Posted on 08/21/2004 3:09:44 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON (AP) - Sen. John Kerry's campaign released a video Saturday comparing the controversy over Kerry's Vietnam service to attacks on John McCain during the 2000 Republican primaries. The video, sent via e-mail to supporters, says, "George Bush is up to his old tricks" and shows then-Texas Gov. Bush and Arizona Sen. John McCain at a debate in February 2000.
McCain, sitting next to Bush, says that when "fringe veterans groups" attacked him at a Bush campaign function, Bush stood by and didn't say a word. McCain says a group of senators wrote Bush a letter that said: "Apologize. You should be ashamed."
McCain, also a Vietnam veteran, says Bush "really went over the line."
"I don't know how you can understand this, George, but that really hurts," McCain says.
Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a group funded in part by a top GOP donor in Texas, has been running ads featuring veterans who served in Vietnam at the same time as Kerry and question his wartime record.
Those critics are being challenged by a Chicago Tribune editor who was on the Feb. 28, 1969, mission for which Kerry received the Silver Star. William Rood, 61, said he decided to break his silence about the mission because recent reports of Kerry's actions in that battle are incorrect and darken the reputations of veterans who served with Kerry.
"The critics have taken pains to say they're not trying to cast doubts on the merit of what others did, but their version of events has splashed doubt on all of us," Rood said in a 1,700-word first-person account published in Sunday's edition of the Tribune. "It's gotten harder and harder for those of us who were there to listen to accounts we know to be untrue, especially when they come from people who were not there."
Rood said the allegations that Kerry's accomplishments were overblown are untrue and that Kerry came up with an attack strategy that was praised by their superiors. According to the Tribune, Rood's recollection of what happened that day in South Vietnam was backed by military documents.
Rood wrote that Kerry recently contacted him and other crew members, requesting that they go public with their accounts of what happened.
"I can't pretend those calls (from Kerry) had no effect on me, but that is not why I am writing this," Rood said. "What matters most to me is that this is hurting crewmen who are not public figures and who deserved to be honored for what they did. My intent is to tell the story here and to never again talk publicly about it."
In Roanoke, Va., on Saturday, Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards called on Bush to end the Swift Boat Veterans ads.
"This is a moment of truth for George W. Bush," Edwards said at a Democratic rally. "We're going to see what kind of man he is and what kind of leader he is. ... We want to hear three words: Stop these ads."
Edwards said the commercials were from "people who financed the same kind of attacks against John McCain in the 2000 presidential campaign."
Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt said Saturday, "John Kerry has run a relentlessly negative campaign, the only campaign that has ever questioned anyone's service during the Vietnam War, repeatedly making baseless accusations about the president."
Brian Jones, another Bush campaign spokesman, said, "The president has made it repeatedly clear that he wants to see an end to all" advertising from outside groups.
The Kerry campaign has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission, alleging the Swift Boat Veterans group is coordinating its ads with the Bush campaign. The Bush campaign has denied the claim.
Veteran Backs Kerry on Silver Star Account
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&e=2&u=/ap/20040821/ap_on_el_pr/tribune_editor_kerry
CHICAGO - A Chicago Tribune editor who was on the Vietnam mission for which John Kerry (news - web sites) received the Silver Star is backing up Kerry's account of the incident.
William Rood, 61, said he decided to break his silence about the Feb. 28, 1969, mission because reports by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth are incorrect and darken the reputations of veterans who served with Kerry, according to a report in the Tribune's Sunday editions.
Rood, an editor on the Tribune's metropolitan desk, said the allegations that Kerry's accomplishments were overblown are untrue. Kerry came up with an attack strategy that was praised by their superiors, Rood said.
"The critics have taken pains to say they're not trying to cast doubts on the merit of what others did, but their version of events has splashed doubt on all of us," Rood said in a 1,700-word first-person account published in the newspaper. "It's gotten harder and harder for those of us who were there to listen to accounts we know to be untrue, especially when they come from people who were not there."
According to the Tribune, Rood's recollection of what happened that day in South Vietnam was backed by military documents, including his citation for a Bronze Star and a report written by then-Capt. Roy Hoffmann, who commanded his and Kerry's task force and is now a critic of the Democratic candidate.
The mission has become a focal point of a political and media firestorm fueled by the Swift Boat Veterans.
One of the group's leaders, John O'Neill, succeeded Kerry in command of a swift boat. O'Neill is co-author of the book "Unfit for Command," which accuses Kerry of lying about his wartime record and betraying comrades when he returned from Vietnam by alleging widespread atrocities by U.S. troops. The Swift Boat Veterans have repeated the accusations in TV ads.
The Kerry campaign filed a complaint Friday with the Federal Election Commission (news - web sites), alleging the Swift Boat Veterans are coordinating their ads with the Bush campaign. The Bush campaign has denied the claim but refused to condemn the book or the group's TV ads.
