The USA Today article is a big one as it is delivered to every upscale hotel in the country. This article was on the Front page and I think is quite favorable for the Swift Vets, as it has John Kerry acting like a whining politician and has President Bush above the fray. It introduces the facts that are being disputed so that anyone who has an open mind can investigate further, with the two inside stories:
usatoday.com
Kerry blasts TV ads on war record
Accuses critics of lying, ‘dirty work'
By Jill Lawrence and Andrea Stone
USA TODAY
Democrat John Kerry, countering weeks of claims by political opponents that he exaggerated his Vietnam combat record, accused them Thursday of lying and said President Bush is using them to “do his dirty work.”
Kerry also released a TV ad featuring Jim Rassmann, the former Green Beret who says Kerry saved his life in Vietnam. Kerry, now a Massachusetts senator, earned a Bronze Star for the rescue.
The incident is one of several contested by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, an independent group that opposes Kerry and that has received substantial funds from Bob Perry, a Bush backer in Texas. The group says it will release a second ad today; the first started Aug. 5 in three states.
“They're not telling the truth. They didn't even exist until I won the nomination for president,” Kerry told a firefighters convention in Boston. “They're a front for the Bush campaign. And the fact that the president won't denounce what they're up to tells you everything you need to know. He wants them to do his dirty work.”
Kerry was awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts as a Navy swift boat commander in the Mekong Delta. Until Thursday, he had left it to others to defend him, even as some Democrats urged him to respond. The campaign had hoped to save money this month but decided to show the new ad in three states.
“Sen. Kerry knows President Bush has called his service in Vietnam noble,” Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt said. Bush says he would like independent ads to stop but refuses to criticize Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.
Members of the group who served in Vietnam, but not on Kerry's boat, are furious that Kerry opposed the war when he returned home. In some cases, their credibility has been damaged by conflicting accounts of war incidents and changing views of Kerry over the years. Kerry has faced questions about a claim that he and his crew spent Christmas Eve 1968 in Cambodia. Kerry and his crew said he rescued Rassmann under heavy enemy fire. Larry Thurlow, who commanded another boat that day, and others say there was no shooting.
On Thursday, The Washington Post posted on the Internet Thurlow's own Bronze Star records from that day. They refer several times to “enemy small arms and automatic weapons fire” and “enemy bullets flying about him.” Both citations were based on “fraudulent” information provided by Kerry, Thurlow claimed in an interview with USA TODAY.
Inside stories:
Fog of war, partisanship cloud Kerry's Vietnam record
usatoday.com
Dispute could hurt both sides
Lobs at Kerry may backfire in the war on his character
usatoday.com |
