Another Swift Boat combat memory turns fuzzy.

[Mulholland]

[RoninLB]

There are less than three months until the election, an election that will decide the next President of the United States. The man elected will be the president of ALL Americans, not just the Democrats or the Republicans. To show our solidarity as Americans it's time that we all come together, Democrats and Republicans alike.

If you support the policies and programs of our President George Bush, please drive with your headlights 'ON' during the day.

If you support Candidate "John Kerry" please drive with your headlights 'OFF' at night.

[JonSeigel]

That's not even close to being funny or clever. 'Nuff said.

[Mulholland]

Originally posted by RoninLB
If you support Candidate "John Kerry" please drive with your headlights 'OFF' at night.

Don't listen to him...that was darned funny.

Remember to vote on November 3rd, Democrats, for the good of the country...It is your unpatriotic duty.

[island911]

Originally posted by CamB
"he is currently giving aid and comfort to Islamofascists by working diligently at dividing this nation for political power."

Why do you put stuff like this in? I swear it is to wind people up.

He's taking part in a presidential race. To become president, he must win votes. To win votes, he must convince people to vote for him, and thus NOT for the current president. This is not "dividing the nation", it is how democracy works.

Cam, if I didn't know better, I would think that you just made an 'end justifies the means' arguement. . . .Nah. ..you wouldn't do something that silly.

I'm speculating that Mul is seeing aspects of John Kerry circa 1970, resurfacing. This is where Kerry threw out HUGE lies (or commited war-crimes; your choice) all to stir the pot, in an 'end justifies the means' game. . . and the end there was "power for John Kerry."

Is Kerry doing that again? . . .I've got to say it is quite possible. This type of dividing for political power is hardly missing from Kerry's political playbook.

Just as he was "sensitive" to the Vietnamese, back in the 60/70s; he is now throwing out how we ought to have a "more sensitive war on terrorism"

[928ram]

The local paper (Post & Courier) here in Charleston SC carried the Times article in today's edition:

Firstly this is not a news article; it's an editorial piece. To pass such a poorly written piece of as journalism is a travesty, I would think the Times hired a more proffessional class of reporters.
All in all it is more than a comparo of what has been said by the Kerry camp vs. what the SBV have said; I see no evidence that there was any attempt to find the real truth in this particular debate or that any effort was made to do any type of investigation or dig up the true facts by the reporters. Certainly the Times' staff has access to info thru the FOIA just as anyone else would, it's a shame they mede no attemp to find the truth. The article has a very pro-Kerry slant to it, which again makes it only fit for the editorial page. (It was section 1 in our paper)

At least half of the article was about how the SBV have gotten financing from pro-Republican sources. DUH, you didn't think Soros was going to send them a check, did you?? Here it is an election year and a group who thinks Kerry isn't fit to lead the country gets a financial boost from pro-Bush sources? Nothing to see here folks, just typical election year BS.

[JonSeigel]

Yet another:

Former Swift Boat Commander Backs Kerry on Vietnam

Sat Aug 21, 3:32 PM ET Add Politics to My Yahoo!


By Carol Giacomo

PITTSBURGH (Reuters) - An American journalist who commanded a boat alongside John Kerry (news - web sites) in Vietnam broke a 35-year silence on Saturday and defended the Democratic presidential candidate against Republican critics of his military service and integrity.


Weighing in on the bitterly divisive issue, William Rood of the Chicago Tribune said the tales told by Kerry's detractors are simply untrue.


"There were three swift boats on the river that day in Vietnam more than 35 years ago -- three officers and 15 crew members. Only two of those officers remain to talk about what happened on February 28, 1969," he wrote in a story on the newspaper's Web site.


"One is John Kerry ... who won a Silver Star for what happened on that date. I am the other."


Before now, wanting to put memories of war and killing behind him, Rood refused all interviews. "But Kerry's critics, armed with stories I know to be untrue, have charged that the accounts of what happened were overblown," he wrote.


"It's gotten harder and harder for those of us who were there to listen to accounts we know to be untrue, especially when they come from people who were not there," he added.


Kerry, a former Navy lieutenant, is a highly decorated Vietnam veteran, and his war service is essential to his challenge to President Bush (news - web sites) as commander-in-chief when America is faces terrorism and other threats.


Increasingly, veterans opposed to Kerry and allied with Bush, led by a group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, have tried to undermine Kerry's record and credibility.


Many veterans are bitter that after returning from Vietnam, Kerry became one of the war's most prominent critics.


After a new CBS poll showing Kerry's support among veterans slipping since the Democratic convention, the Massachusetts senator launched a counterattack.


On Friday, he accused the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth of collaborating with the Bush campaign and asked the Federal Election Commission (news - web sites) to force the group to withdraw its ads.


Bush spent the war in the United States serving in the Texas Air National Guard. Some Democrats accuse Bush of going absent without leave from the guard, citing gaps in his attendance record.


AGGRESSIVE AND UNUSUAL COUNTERATTACK


In the Chicago Tribune article, Rood said Kerry urged him to go public with his account.


While "I can't pretend those calls had no effect on me ... what matters most to me is that this is hurting crewmen who are not public figures and who deserved to be honored for what they did," Rood wrote.


