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.
Well, in an effort to be fair the VC gal did type up an after action report using Microsoft Word and a Dell Dimension 4500 35 years ago to keep the memory fresh.
I REALLY wish John would have made that point....
I caught the interview with O'Neill, but I don't think I get where Koppel is coming from - - did he go to Vietnam to find old peasants who say, 35 years after the fact, that the brave Lt. Kerry struck fear into the enemy when he single-handedly fought off 20 dangerous Vietnam elite fighters?
I have to hand it to Ted Koppel, even if it's killing him, he is giving John O'Neill his time. Hey a little balance never hurt anyone Ted.
Dead you just caused me to hit a button on this website I've never hit before.
Hey Ted, how 'bout you have the little commie bastards bulldoze the garden and show you the weapons?
This is now the point we all need to make about this Nightline/VC abomination. Get this point out -- which you have said so succinctly -- to RNC, Hannity, Rush... likely suspects.
Not only that, but wasn't Kerry the primary force behind normalizing relations with Vietnam and clearing them of holding our POWs after the war? They would be ecstatic if their war hero became our President.
From all the other threads that I've read, you my friend are in the minority!!!
There are a lot of threads about this show tonight!!
Check 'em out.
Considering that Ted wanted to believe a bunch of commies over American Veitnam Vets
John looked a little ticked .. but he handled himself pretty good
I blew water through my nose at that one!! O'Neil was baited and switched just before he came on the screen and he improvised and KICKED ASS.
He cast reasonable doubt on the credibility of the villagers featured in the interviews.
ROFL!!!
For Ted Koppel to use this kind of questionable testimony from those Villagers to try and discredit John O'Neil and the other 255 Swift Boat veterans is an outrage and I think we should all email that a$$hole and tell him what we think of him being a tool for the Communist Vietnamese Government
My EMail to ABC...
Just saw your interview with John O'Neill re Kerry's silver star incident where you take the word of some former NV soldiers...soldiers from a country who lauds Kerry as a hero of their communist victory, over the word of our own AMEIRCAN soldiers, and over the words of Kerry himself. Boy did you look bad on this one.
Let me ask you one question John O'Neill had too much class to ask...how much did you pay those guys?
ez@freerepublic
Knock it off.
Chill.
Often there is very little time to connect with some people on these points, and I thought dead's summary was helpful.
Seems to me if Kerry HAD served honorably, there would be no problem. His actions following his discharge cause rational folks to ask questions that he refuses to answer. Of course, he has finessed the question as expected with the expected help of the sycophant MSM. Therefore, there is almost 100% chance that he is guilty as charged (e.g. he received a less-than-honorable discharge). Is anyone surprised?
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