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.
At any rate, would it be written like that?
It looked new. That lame a$$ freelance hack probably painted that on the tomb himself. This was really shoddy journalism. Ted should retire. Is Dick Thornburgh gonna have to do an investigation at ABC next? These networks are getting crazy.
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At the time of JOHN KERRY's military Vietnam actions 34 years ago the life expectancy of Vietnamese males was just 30 years old.
So just how many of the real Vietnamese villager witneses to what JOHN KERRY did long ago are even around today to be interviewed by American TV, I wonder..?
JOHN KERRY = Enemy of Vietnam Vets
http://www.TheAlamoFILM.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1320
...and of Freedom-Loving people everywhere..!!!
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Yeah, it's depressing. The Kerry people and a large chunk of the undecideds are freakishly uninformed. The Left couldn't survive if they weren't.
This was the Nightline equivalent of Chris Matthews going berserk on Michelle Malkin.
I expect Zell Miller to challenge Koppel to a duel tomorrow night.
I don't get ABC, NBC or CBS
ping
This is contrary to what Steve Garner reported he saw - he was on the boat with Kerry at the time. Their boat did not take any fire and there was no damage.
Bill, no disrespect, but I haven't been alive 35 years, but I did come of age under the glorious years of Ronald Reagan - I only remember the wonderful words of the man who inspired me to love my country, not the media who hated him (I've learned of this later in life). But for me, this activity began in the 1990's and has progressed to the lowest level of hell.
Here's my opinion
If an asteroid were coming to kill the planet and we had one spaceship that was going to escape with 100 people on board, how many lawyers and journalists would be taken? None. They bring nothing of value to the existence of our society. It's funny that the people we pay the most in our society would be the last people able to rebuild our society.
I didn't like the threat the Kerry Camp made towards Sinclair .. I sure as heck don't like it when it comes from our side
There are other ways to deal with the lies from the MSM
Unreal. These liberal media hacks are self destructing. God, I hope W defeats Senator Benedict Arnold and the MSM on election day. If we pull this thing out, we could really alter this country in great ways. The MSM is the enemy of the people. We need to bring the Leftwing media establishment down. Then the Leftwing political establishment will fall apart.
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2004 = O'NEILL destroys KOPPEL
1971 = O'NEILL destroys KERRY
CLARITY = O'NEILL
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How?
Is this the media this country deserves?
I think the media needs a shake up. The American people between the coasts aren't represented. We desrve better than this.
Okay, will do! West Coast tape in one hour.
my email
Was your show tonight what passes for journalism these days? What a disgrace! How many hours did you spend investigating before you tried to disparage the Vietnam veterans? Of coarse they are used to it as you've been doing it to them since the 70s.
Did it ever occur to you to wonder why a Vet would be allowed in with a camera and ABC News would be denied for weeks? Strange isn't it? How did you vett these people? How do you know they lived there? How old were they? Why did they remember this day so clearly if, as they say, this was a hotbed of activity? Was this the only confrontation in that area? I have many more questions but I won't waste my time. You aren't after the truth anyway. You just wanted to influence a close election just like your pals at CBS.
Mr O'Neil exposed you tonight as having been "had" and I can assure you, that's certainly what came across. First your Political Director's memo and now this. Wow, the fallout is going to be every bit as big as CBS!
Niteline is not on here yet. Niteline is an hour isn't it ..?? I never watch it .. but if O'Neill rips him apart, I'd love to see it.
Is the O'Neill part about 30 minutes into the report ..??
I've seen a couple good trouncings by dems on say, Scarborough for example, where the transcripts just never made it to the website which listed every other night.
The last 5 minutes, but watch the whole 30 minute show and see how Koppel relied on the reports from their visit to Vietnam
Mol, excuse me, but I am one person and I have the right to want MY AIRWAVES to be used in a productive and truthful manner. If a conservative has bad news coming, give it to them. If a liberal has bad news coming give it to them. But when a small group of people tell all of America what will be on the "News", it's time to take action. So I guess asking for a change is now a threat to the first amendment. Rethink you response.
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