Members of Kerry's swift boat crew have played a prominent role in his campaign, appearing at the Democratic National Convention and many other events.


Rood said he was part of the operation that led to Kerry receiving the Silver Star and had no firsthand knowledge of events that resulted in his Purple Hearts or Bronze Star.





In that February 1969 operation, he said Kerry came under rocket and automatic weapons fire from Viet Cong soldiers and Kerry devised an aggressive ad unusual attack strategy that was praised by their superiors.

In their book, "Unfit for Command," Kerry critics John O'Neill and Jerome Corsi accuse Kerry of exaggerating wartime events. They said Kerry's attack on the Viet Cong ambush displayed "stupidity, not courage."

"The only explanation for what Kerry did is the same justification that characterizes his entire short Vietnam adventure: the pursuit of medals and ribbons," they alleged.

Rood said while ambushes were common, the difference in this fight was that Kerry, who had tactical command of the operation, had talked to Rood and other commanders beforehand about not responding the way they usually did to an ambush.

"We agreed that if we were not crippled by the initial volley and had a clear fix on the location of the ambush, we would turn directly into it, focusing the boats' twin .50-caliber machine guns on the attackers and beaching the boats," Rood said.

He said the first time they took fire Kerry ordered a "turn 90" and the three boats roared in on the ambush.

The plan worked. "We routed the ambush, killing three of the attackers. The troops, led by an Army adviser, jumped off the boats and began a sweep, which killed another half dozen VC, wounded or captured others," Rood said.

Rood said then-Capt. and now retired Rear Adm. Roy Hoffmann, the task force commander, congratulated the three swift boats, saying the tactic of charging the ambushes was a "shining example of completely overwhelming the enemy."

Hoffmann has become a Kerry critic and now says what the boats did that day showed Kerry was impulsive to a fault.

[Mulholland]

All Kerry has to do is release his records...That is all...nothing more...The truth would set him free...or would it?

[RoninLB]

fwiw.. hard polling data shows this issue is costing Kerry votes.

[350HP930]

bush gets owned by mccain

http://mfile.akamai.com/10211/wmv/johnkerry.download.akamai.com/10211/082104_old_tricks_wmv_dsl.wvx

hmm, the accusation sounds familiar . . .

[SteveStromberg]

Lets face it some of you will vote for the commies er John Kerry and the rest of us will vote for Freedom with GW.

[350HP930]

I sometimes think that SteveStromberg wants the candidate that is most likely to declare war against mexico so he can kill a few illegal aliens.

[Moneyguy1]

Steve..You talk like a man with a paper hat.

[on-ramp]

Originally posted by SteveStromberg
Lets face it some of you will vote for the commies er John Kerry and the rest of us will vote for Freedom with GW.

freedom?

do you have a son/daughter who has died in Iraq? do you believe that WMDs was the central justification for the military aggression/invasion against Iraq? do you believe that WMDs have not been found?do you believe that the man who has sent US soldiers to their death has publicly made FUN of the fact that WMDs have not been found in IRaq (dont even make me dig that one up)? do you believe that 1000 brave men/women have died in Iraq over a lie? nevermind the thousands of innocent other iraqi civilians. do you believe all these things or do you believe in the easter bunny? if you dont understand the differences between facts and fiction, please dont talk about freedom. that is insulting to the rest of us who know what freedom is.

[Moneyguy1]

Onramp:

It has been said that the true war lovers are those who have not faced it close up and personal.

Steve...go spend some time at a VA hospital and then come back with a report. We'd all love to hear what you have to say...

[flyenby]

HOW ABOUT BEING IN THE INFANTRY FOR 14 MONTHS,SEEING ACTION IN 1969-70, DOING IT ON FOOT, NO BOATS.
BULL**** KERRY,YOUR A JERK WHO LIES,BUT KNOWS HOW TO MARRY MONEY

[techweenie]

Turns out everything in Kerry's records regarding the Bronze star and Silver star have been borne out either by testimony of William Rood, who has kept quiet until now, and the write-up of the Bronze star award to Larry Thurlow.

These "Swift Boat vets" have all been exposed as liars. Even Chris Matthews ripped Thurlow apart on national TV, and he's hardly Democrat-friendly.

The Bush slime machine will have to take another tack.

[SteveStromberg]

In Los Angeles, 95 percent of all outstanding warrants for homicides (which total 1,200-1,500) target illegal aliens. Up to two-thirds of the fugitive felony warrants (17,000) are for illegal aliens.

Gee I think we are already at war with Mexico

Here is the WMD Dumb Ass
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4997808/

VOTE COMMIE VOTE KERRY

[SteveStromberg]

I would like to see Roods bank records to check for recent deposits

[Mulholland]

Originally posted by on-ramp
do you believe that 1000 brave men/women have died in Iraq over a lie

What do you lefties care, you hate the military "industrial complex." You people have been spinning a yarn about Vietnam since the 70s. Your people spat on our Vietnam vets for their homecoming. You people have never met a dictatorship that you didn't try to "understand."...You people give not ***** one for the military and you never have. The military knows this, that is why they are predominantly Conservative, love Bush, hate Kerry and were disenfranchised by the Gore campaign in 2000.

The DNC is rotten through and through (as are their Mooreon minions).