Some of the veterans now attacking John Kerry's service in Vietnam have been inconsistent about condemning him.
Published August 24, 2004
John Kerry was a war hero before he was a war protester. While some Americans - particularly Vietnam veterans - may have a hard time reconciling those two Kerry personas, the Massachusetts senator has nothing to answer for in his combat record. Official documents and the memories of those closest to him in battle confirm that Kerry was a courageous swift boat commander who risked his life to save a fellow crewman.
That's not the image being portrayed by a group calling itself Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which is running a smear campaign against the Democratic presidential nominee. In TV ads, interviews and a book, the group questions Kerry's honesty and patriotism and even belittles the wounds that earned him three Purple Hearts during his four months of duty in Vietnam. Apparently, sacrifice doesn't count if you are on the wrong side of the political divide.
Slow to react, Kerry has now gone on the offensive, accusing the Bush campaign of orchestrating the smear, although the president's political advisers deny it. On Monday, Bush lauded Kerry's military service and renounced all negative ads by outside groups representing both parties, including those by the swift boat group.
Bush should have spoken up sooner, particularly because there are close connections between his campaign and the veterans group. Its main financial backers are Texans Bob Perry, a longtime associate of Bush political strategist Karl Rove, and Harlan Crow, a trustee of the first President Bush's library foundation. Merrie Spaeth, a public relations executive who helped the group get is message out, has been active in forming Republican political strategy, including a similar assault on Republican Sen. John McCain's patriotism in the 2000 South Carolina presidential primary.
Some of Kerry's accusers have changed their stories over time, according to a New York Times investigation. In one of the group's TV ads, retired Lt. Commander George Elliott says Kerry "has not been honest about what happened in Vietnam." Yet in 1969, Elliott reported that Kerry was "unsurpassed" in combat, and just eight years ago, Elliott described the circumstances under which Kerry won a Silver Star as "an act of courage." Retired commander Adrian Lonsdale now claims Kerry "lacks the capacity to lead," but he had this to say in 1996: Kerry "was among the finest of those swift boat drivers."
Asked on Sunday what proof the group had of its accusations, one of its members, Van Odell, admitted that "I do not have a single document." Meanwhile, more veterans who served with Kerry during the fire fight in question have come forward to support him. One of those, swift boat veteran William Rood, said Kerry's accusers weren't even present during the fight, and "their version of events has splashed doubt on all of us."
Some in the group admit they are motivated to strike back at Kerry because of his antiwar activities after leaving Vietnam. They condemn him for his criticism of the war and his testimony before Congress alleging that American soldiers committed widespread atrocities in Vietnam. We now know that such incidents did occur, though not on the scale Kerry suggested in his congressional testimony. Most Americans are less interested in his Vietnam War record than in how, as president, Kerry would wind down the war in Iraq, which he both supports and criticizes.
Whatever other Vietnam veterans think of Kerry, there is no excuse for the reprehensible campaign to discredit his war record. Negative advertising may work, even when it's based on lies, but voters should be skeptical of a message that poisons the very notion of service to country.