Rood wrote that Kerry recently contacted him and other crew members, requesting that they go public with their accounts of what happened that February day.
"I can't pretend those calls (from Kerry) had no effect on me, but that is not why I am writing this," Rood said. "What matters most to me is that this is hurting crewmen who are not public figures and who deserved to be honored for what they did. My intent is to tell the story here and to never again talk publicly about it."
Rood declined requests from a Tribune reporter to be interviewed. The Tribune's deputy managing editor for news, George de Lama, told The Associated Press on Saturday that Rood would not publicly discuss the issue.
When the Tribune asked O'Neill for his response to Rood's account, O'Neill argued that the former swift boat skipper's version of events is not substantially different from what appeared in his book.
A message left with Swift Boat Veterans for Truth was not immediately returned Saturday.
Gee, I wonder if McCain is going to come out and complain about Kerry's group using his comments?
Does the Kerry campaign really think that Americans believe W is behind this? The White House has simply repeated their respect for K's service. Once again they are working with the Baghdad Bob playbook: say it loud, say it long and the masses will believe. Clowns.
U.S. Democratic presidential nominee U.S. Senator John Kerry (news - web sites) (D-MA) (R) and his wife Teresa Heniz Kerry (C) talk to senior advisor David Morehouse (L) on the tarmac at the airport in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania August 21, 2004 as they prepare to fly to a series of fundraisers in New York. REUTERS/Brian Snyder US ELECTION
Bryant Bowman, Alum Creek, W.Va., holds a sign outside the Kathy Mattea Auditorium in Nitro, W.Va., Saturday, Aug. 21, 2004, where Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. John Edwards (news - web sites) spoke. (AP Photo/Bob Bird)
The bottom line is that "Viet Nam" would not have been an issue had kerry not -made- it an issue.
And to Mr McCain I say, I voted for -you-, not W, in the 2000 primaries.
Thank God wiser people outnumbered idiots like me.
W-04.
Vice presidential candidate John Edwards (news - web sites) on August 21, 2004 assailed a new Bush administration policy that excludes millions of Americans from overtime pay and promised that the Democratic ticket would ensure that workers are rewarded for their efforts. Edwards speaks at the Democratic National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts, on July 28. Photo by Gary Hershorn/Reuters
Contribute to and support the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth at http://swift1.he.net/~swiftvet/index.php
Also, if you would like to see the traitorous Kerry spouting his poison on the 1971 Dick Cavett Show, go to:
http://www.c-span.org/homepage.asp?Cat=Series&Code=RWH&ShowVidNum=6&Rot_Cat_CD=RWH&Rot_HT=206&Rot_WD=&ShowVidDays=60&ShowVidDesc=&ArchiveDays=30
It should say 'RWH Kerry 1971 Appearance on the Dick Cavett Show.
Pass it on.
I will never vote for MCcain under any circumstances. His slander of the Swifties and his unconstitutional collusion with Soros to hijack the democratic process disqualifies him in my book.
The fact that he has to send this to his base means that he is afraid he is losing Demo-RAT support. He is having to shore up his base! This is a move of pure desperation.
He is truly screwed!
I hope M. reams his ass for using his image that way too.
"Rood wrote that Kerry recently contacted him and other crew members, requesting that they go public with their accounts of what happened."
You'll notice however that although Rood claims that Kerry earned his Silver Star that day, he hasn't yet provided the media with his description of what happened that day. I'm sure as soon as he memorizes the talking points that the Kerry campaign provides him, he'll be telling us his story.
Kerry's desperate. He can't release his own records to counter the Swifties because he knows it'll destroy his campaign. Instead, he's making President Bush the bad guy in all of this, even going so far as using McCain's statments in the 2000 election. Now that's pathetic.
Not once has President Bush ever made any snide comments or derogatory statements about Kerry's military record. Yet Kerry is claiming that the President has attacked his service. But, because they don't have any soundbites or video of the President ever saying anything of that nature, they have to dig back to February 2000 and present a clip of McCain chastizing Bush for not condeming a speaker saying McCain had deserted the vets. Pretty desperate indeed.
This picture comes to mind when I think of the Cheney-Edwards debate.
Why is no one asking for tangible proof of Bush's involvement from the Kerry camp before giving ink to this unsubstantiated partisan smear?
HF
Is it me...am I wrong on this?
They will always lie and spin. Whether that will save his bacon remains to be seen.
Is Mcpain bi-polar? One day he is campaigning for Bush the next he attacks him.
McCain is a total disappointment. I don't expect he'll do the right thing EVER.
In a way I feel bad for John McCain: he knows his "campaign finance reform" was made a complete joke with these 527's; that the Dems have funneled unprecedented money into the Doofus's campaign; and he's having to jump around to save his "dear friend" sKerry from the consequences of his own stupidity.
The fact that he cannot condemn MoveOn.org and Soros, Bing, the Progressive guy, and these others is VERY telling, IMO.
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