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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: t4texas who wrote (60287)	8/14/2004 5:01:26 AM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 793914

Every question you have in your post has been asked and answered on this thread. In the book, O'Neil puts together the sworn testimony of 60 vets who did witness Kerry's actions. That is why he is a good spokesman. Rassman turns out to be a Special Forces S-1 officer, an admin guy, whose job is was to write up medals. No one knows what he was doing on Kerry's boat. He has never said. He wrote Kerry up for the Silver star after Kerry pulled him out of the drink, and the Navy awarded him a bronze instead. The book recounts the sworn testimony that Kerry threw a grenade that landed in a box of rice. The fragments from the resulting explosion hit him in the rear. It is the retired Rear Admiral who was on the Boston whaler. His sworn testimony refutes Kerry's story about the first Purple heart. You can read that in chapter three, along with the truth about "Christmas in Cambodia," here at freerepublic.com The reason that no reporters are asking questions is that they don't want to take Kerry down, and are trying to ignore the book.

To: t4texas who wrote (60287)	8/14/2004 9:12:10 AM
From: unclewest	Respond to of 793914

what was rasmann's job in the special forces? can't they find some special forces guys who knew rasmann very well? what was rasman's mission on whoever's swift boat he was on, i.e., what was he doing on a swift boat that day anyway? where are some old special forces guys who knew what rasmann's normal job in special forces was -- and are willing to talk? i read a speculation he might have been awol, but i did not understand why. Good questions. The fact that no SFers are saying anything speaks loud volumes, if you understand the breed.

To: t4texas who wrote (60287)	8/14/2004 10:30:51 AM
From: Ann Corrigan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793914

>>o'neill is not (at this time) an effective speaker for the swift boat veterans for several reasons. the first flaw is that HE WAS NOT THERE when any of the actions he describes happened. o'neill must have some of the commanders or some of the other 200+ swift boat guys, who were There at the various incidents, next to him so they can speak of what they saw/heard. i have not read o'neill's book, and i have not ordered it either.<< I agree that O'Neill would make a stronger case with an eyewitness next to him; although he still conveys the straight arrow personna he did in his debate with John Kerry yrs ago. There's no doubt that O'Neill is sincere but he doesn't come across like the slick, well-rehearsed spokesman from Kerry's campaign. That often impresses Americans more than a glib "used car salesman" type. ///////////////////// >>What was rasmann's job in the special forces?<< Can't answer that one but O'Neill said Rassman was only on Kerry's boat for 2days at the most, and that he was knocked off as Kerry sped away after the mine exploded nearby. When it became apparent there was no other enemy fire, Kerry returned just in time to scoop Rassman out of the water. The other swiftboats had already pulled sailors aboard. Rassman was underwater & assumed they were under attack from shore but the other swiftvets insist that wasn't the case. The mine caused the incident & disabled one boat. O'Neill added that his group interviewed 2 of Kerry's crew who agreed their boat left the scene, but shortly afterwards JK's campaign advised those men to terminate communication with the SwiftVets. ////////////////////////////// >>If the boston whaler (shallow draft) boat purple heart story has the now-former rear admiral involved (i don't remember his name -- perhaps schakte?), why would schakte fail to come forward (live) in support of o'neill's claims.<< Who knows why, could be health problems. Hopefully O'Neill learned from Matthews interview that he needs eyewitnesses at his side. Some excerpts from "Unfit for Command" are available online. There might still be one at the MSNBC website. I was annoyed by John McCain's negative statement re the SwiftVets and sent him an email saying so. It should at least show up when his staff counts # of emails for each issue. McCain could still temper his language since he was not an eyewitness to JK's behavior in Vietnam and many of the anti-Kerry group were on the scene. McCain is obviously smarting from the way Bush campaign allowed him to be savaged down south during his 2000 run against GW. Nasty political maneuvers usually backfire on the instigator.