Critics charge Kerry still covering up
John O'Neill on records release: 'This is hardly what we called for'
worldnetdaily.com
Posted: June 9, 2005
EXCERPT:
Sen. John Kerry's release of Navy records to his hometown Boston Globe newspaper is not the full disclosure sought by critics of his Vietnam war record, says John O'Neill, spokesman for Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.
The group of more than 260 veterans who served in Kerry's swiftboat division asked the senator during his presidential campaign last year to sign a Standard Form 180 that would permit anyone to examine his full and unredacted military records at the Navy Department and the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, O'Neill said.
Instead, Kerry allowed Globe reporter Michael Kranish to obtain documents only from the Navy Department, which previously indicated its records were not complete.
"This is hardly what we called for," O'Neill said.
Jerome Corsi, co-author with O'Neill of the best-seller "Unfit for Command," told WorldNetDaily he believes Kerry did not sign the SF 180, because the form does not have an exception clause.
"It's a blanket release of documents to the American public," Corsi said. "This is not a Standard Form 180 procedure. I think he just called up the Navy and told them to send documents to the Boston Globe. I want to see the form posted on his website."
Kerry's records became a campaign issue as the senator emphasized his war record while Swift Boat Veterans for Truth waged a media campaign to counter many of his claims of heroism.
In an article Monday, Kranish wrote, "The lack of any substantive new material about Kerry's military career in the documents raises the question of why Kerry refused for so long to waive privacy restrictions."
Some Kerry supporters suggested the file's transcript of his grades at Yale, revealing grades inferior to President Bush's at the same school, were the reason.
But critic B.G. Burkett, a Vietnam vet and author of the book "Stolen Valor, said Kerry's authorized release Monday is a "continued cover up of his true military service" because it doesn't allow anyone to retrieve the full documentation.
"I have no doubt that he will claim that any additional effort to receive his full record is nothing more than partisan harassment," Burkett said. "I believe John Kerry is still perpetrating a cover-up."
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Looks like Kerry really DIDN'T sign a 180 and is still lying.
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