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  • Kerry calls on Bush to denounce attack ads

    Kerry calls on Bush to denounce attack ads

    BOSTON, Massachusetts (CNN) -- Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry accused President Bush on Thursday of letting front groups "do his dirty work" in questioning his military service during the Vietnam War.

    "The president keeps telling people he would never question my service to our country. Instead, he watches as a Republican-funded attack group does just that," Kerry told a firefighters' union conference in his hometown of Boston.

    "Well, if he wants to have a debate about our service in Vietnam, here is my answer: Bring it on."

    The group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth has aired the ads in question in the likely November battleground states of Ohio, Wisconsin and West Virginia.

    It is independent of the Bush campaign but is heavily funded by Republican contributors from Bush's home state of Texas, according to federal records. (GOP donor helps finance anti-Kerry veterans group)

    "They're a front for the Bush campaign. And the fact that the president won't denounce them tells you everything you need to know -- he wants them to do his dirty work," Kerry told a cheering crowd.

    Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt emphasized that Bush has not criticized Kerry's military service in Vietnam.

    "Senator Kerry knows President Bush has called his service in Vietnam noble ... and the Bush campaign has tried to have a debate about the future, not the past," Schmidt said.

    In Crawford, Texas, White House press secretary Scott McClellan suggested that Democrats were guilty of the same practice -- watching as other groups hurl charges at the opposition.

    McClellan noted that Bush has been the subject of several critical ads by outside groups. For example, the group MoveOn.org has spent millions of dollars on ads that are sharply critical of Bush.

    "The president has condemned all of the ads by the shadowy groups," McClellan said. "We have called on Senator Kerry to join us in calling for an end to all the unregulated soft money activity that is going on in this campaign."

    Vietnam revisited
    In the swift boat commercials, former sailors accuse Kerry of lying to receive two of his five combat decorations, a Purple Heart and the Bronze Star, and criticize his anti-war activism after he returned home from Vietnam. He also received a Silver Star and two Purple Hearts for other actions.

    The ad includes Larry Thurlow, who commanded one of five swift boats in the Mekong Delta during an incident March 13, 1969, for which Kerry was decorated and Thurlow himself earned a Bronze Star.

    Thurlow told CNN that Kerry's boat fled after a mine crippled another boat and was not under enemy fire when he returned to rescue an Army officer knocked overboard by a second mine that detonated nearby.

    But the Navy citation for Thurlow's Bronze Star said "all units began receiving enemy small arms and automatic weapons fire from the river banks."

    And the Navy's letter awarding Kerry the Bronze Star states that Kerry exhibited "great personal courage under fire" in rescuing Army Green Beret Lt. Jim Rassmann, who recommended Kerry for the decoration and who has publicly disputed Thurlow's account of what happened that day.

    Thurlow -- who said he has no contact with the Bush campaign -- told CNN Thursday he did not know he had even received a Bronze Star until after he left the Navy, and he had not seen the citation in 30 years.

    He contended it was Kerry who wrote the after-action report that was the basis for the citation -- even though another officer, Lt. Cmdr. George Elliot, signed the document.

    "I would concede his [Kerry's] signature's certainly not on it. You're right," Thurlow said. "The reason I'm sure John filed it is because the entire report has the 94 boat, John's boat, as the central figure in all the action."

    John O'Neill, one of the founders of the group that ran the ad, said no bullet holes were found in any boat that took part in the flotilla. "Kerry's report that day describes something like the battle of Gettysburg," O'Neill said.

    Kerry's campaign said none of the men in the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth commercial served in the same boat as the Democratic nominee. And it described Thurlow as "completely discredited."

    Kerry became a prominent antiwar activist after returning from Vietnam, and his allegation that U.S. troops routinely committed atrocities still rankles some veterans.

    He received a lukewarm response Wednesday at the annual meeting of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, where some veterans upset with Kerry's criticism of the war left the audience and at least two stood and turned their backs to him.

    New Kerry ad
    The Kerry campaign released its own ad Thursday in Ohio, West Virginia and Wisconsin that features Rassmann saying Kerry saved his life.

