Posted on 06/08/2005 7:32:28 AM PDT by areafiftyone
WASHINGTON — All through last year's presidential race, Vietnam-era critics of Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) charged that he was trying to hide something by refusing to authorize the public release of his entire military and medical file.
On Tuesday, Kerry provided access to his complete records. The long-awaited documents contained no bombshells, and his enemies still were not satisfied.
The 180-page sheaf of medal commendations, officer's fitness reports and medical entries released under federal guidelines by Kerry's Senate office provided a few new nuggets of information about his 1968 to 1969 stint as a Swift boat commander during the Vietnam War.
There was one page from a January 1969 officer evaluation that appeared to back Kerry's claims that he had been well-rated by his superiors. During the heat of the 2004 campaign, some members of a group of anti-Kerry Navy veterans suggested that the then-missing document might provide a damning assessment of his wartime role.
Kerry said in a statement Tuesday that he had provided "unprecedented access" to his military and medical records during the campaign "and now months after it ended." In releasing the file, he said, "the facts speak for themselves and as these records prove, once again the right wing is wrong."
But Kerry's reluctance to provide easy access to records that buttressed his war resume remains one of the more puzzling aspects of his campaign strategy.
Pollsters and political scientists who have studied the race said that Kerry might have left himself vulnerable by reacting too slowly to criticism by pro-Bush veterans and their insistent calls for public access to all of his records. Kerry's move to release the file now, observers said, could inoculate him from similar pressure if he decided to run again in 2008.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
LOVEY?! My permanent record shows that George Bush is smarter than me! Will you buy me a new $8,000 bicycle to make me feel better?
The LA Times is not very good at solving puzzles, is it?
Thought you might be interested in this.
Rules????
Do you have any bridges for sale?
from the article:
"...O'Neill said. "If there were orders, for example, that sent him to Cambodia, they should be in his file."
"Navy archives are sometimes incomplete..."
The LATimes is trying to playdown O'Neill's statement that several significant items were not included in what Kerry released. But then, only two paragraphs later, the LATimes notes:
"...Correspondence from Navy officials reveals that soon after leaving Vietnam, Kerry took pains to make sure that all his wartime commendations were documented in his military file..."
Sounds to me like the records should be complete.
Bump for later!
Sounds like the LATimes has seen this new set of records and O'Neill has perhaps seen them. Are they posted anywhere?
Basically, they wanted to hide that FACT that Kerry was an idiot back at Yale. I say an "idiot", because if Bush is an idiot, then surely someone as supposedly smart as Kerry would have gotten better grades than him, right?...RIGHT?!
These clearly showed that he had lower grades than W. The hypocricy is that the media portrayed himself as an intellectual while claiming W was an intellectual zero.
If I could ask only one question of Kranish, I would ask, 'What was Kerry's status between 1970 when he left the military and after Carter's Amnesty in 1979 when his discharge was dated?'
Those are the key words. John Fraud Kerry is controling what is seen through limited access via select media.
I told you he never released his full file. Until this compulsive liar authorizes full unfettered access to his complete millitary file to an honest media personality, (preferably to someone like Rush Limbaugh) he has NOT signed form 180.
If my grades at UC Berkeley (ranked academically higher than Yale at the time) in my Freshman year were as low as Kerry's, my sorority house would have kicked me out, and my parents would have moved me home lock, stock, and barrel. 4 Ds out of 5 courses! Gimme a break!
Dear Mr. Kerry:
If the file you have just released vindicates you, then I ask now, "why didn't you release this information during your campaign? It would have quieted your critics."
nick
Answer:
Because I haven't released my complete file. I requested the file for my own personal viewing, and there are things contained in it that could incriminate me that I will never release on my own free will.
Johnny
Don't expect too much. But it is interesting that O'Neil believes it incomplete. Will follow with much interest, as I think Kerry still feels competitive for '08.
"Answer:
Because I haven't released my complete file. I requested the file for my own personal viewing, and there are things contained in it that could incriminate me that I will never release on my own free will.
Johnny"
Ah yes, John, that's makes sense. Thank you for your honesty and of course your integrity in this matter. Have a good day.
nick
Exactly. Nothing would have prevented kerry from tooting that horn during the election, unless they were buried in the " these must never be seen" stack and overlooked.
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