Posted on 10/15/2004 4:59:25 AM PDT by Mike Fieschko
The following statement from John O'Neil, member of Swift Boat Veterans and POW's for Truth, concerns a news segment that aired on October 14th on ABC's Nightline with Ted Koppel."While I have a tremendous amount of respect for Ted Koppel and ABC News I was appalled to learn that ABC News would go to the lengths of traveling to Vietnam to interview three Viet Cong communists in yet a third attempt by ABC to corroborate John Kerry's version of the events that took place on February 28th, 1969.
"I would only ask the American people: 'Who do you trust more, three members of a communist regime that tortured and killed our American troops or a group of more than 280 highly decorated American veterans, who proudly served their country and are now responsible members of their respective communities.
"The number of veterans who support John Kerry's accounts of his military service would not fill one Swift Boat. But instead of sitting down to interview some of the 280 plus members of our Swift Boat organization, ABC News chose to travel to Vietnam taking extraordinary and highly suspect steps to find someone to corroborate John Kerry's story.
"ABC News Nightline has now dedicated three seperate programs to this one incident while ignoring John Kerry's now discredited Senate testimony that he spent Christmas in Cambodia, his receiving a purple heart after all three of the officers required to approve such an issuance rejected his application, or his constantly changing account of the circumstances surrounding his remaining medal, a bronze star.
"Further, one has to wonder why ABC News will not address the serious questions as to why John Kerry only received an honorable discharge through the act of then President Carter, seven years after his discharge, and had to have all of his military citations reissued, on the same day, when he became a United States Senator in 1985. And, finally, why has Nightline found it of no interest to permit any POWs to come on their program to explain why they believe John Kerry betrayed their nation, caused them to be incarcerated for an additional two years and caused them tremendous additional hardship and suffering."
Nightline report was such a joke and Mr. O'Neil did good in frustrating Koppell's attempt to discredit the SwiftBoat Vets. Viewed from the military perspective and considering publish information on subject, the ABC Nightline analysis is bogus.
The VC statements given on Nightline and ABC's website do not materially vary from published accounts of the action, and actually support SwiftBoat Vet claims. ABC conveniently summarized the action in a way to meet their need to support Kerry by discrediting the SwiftBoat Vets. No justification or factual information was given by ABC to reasonably conclude that Ba Thang was the "loin clothed teenager" from Kerry's memory of the battle. Yet ABC tries to conclude that because VC state Ba Thang was 27 years old and may have worn black PJs, the SwiftBoat Vets are liars.
Now let me get this straight, ABC and the Kerry citation:
He "personally led a landing party ashore in pursuit of the enemy," the citation says, before commending Kerry's "extraordinary daring and personal courage" for "attacking a numerically superior force in the face of intense fire."
Nightline claims that 20 VC were in fact a numerically superior force in the citation that attacked three heavily armed SwiftBoats with 15+ Americans and 30 some Viet Allies? Maybe my understanding of which was group was a numerically superior military force needs to change to the ABC model.
Is ABC Nightline is worse than CBS Rather, or just dumber? And they can't claim they were victims of a fraud, Nightline is the fraud
Couldn't happen to a nicer guy!
</sarcasm>
In a nutshell !!!
Someone's posted another FR thread with a link to a leftie web site which has it.
12MB, I'm almost done downloading it.
The same thread has a link to an MP3 version, the audio only.
Good idea!
Are the original (unedited) Nightline ABC tapes availalble of these supposed interviews? Or only the leftovers that were aired - when the true translations could have been removed/modified/voiced-over?
I think the BEST October surpriswe would be for someone to get a leaked copy of the paperwork in Kerry's files showing that his TS security clearence had been revoked and a copy of his ORIGINAL discharge paperwork showing what he really got before Jimmuh changed it for him.
4, 512. 1969 doesn't match any critical dates of Kerry's 120 days in Vietnam: His first action was 2-3 December 1968, and his second "medal" was the third week of Feb, 1969.
His last was mid-March, (about March 17) 1969 ... and he was never in the field aftert hat - Kerry was holed up in the headquarters until he left.
And he was never in the field in any part of April (4 ..1969) 1969 or May (5 .. 1969) because he'd already gotten transferred home to his Maritime admiral aide billet in NY by then.
I suspect only the latter. I doubt that ABC will part with any of the out takes. It would be interesting if someone fluent in the local language/dialect would try to analyze not only what was said, but how it was said.
Rush coving story now.
John O'Neill is a true American hero!
I read the date on the last line of the gravestone Nightline used to support Kerry's VietCong "witnesses" as 12.1.1969 .
But Kerry's first action (his first medal for murdering a wounded VC TEENAGER) was a few days after Dec 1.
Incredible. I had little respect for Koppel before the interview, but he's even more biased than I thought.
"I would only ask the American people: 'Who do you trust more, three members of a communist regime that tortured and killed our American troops or a group of more than 280 highly decorated American veterans, who proudly served their country and are now responsible members of their respective communities.
I think it's coming........just in time for Nov. 2.....he, he, he,.................
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