for those of us unable to watch can you please post comments that Koppel and O'Neill made instead of just another "he kicked his butt" post......
HE"S APOLIGISING!!! THIS IS GREAT!!
Basically, Koppel asked O'Neill why he would not admit that a bunch of Vietnamese villagers could be right, saying there was a battle that day. The villagers could easily have been coerced to tell the story by the producers. They are literally peasants(cash). O'Neill referred to Kerry's own account of the incident disputing what Koppel's producers found. This of course was well in the works before the CBS incident came to light. Koppel ignored O'Neill's legit explanation and told Ted " You've been had"
Looks like it'll be on here in Texas in a minute. I can't wait to see this. O'Neil is soooooo good. His delivery of the truth is like impenetrable armor. I bet Koppel bounces off it with a concussion.
Ted ask why would these viet con lye about a man they dont even know? Oneill- I dont know Ted thats not what Kerry said in his book, what the Boston Globe said, not what was said on your show a few months ago
"Why would these peasants lie?", Koppel asked. O'Neill pointed out to Koppel that these "peasants" had government minders. I wish he had drilled home that point again and again, because of course those minders knew who John Kerry was, whether the peasants did or not.
Koppell was just as concerned with whether or not the "unknown American who visited the village earlier was someone in cahoots with the Swiftboaters. O'Neill sstrongly denied that and said it that was what Koppel was implying, he was wrong.
O'Neill strongly chastised NIGHTLINE for never having the Swifties on, and for going all the way to Viet Nam to investigate only the Silver Star incident. (It is bizarre, especially since the Swifties version of the Silver Star incident coincides with TOUR OF DUTY, and the other Kerry biography, written by 2 reporters from The Boston Globe.
Koppel kept telling O'Neill to stop quoting those two books, just answer my questions. Koppel refused to "get it", that those books PROVE what the "peasants" said was not even what Kerry himself has said happened.
O'Neill was controlled, but visibly upset with Ted Koppell for only being interested in the Silver Star incident. O'Neill pointed out several times that the Swifties never questioned Kerry deserved some kind of medal for his actions that day. Koppell didn't acknowledge O'Neill when he said that...he couldn't, it would have blown a hole in Koppell's professed desire to find the truth. Obvious to me, Koppell already had the truth about the Silver Star, it was safe to keep that the subject, and never go after the other more important incidents when Kerry did NOT earn medals or purple heartrs.
I didn't watch the first part of NIGHTLINE, but I watched all of the Koppell-O'Neill interview. O'Neill never waivered, never gave ground, and I believe he got the best of Koppell.
When O'Neill said to Koppell; you chose to go to Viet Nam to interview these people in a closed socieety, and did not ever question members of the Swiftboats, Koppell made the cheap shot comment, and I thought defensive comment, "you've had plenty of publicity in other places.
It boiled down to Koppell trying protest that the lofty ABC only wanted to find the truth.
I'm with you-I'm out in Bush Alaska on the Yukon River- internet speed 2.4kps- any quotes would be nice!!
You might as well try to p*** up a rope as hope to get anyone on this forum to decently report a breaking story. Always has been, always will be.
This FR is just a chat room, with the occasional postings of actual news stories or specialized information from knowledgeable sources (military weapons, letters from the front, personal experiences, and the like).