    "All these Viet Cong were shooting at me," Rassmann says in the ad. "I expected I'd be shot. When he pulled me out of the river, he risked his life to save mine."

    A statement from the Kerry campaign said Rassmann is a registered Republican.

    Swift Boat Veterans for Truth said late Thursday it planned to air a new ad, but no details were released.

    The group is an independent "527" committee, named for the section of the tax code that governs them. The groups are forbidden to coordinate their operations with political parties or campaigns.

    Similar groups have targeted Bush for criticism, and one of the most prominent, MoveOn.org, has run an ad accusing Bush of using family connections to get into the Air National Guard during Vietnam, then failing to report for duty.

    "This election is about character," the ad's announcer intones. "It's about John Kerry, who left no man behind -- and George Bush, who simply left."

    The Bush campaign says the president fulfilled his Guard obligations and was discharged honorably.

    Earlier this week, Kerry condemned that ad.(Full story)

    In an interview last week on CNN's "Larry King Live," Bush condemned 527 groups in general and said their ads should not be aired.

    http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/...ads/index.html
    "Every man has his weakness. Mine was always just cigarettes."

  • #2
    Looks at what's infesting New York City in anticipation of the RNC. What's good for the goose is good for the gander.

    Comment


    • #3
      Let's bring it on.

      In one of the US CNN programmes, the Secy of Navy (Republican) gave a clean chit to Kerry for his Silver Star.

      Another programme says the Swift Boat Vetran business is a sponsored event.

      Whats up?

      Very confusing to those who know nothing of anything but would like to know.


      "Some have learnt many Tricks of sly Evasion, Instead of Truth they use Equivocation, And eke it out with mental Reservation, Which is to good Men an Abomination."

      I don't have to attend every argument I'm invited to.

      HAKUNA MATATA

      Comment


      • #4
        Is Kerry going to denounce his attack ads, and Gore, and Dean, and Kennedy?
        No man is free until all men are free - John Hossack
        I agree completely with this Administration’s goal of a regime change in Iraq-John Kerry
        even if that enforcement is mostly at the hands of the United States, a right we retain even if the Security Council fails to act-John Kerry
        He may even miscalculate and slide these weapons off to terrorist groups to invite them to be a surrogate to use them against the United States. It’s the miscalculation that poses the greatest threat-John Kerry

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Confed999
          Is Kerry going to denounce his attack ads, and Gore, and Dean, and Kennedy?
          He should. Then Kennedy could give them all a ride home...

          Comment


          • #6
            My message to Swiftboats for Truth: "Dont give up the ship", people might not care or listen to what you have to say but you are doing a huge service to the American people - showing the true side of John Kerry.

            Comment


            • #7
              Democrat "attack groups" the 527's, like George Soros, moveon.org and Richard Ickes have spent over $65M in attacking Bush, not to mention Michael Moore and his movie. Have Bush or the Republicans tried to censor them. No.

              This group has spent less than $1M on ads in 3 states and the Kerry campaign is crying to the FCC and whomever else they can. They are also trying to get the book publisher to pull the book.

              If there were no grounds to these allegations against Kerry, why doesn't he hold a press conference and refute them with facts? Because he can't.

              Comment


              • #8
                I used to think military service was the one thing Kerry had on Bush.

                Now I find out that Kerry served but four months in combat, wasn't a tour in Vietnam 13 months? Even if the Navy was different, I'm sure most of the men in his unit served alot longer than four months. And how does somebody manage to get three purple hearts, a silver star, and a bronze star in just four months.

                Also, he has three purple hearts, but apparently never spent a day in the hospital. He also apparently wrote himself up for awards.
                "Every man has his weakness. Mine was always just cigarettes."

                Comment


                • #9
                  Ironduke,

                  One cannot write his own citation. It has to be written by his superior.

                  There is also a channel by which it is vetted and approved. That of course could be flawed.

                  However, silver stars are not thrown around like ticker tapes duirng a parade. The Secretary of Navy, a Republican, said on a TV show that there is no doubt about the medal.

