Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

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

To: John Carragher who wrote (63504)	8/24/2004 10:05:14 AM
From: unclewest	Respond to of 793838

rumors only so far. Would make a helluva third ad.

To: John Carragher who wrote (63504)	8/24/2004 1:52:31 PM
From: Neeka	Respond to of 793838

ELECTION 2004 Former POW Says Kerry Lied About Vietnam Atrocities By Melissa Charbonneau White House Correspondent August 24, 2004 CBN.com – (CBN News) - The controversy over those ads against John Kerry will not go away. Today a new commercial goes on the air. This one is not targeting his service in Vietnam. It is about the impact of his anti-war activities after he came home. In an exclusive interview with one of the key figures in this new commercial, CBN News spoke with former POW Paul Galanti. Galanti never knew John Kerry in Vietnam. A Navy pilot captured in 1966, he spent seven years as a prisoner of war. He said, "I was in solitary over a year. Seven by seven room, concrete beds." Galanti does not remember hearing Kerry's name at the Hanoi Hilton, but he does remember the voice. Part of the new Swift Vet ad has Kerry explaining the military atrocities he says he saw in Vietnam. Kerry said that American soldiers "... razed villages in the fashion of Genghis Khan." Galanti said, "Kerry gave for free what I and many of my comrades in prison camps took torture to avoid saying." Galanti appears in this new Swift Boat ad targeting Kerry's 1971 Senate speech that accused U.S. soldiers of being war criminals. It is a speech, Galanti says, that was used against him and other POW's by the North Vietnamese. "They had it pumped in at five o'clock in the morning," said Galanti about Kerry's speech, "and then at nine at night there'd be a re-run." "I remember distinctly hearing this guy talking about atrocities, baby killers," Galanti added. "They're chopping off ears, hooking genitals to generators, and I thought, that's not true. There's no way that's true!" Galanti continued, "I'd been there five years. The peace talks had been going on two years. There was no end in sight. The Vietnamese are telling us, 'we're never going home because we're war criminals.' And here comes a guy purporting to be an American Naval officer saying, 'Yeah, we did commit war crimes,' saying exactly what they said. It was just devastating. Terribly demoralizing." Galanti's wife Phyllis said, "It just demoralized us beyond comprehension. How can this be, while our men are being tortured and locked up in an enemy prison camp? [How can he] be saying these things in this country?" Phyllis Galanti says Kerry's actions aided the enemy and broke the spirit of American prisoners. "They could easily have thought this whole thing is going downhill in a hurry," she said. "The country's not behind us and this is a sure indication, to have somebody saying such things in front of a congressional committee." Paul Galanti added, "We were mad. Just steaming mad, and we couldn't do anything about it. I was incredibly frustrating to listen to this guy lie like that, cause we knew it wasn't like that, chopping off ears and killing babies." "And right after that, is when we started to hear about GI's getting spat at," Paul Galanti continued, "coming home from Vietnam, and he may be personally responsible for a lot of that." When CBN News contacted the Kerry campaign for their side of the story, spokesman Michael Meehan said they had no comment. The campaign has called on President Bush to silence the Swift Boat Veterans, accusing them of being a politically motivated front group spreading smears and lies. In a counter strike, Kerry's campaign Monday launched its own negative ads in three states. It says, "George Bush, denounce the smear, get back to the issues. America deserves better." Monday, the President condemned all unregulated soft-money ads, but stopped short of mentioning the Swift Vets by name. And this is one issue that does not appear to be going away. Phyllis Galanti remarked, "That was many years ago, that was true; but it's not something that you can say was a 30-year-old issue, and you can sweep it under the rug. It was so huge for us, that this group is not going to forget it." cbn.com