The war's over, but not for these brazen snipers

LA Times ^ | 10-31-04 | Parks

[2thfxr]

Our troops are embattled in Iraq, and every day that conflict seems to get uglier. We are in the midst of a global war on terrorism whose front lines can be anywhere and which appears to have no end. And the goal of security for Americans in their homes is far away and not certain.

In the midst of all this, a Texas lawyer, John O'Neill, decides to refight the Vietnam War, which ended nearly 30 years ago, and by taking on Kerry's proud claims of heroic service, attempts to make them the defining issue of the 2004 presidential election.

That is the sum of, and the total context for, "Unfit for Command," a pamphlet of a book by O'Neill and Jerome R. Corsi, a veteran anti-communist crusader, attacking Sen. John Kerry's credentials as a Vietnam War hero and candidate for commander-in-chief.

[2thfxr]

My response to Parks

In his review of Unfit for Command, Parks not only betrays his overt bias, he shows a breathtaking ignorance of the facts. He falls into the same trap that has captured so many Kerryites. Parks claims that Unfit is not factual, claiming the Swift Vets make the assertion “Kerry shot a fleeing, though possibly armed, Vietnamese youth in the back and then was awarded the Silver Star for bravery under fire when there was no hostile fire.” Then he goes on to say that ABC News found villagers in Vietnam who were eyewitnesses to that day, and that they contradict the Swift Vet claims. But here’s the funny thing. The assertion that there was one lone fleeing wounded teenager who was shot by Kerry is Kerry’s own assertion. It is found in the biography of John Kerry by Michael Kranish and it is also found in Tour of Duty, by Douglas Brinkley. It is not the assertion of the Swift Vets. The Swift Vets do not dispute Kerry’s account. The phrase “teenager in a loincloth” was first written in the Kranish book – it does NOT come from the Swift Vets. Information from both the Kranish book and the Brinkley book is taken form Kerry himself and from Kerry’s journals. It was Kerry HIMSELF who said that he was glad that there was only one VC present at that time. A US Special Forces Military Advisor who was also there that day also corroborates this. Thus what ABC News has done to in essence is to attempt to make a liar out of Kerry. They tried mightily to make their report fit the wording of Kerry’s citation- the third version, I might add. Kerry has three versions of his Silver Star citation, and they are all different. The original citation does state that there was but one VC. How subsequent versions of the citations got additional embellishment is one incredibly under-reported story. There is no claim in Unfit that there was no hostile action on that day. It is Parks who has reported this falsely. I find it difficult to believe that Parks read any of these books. He has done the readers of the LA Times a grave disservice.

Sincerely,

[Mr Ramsbotham]

I'm sure nothing prevented this individual from using a 30-year-old DUI as a basis for defining George W. Bush in 2000.

[Wonderama]

Great response. good luck getting it printed in the LA Times. The nerve of these people is astounding.

[dennisw]

Lame review.... he refuted nothing in the book but relied on bluster and trust in the cupidity of the LATimes readership.

[Redcoat LI]

The L.A Times can jump up and down and cry all they want,and call those men liars,it doesn't matter.

They took away Kerry's most important campaign issue, if not for the Swift Vets, we would be saturated with images of Kerry in his re-created Viet Nam films, and tales of his "heroism"

The post-mortem of Kerry's campaign will read "Cause of Death-Swift Boat Vets."

[DocH]

The left-wing media will stop at NOTHING to get their ilk back in power. Besides the JOKE of a rag like the NY Times and others of the MSM CONSTANTLY running a LIES-FOR-KERRY scam (like the UN's Oil-For-Food scam), MSNBC has been running "Headliners and Legends" biographies on Kerry and the President. The Kerry bio is FULL of outright LIES and half-truths. They say he volunteered for service in Vietnam, when in reality, he TRIED to get deferments FIVE times and was turned down. Due to this, and the fact that he KNEW he would be drafted into the Army as a ground-pounder, he joined the Navy RESERVE, thinking maybe he'd get out of going to Nam. He ended up being trained in California, and then spent ONLY 5 WEEKS WELL off the coast of Nam on a small ship. That is what he tries to term his 1st "TOUR". Later, he volunteered for Swift Boats, perhaps because he was enamored with John Kennedy's service on PT boats and heard that the Swift Boat's mission at that time was NOT dangerous since it was off the coast of Nam. It was after the mission changed, and it became more dangerous, that he probably made his decision to work the system to get out of Nam ASAP, and being a resourceful and shameless OPPORTUNIST - was able to get out of Nam after only 4 months (while MOST served 12 or 13 month tours). Kerry Suck-Up and Koolaid-drinker, Brinkley (wrote his biography, "Tour Of Duty") was on the MSNBC biography, and he said that the Swiftboat Vets claims had NOT been proven, and had in fact been fully discredited. He said that all one had to do is pull up Kerry's military records, which had been released in full, and that proves that John Kerry was a hero in Nam. This is ALL LIES. Virtually NOTHING has been diproved that is in Unfit For Command. AND, Kerry has NOT released all of his records as he and Brinkley say they have. In fact, recently, Tom Brokaw told Kerry in an interview that investigators had discovered that, while comparing Kerry and Bush's military entrance tests, Bush has a higher IQ that Kerry. Kerry was obviuosly IRKED by this, and countered that that was impossible to determine that since all of the records weren't available! What a LYING sack-of-SH*T! He will DO or SAY ANYTHING in an effort to get elected, and lies SO MUCH, that he is ALWAYS contradicting himself (it is MUCH easier to remember the TRUTH, than it is to remember LIES). WE HAVE GOT TO STOP THIS GUY COLD ON ELECTION DAY AND DEFEAT HIM RESOUNDINGLY!