Posted on 10/14/2004 1:55:15 PM PDT by areafiftyone
The Swift Boat Controversy: New Witnesses
October 14, 2004
John Kerry's service in Vietnam has become a campaign issue. The group calling itself Swift Boat Veterans for Truth alleges that Kerry has distorted the truth about what happened during the war and questions whether he deserved the medals he received. Tonight, you'll hear from eyewitnesses who have not spoken before: the Vietnamese who fought against him.
We've had the debates and the race is a virtual dead-heat. This is the part of a campaign when there are daily fires--issues that rise, flare, and then go away, only to be replaced by a new one the next day. But for a while, this campaign was dominated by Vietnam, a war that ended, at least the fighting, thirty years ago. John Kerry made his service in Vietnam a major part of his campaign. The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth fired back. They have alleged that Kerry was not truthful about his actions in Vietnam. Then questions were raised about the group's connections to people linked to the GOP. And so the story just kept spiraling in different directions. But the polls clearly showed that Kerry was hurt by allegations that he was not candid about his actions in Vietnam.
Which brings us to an old expression: the fog of war. People, in general, are not always great eyewitnesses. Memories fade, especially as the years go by. Two people standing next to each other may have very different recollections of something that happened right in front of them. But in the whole Swift Boat controversy, there is one group that hasn't been heard from at length: the Vietnamese. Producer Andrew Morse went to Vietnam, to the coordinates taken from the U.S. military after-action report from Kerry's battle for which he won the Silver Star. And there Andrew found several people who had either witnessed the events of that day, or in some cases, had actually fought against the swift boats. And it is their accounts that you will hear tonight. Do their accounts favor one version or the other? Can these questions be definitively settled? You'll have to judge. One of the surprising stories we were told? One of the Vietnamese men in the area says he was visited by a man claiming to be a swift boat veteran and a cameraman. He says the veteran was disparaging towards Kerry's conduct in the war, and asked him in an interview about the events of that day. We do not know who that man is, or whatever happened to that tape.
Ted will be anchoring tonight, and he will be joined by John O'Neill, a leader of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and the author of Unfit for Command, a book critical of Kerry. I hope you'll join us.
Leroy Sievers and the Nightline Staff,br> Washington D.C.
Time to donate to SBVT
O'Neill bitch slapping Koppel. But Koppels report doesn't even square with Kerrys story. It damns Kerry as a liar. The "witnesses" say the the VC was killed in the opening volley which means the .50 gunner got him, not Jhengis Johnny.
O'Neill calling Nightline report pathetic getting interviewing witnesses from a closede country. He is also citing the Boston Globe book which backs the SwiftBoat Vets information.
If it wasn't for O'Neill being on, I wouldn't even watch this trash.
Koppel keeps interrupting him..wants to get back to the DNC talking points.
Ted is losing his cool with John
Bingo.
They are discussing Kerry's Silver Star and how he supposedly earned it it
Teddy boy wants him to accept the "truth"
I don't think so.... To me he is coming across as a combative jerk.... Now, I wish John would address his questions...
Now, he is getting a little bitter ...
john oneil is doing a great job of shutting up this jk watercarrier
w2004
ciao
O'neill says"you never interviewed our guys of course but you interviewed VC."
Right, he should sit idown and shut up while Koppel lies and talks over him.
Good for John.
DARN DARN DARN!!!!
I'm missing it!
Go get them Mr. O'Neill
This is Great!! John O'Neill is ripping Ted a new a$$!!
INtelligently ABC/DNC focuses on the Silver Star incident. It's the Swiftee's weakest point - which is why it is selectively attacked.
THEY ARE NOT PEASANTS ... THEY ARE VEITCONG
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