                  I say, much that one may hate a man, one must give the dog his due, as the saying goes.


                  "Some have learnt many Tricks of sly Evasion, Instead of Truth they use Equivocation, And eke it out with mental Reservation, Which is to good Men an Abomination."

                  I don't have to attend every argument I'm invited to.

                  HAKUNA MATATA

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    [QUOTE=Ironduke]
                    "The president keeps telling people he would never question my service to our country. Instead, he watches as a Republican-funded attack group does just that," Kerry told a firefighters' union conference in his hometown of Boston.QUOTE]
                    Technicaly The republican party can not give a penny to a 527. They are completely funded by individuals. any direct coordination is a federal offense, including telling them to stop the ad, kerry knows that and is more interested in attacking bush for something he knows Bush cant stop, than countering the claims by the people who served with him. I would like to point out that out of the twenty one people that appear in a photo used by the Kerry camp in the comercial that triggered the Swift Boat sailors reply all but one of them have contacted the kerry campaign asking that there likeness not be used by the campaign since they oppose Kerry.



                    [QUOTE=Ironduke]It is independent of the Bush campaign but is heavily funded by Republican contributors from Bush's home state of Texas, according to federal records. (GOP donor helps finance anti-Kerry veterans group)[QUOTE]


                    [QUOTE=Ironduke]The group is an independent "527" committee, named for the section of the tax code that governs them. The groups are forbidden to coordinate their operations with political parties or campaigns.[QUOTE]
                    That includes asking them to stop there activities either directly or indirectly.

                    Dragoon
                    Yes..,You have the right To Speak, however I have the right not to listen

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Dragoon
                      Technicaly The republican party can not give a penny to a 527. They are completely funded by individuals.
                      Don't confuse them with facts, you're messing up their "vast right wing conspiracy" rhetoric. ;)
                      No man is free until all men are free - John Hossack
                      I agree completely with this Administration’s goal of a regime change in Iraq-John Kerry
                      even if that enforcement is mostly at the hands of the United States, a right we retain even if the Security Council fails to act-John Kerry
                      He may even miscalculate and slide these weapons off to terrorist groups to invite them to be a surrogate to use them against the United States. It’s the miscalculation that poses the greatest threat-John Kerry

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        The guy who Kerry saved now says that Kerry saved him under VC fire. Every non Demoncrat source says that their was no gunfire. I dont know who to belive I certinly dont want to belive Kerry.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by ChrisF202
                          The guy who Kerry saved now says that Kerry saved him under VC fire. Every non Demoncrat source says that their was no gunfire. I dont know who to belive
                          Rassman (the guy Kerry saved ) is a republican.

                          Here is some research into the claims and counter-claims.

                          http://factcheck.org/article.aspx?docID=231

                          I certinly dont want to belive Kerry.
                          You might not have to believe him, even if he is telling the truth, it seems time and the fog of war means that proof from either side is impossible.
                          at

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Trooth
                            You might not have to believe him, even if he is telling the truth, it seems time and the fog of war means that proof from either side is impossible.
                            I agree, so lets go with what Kerry said he did. He testified that he commited, and witnessed, war crimes that he did not report. He did everything he could to hurt America, and help her enemies, in Vietnam, the Cold War and now.
                            No man is free until all men are free - John Hossack
                            I agree completely with this Administration’s goal of a regime change in Iraq-John Kerry
                            even if that enforcement is mostly at the hands of the United States, a right we retain even if the Security Council fails to act-John Kerry
                            He may even miscalculate and slide these weapons off to terrorist groups to invite them to be a surrogate to use them against the United States. It’s the miscalculation that poses the greatest threat-John Kerry

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Confed999
                              I agree, so lets go with what Kerry said he did. He testified that he commited, and witnessed, war crimes that he did not report. He did everything he could to hurt America, and help her enemies, in Vietnam, the Cold War and now.
                              Sounds good to me Confed :) . I agree with Truth, its been so long (30+ years) that the fog of time is taking over.

                              Comment

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