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.
Teddy still telling O'neill to accept his truth.
Now finally he is addressing him in a reasonable manner....
Wish he would mention that KERRY wrote that report...
O'Neills point is Kerry's own bio doesn't square with the medal citation
You mean handed some alleged VC a script to read.
Not worth anything without the ability to cross-examine.
And then not worth much.
YOU'VE BEEN HAD, TED.
Ted tells him he keeps repeating his story..thats because its TRUE!!!!!! He doesnt change storeis to suit you assh*le
Always gotta be one person taking the other side huh?
Did Teddy examine the "truth" about the Purple Hearts Kerry hoarded to get out of the action as soon as he could?
Stop picking up books!
He needs to clearly state that the Communist government currently in Vietnam has a vested interest in a Kerry win. They arranged the boat trip, they gave Nightline the clearances. They told the villagers what to say!
He's fillibustering instead of attacking.
Ted is a real crotchety thing - can't even accept Kerry's own words defy what the VC told them.
WOW! I'm surprised they put this on. I guess we'll see if Ted tries to distort everything in the summation.
ABC HAS BEEN HAD! Yet another MSM scandal.
Just like 35 years ago, the Ted Koppels of the world prefer the word of VC to American soldiers and sailors. Same ole, same ole.
This is excellent...Koppel insisting that John Oneil address the words of the VietKong "peasants". If they are peasants Ted, how can you consider their opinion of any merit. Peasants Ted? You demean the very people you are relying on the debunk the truth.
Best line of the night... "You've been had Ted" by John O'Neill
Yours is the best summation!
Did the Commie VC present ABC with forged documents too, or just bogus stories?
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