Posted on 08/07/2004 2:07:38 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
WASHINGTON — The controversy surrounding ads questioning John Kerry's war record grew Friday when a key figure in the veterans' group airing the ads was quoted in the Boston Globe retracting one of his central allegations.
But later in the day, retired Navy Lt. Cmdr. George Elliott issued a statement saying he had been misquoted in the newspaper.
The ad, sponsored by an anti-Kerry organization called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, features 13 Vietnam veterans accusing the Democratic presidential nominee of betraying his shipmates, dishonoring his country and telling lies to win combat decorations as a swift boat skipper in the Mekong Delta during the Vietnam war.
Elliott, one of the 13 accusers in the ad, was one of Kerry's superiors in Vietnam when Kerry was awarded medals for heroic actions, including the Silver Star, the Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts.
"John Kerry has not been honest about what happened in Vietnam," Elliott is quoted as saying in the ad.
In a signed affidavit he provided to the ad sponsors on July 21, Elliott suggested Kerry did not deserve his Silver Star, stating, "I was never informed that he had simply shot a wounded, fleeing Viet Cong in the back."
On Friday, the day after the ad started airing in three presidential battleground states, the Boston Globe quoted Elliot as saying, "It was a terrible mistake probably for me to sign the affidavit with those words. I'm the one in trouble here."
The Globe reported that Elliott thinks Kerry did deserve the medal. "I still don't think he [Kerry] shot the guy in the back," the Globe quoted Elliott as saying.
Later Thursday, however, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth released another signed affidavit from Elliott saying he had been misquoted by the Globe.
The new affidavit does not specify how Elliot was misquoted, however, and Swift Boat Veterans for Truth did not respond to a request to interview Elliott.
'Many sources'
At issue is an event in which Kerry killed a fleeing Viet Cong guerrilla while on patrol on the Mekong River. According to accounts Kerry and his swift boat crewmates provided to Kerry's biographers, Kerry left his boat and pursued the guerrilla because the man was carrying a Russian-made rocket launcher capable of penetrating armor.
Kerry and eyewitnesses to the event have long claimed that the guerrilla posed a serious threat, despite having suffered an undisclosed injury, and Kerry has denied shooting him in the back.
Elliott, in his latest affidavit, said he had no personal knowledge concerning Kerry's killing of the guerrilla and that in accusing Kerry of lying about what happened in Vietnam, he had relied upon "many sources," including a Kerry biography published by Boston Globe reporters.
"Had I known the facts, I would not have recommended Kerry for the Silver Star for simply pursuing and dispatching a single wounded, fleeing Viet Cong," Elliott stated in his latest affidavit.
Anatomy of a shooting
The Boston Globe biography upon which Elliott relied includes a portion of the after-action report concerning Kerry's battlefield heroics, saying Kerry "chased VC inland behind hooch and shot him while he fled, capturing one B-40 rocket launcher with round in chamber."
"I don't have a second's question about that, nor does anybody who was with me," Kerry told the Globe biographers in recalling his decision to shoot. "He was running away with a live B-40, and, I thought, poised to turn around and fire it."
When the Globe asked if he had shot the guerrilla in the back, Kerry replied, "No, absolutely not. He was hurt, other guys where shooting from back, side, back. There is not a scintilla of question in any person's mind who was there [that] this guy was dangerous. He was a combatant, he had an armed weapon."
But Elliott said in his affidavit Thursday: "While I suppose the fleeing, wounded Viet Cong could have been backpedaling, I have never heard this faintly suggested by anyone, and I do not understand why he would have to turn around to face Kerry if he was fleeing backwards."
Veteran retracts criticism of Kerry (Vet Says Misquoted-Stands by Original Statement)
Funny they didn't mention the Kerry campaigns attempt to suppress the airing of the ad.
IMHO, that's one of the most damaging parts of the story.
Wonder when the press corps will start asking questions of Kerry during press conferences. (I know, faint possibility, but I can dream, can't I, LOL)
We have a liberal in our office who, like other inconsiderate liberals, parked in someone else's parking office in our office complex. The person to whom the parking place belongs, parked behind him preventing him from getting out. We told this Duty Liberal to go to the person who owned the parking space and apologize, which he did. The person who parked behind him told him that John Kerry's war record was so bogus he had parked behind him (as opposed to just finding another parking place), because our Liberal Friend had a John Kerry bumper sticker. People are not going to tolerate tis phony.
I don`t know why ANY vet would support this guy after what he did. This would be like a guy who became a cop for four lousy months then quit and went on TV and to the press "Cops are cutting off limbs, cutting off heads, etc etc" You start any job, you are on probation for 6 months, you are a greenie, you are a rookie, you are the newbie who doesn`t know his azz from his elbow, and this punk trys to come off like he`s some sort of super war hero expert after 4 months? Yeah, right here pal.. I know 3 guys who did over a year in Vietnam, one who lost his foot and got ONE purple heart. This guy gets 3 in four months and he can still walk? plus a silver and a bronze star? Yeah, right! My azz he did! I hope they keep the pressure on this douche until he releases those medical records and then he can explain to everyone how a band-aid warrants a Purple heart. THe fact is he went over there and whined for those medals probably using his favorite saying "Do you know who I am" while mentioning the Kennedys in the same breath. Freakin POS.
Kerry then said: ''That's all right. Let 'em chant, ladies and gentlemen, because they've only got three more months to chant. They don't want to hear the truth! . . . But John Edwards and I are going to tell America the truth."
Yet even the four-term senator from Massachusetts seemed a bit rattled, making an odd promise that ''graduate school is going to be there" someday for the children who turned out that night to see a man who would be president.*** Source Boston Globe
Kerry admitted to "war crimes and atrocities" in testimony before congress. This is the worse info. Does it mke him highly qualified to be C.I.C.? You may need the Hammer & Sickle armband, john, things are crashing. Better try it next.
If it had been a Bush bumper sticker, a Kerry moron would probably have keyed the car.
I can't believe people would vote for the Clintons. It takes a LIBERAL village to screw up a country.
This ad just may tip Kerry's swift boat and sink it for good. It is truly powerful. And it won't go away.
132 days in Nam vs 730 days as an anti-war protester with hanoi jane. Sure looks good on one's resume.
When will the Dims realize that it would not be three months if Kerry wins, the don't even know when the new president takes office.
Whether or not the allegations against Kerry are true is of no interest and no importance to the Democrats, so utter is their moral depravity.
I've read them. It took less than 2 minutes. The first affidavit is one page in length, the second is two pages.
At least the story is not going away quietly. It (the story) needs to be brought clearly into the open, and I have the utmost respect for the Swift boat veterans, especially those who are stepping forward now.
media bias bump
They are desparate over this story, aren't they? The knives are out.
Commander Elliott's August 6th affadavit is here:
http://www.swiftvets.com/Elliottaffidavit08062004.pdf
Do you have a link for the first affadavit?
Thanks.
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