.
THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING FOLKS. THE LIBS IN THE MEDIA ARE IN TOTAL PANIC MODE. The Swifties present a thermo-nuclear punch to the Kerry campaing. And the MSM, with guidance from the dems and their PACs, are gonna do everything they can to paint a false picture about the Swiftes.
That should be no shock to us.
Carolyn
Uh oh, who'd a thunk the Boston Globe would mislead their readers????
I appreciate this vet's candor and appreciate him all the more.
And we thought Jayson Blair was a bad boy!
"What did he retract and when did he retract it?"
Throw so much crap out there the public will end up not knowing what the hell is going on and what the truth is.
Kranish is outrageous.....he violated lots of these just by writing the book.
31 posted on 08/06/2004 11:54:01 AM PDT by rwfromkansas (BYPASS FORCED WEB REGISTRATION! **** http://www.bugmenot.com ****)
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I got off the phone with Kranish...he denies the allegations of distortion of course.
Did Kranish deny that he wrote the introduction piece in the book?
He was obviously getting flooded with calls and just said "it is not true," he wanted people to know that, but he had to go. So, he hung up before I could ask him to clarify.
I am assuming he is denying he took things out of context and twisted the story.
Amazon.com proves he wrote the intro to the book, after all.
He would look pretty stupid to deny that.
So if you are going to get after someone how about the STATION THAT YANKED AN AD because of a article by a self serving author that had a clear conflict of Interest and has been OPENLY repudiated from the Officer quoted.
DEMAND THAT THE STATION TO START RE-AIRING THE AD!
This attack is not about the truth from the Demonrats perspective, it's about lying and intimidating these people so the story doesn't get told to the Masses.
Call the STATION!
From Drudge: [TV Station WTVG 13-ABC, Toledo, Ohio dropped the anti-Kerry vet ad on Friday after the Kerry campaign used the GLOBE/Kranish story to convince the station's management the ad was false.]
On FNC Shep Smith is acting like the guys in the ad are all lieing.
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