The "TOP TEN" Latest Lies From The "Swiftees"

[Gimpy]

Top 10 Latest Lies From the ?Swift Boat Vets For Rent"

The past week has seen some extraordinary activity from the Swift Boat Veterans for Bush?unfortunately, the group's activity has been to mislead the American people and spread lies about John Kerry's service to his country during the Vietnam War while he was in the United States Navy. Although this group calls themselves ?Swift Boat Veterans for Truth,? it has become quite obvious they are not interested in the truth. Time and time again, the group has been caught spreading falsehoods and contradicting themselves.

Here is a small sample of some of their latest works of fiction:

1) THE LIE : The Swift Boat Veterans for Bush Group Has Repeatedly Stated They Are Being Honest and Truthful With the American People and Have Always Had Strong Feelings About Kerry.

THE TRUTH : The Group of Veterans Has a History of Flip-Flopping and Even Being Censured By the U.S. Navy.

Hoffman Was Censured By The Navy For His Improper Actions. ? Mr. Hoffmann had commanded the Swift boats during the war from a base in Cam Ranh Bay and advocated a search-and-destroy campaign against the Vietcong - the kind of tactic Mr. Kerry criticized when he was a spokesman for Vietnam Veterans Against the War in 1971.

Shortly after leaving the Navy in 1978, he was issued a letter of censure for exercising undue influence on cases in the military justice system.? [NYT, 8/20/04]


Lonsdale Defended Kerry From Smears In 1996. ?So, as far as I was concerned the war was won over there, in that part, for that period. And it was mainly won because of the bravado and the courage of the young officers that ran the boats?the Swift boats and the Coast Guard cutters. And Senator Kerry was no exception .?[Kerry for Senate Press Conference, 10/27/96]


Elliot Defended Kerry From Smears In 1996. ?The fact that he chased an armed enemy down is not something not to be looked down upon but it was an act of courage. And the whole outfit served with honor. ? [T]here was no question that it was above and beyond anything that we had seen down there in that case at that time frame?It just so happened that this one was so outstanding that the Silver Star was eventually awarded.? [Kerry for Senate Press Conference, 10/27/96]


2) THE LIE : Group Says They Are Independent and Have No Political Ties. Their Leader, John O'Neill, Went So Far As to Try and Claim He Wasn't a Republican.

O'NEILL: ?I've had no serious involvement in politics of any kind in over 32 years.?

O'NEILL: ?First, I'm not a Republican from Texas? [CNN Crossfire, 8/12/04 ; MSNBC Hardball, 8/12/04]

THE TRUTH : ? It was very hard for many of us covering [O'Neill] to figure out where the Nixon White House ended and where he began? ?Thomas Oliphant, [ Boston Globe, 8/20/04]


1971--O'Neil Was A Pawn For Nixon.

NBC's BRIAN WILLIAMS: ?The White House pushed for and got a debate between O'Neill and Kerry. But first, President Nixon called O'Neill in for a pep talk.?

PRESIDENT NIXON: ?That's great. Give it to him. Give it to him. And you can do it, because you have a pleasant manner, too. Because you've got -- and I think it's a -- it's a great service to the country.?

WILLIAMS: Two weeks later, the veterans squared off on "The Dick Cavett Show." [MSNBC, Hardball, 3/15/04]


O'Neill Has Strong Republican Ties. O'Neill has long-standing ties to the Republicans, Nixon counsel Charles Colson arranged his 1972 debates with John Kerry; he met with Nixon in 1972 in the Oval office, nominated Richard Nixon for President at the 1972 Republican Convention, clerked for Chief Justice of the United States William Rehnquist in 1974; his law partner ran for Texas Lt. Governor on the ticket with George W. Bush in 1994, another law partner was Bush's Texas legal counsel; and his law clients include ?Bush for President Pioneers.?


O'Neill Has Contributed $15,000 To Republicans Since 1988?Including 1992 G.H.W. Bush Campaign. O'Neill gave the maximum donation to George H. W. Bush's 1992 presidential campaign, and contributed to Texas Republican Party and National Republican Party. since 1990, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, O'Neill has contributed $14,650 to federal candidates or national political organizations -- all Republicans: [MediaMatters.org, 8/12/2004]


3) THE LIE : The group says they are independent of the Bush campaign. But all the evidence is that they're a front for the Bush campaign.

THE TRUTH :

New York Times: Bush Family, Bush Political Aide Have Close Ties to These Ads. ?In a series of interviews and a review of documents show a web of connections to the Bush family, high-profile Texas political figures and President Bush's chief political aide, Karl Rove. Records show that the group received the bulk of its initial financing from two men with ties to the president and his family - one a longtime political associate of Mr. Rove's, the other a trustee of the foundation for Mr. Bush's father's presidential library.

A Texas publicist who once helped prepare Mr. Bush's father for his debate when he was running for vice president provided them with strategic advice. And the group's television commercial was produced by the same team that made the devastating ad mocking Michael S. Dukakis in an oversized tank helmet when he and Mr. Bush's father faced off in the 1988 presidential election.? [NYT, 8/20/04]

Dallas Morning News: ?Veterans' Group Critical of Kerry Backed by Bush Supporter. ? Bob Perry, a major supporter of President Bush and the Republican Party, is the biggest financial backer of a veterans group seeking to discredit Democrat John Kerry's military service, according to federal records. Perry, a Houston homebuilder, gave $100,000 to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a group that has been critical of Kerry's anti-war activities after he returned from Vietnam . That accounted for two-thirds of the organization's receipts to date. [DMN, 7/23/04]


4) THE LIE : O'Neill Claims Kerry Was Not Injured and Should Not Have Received His Third Purple Heart?In Fact O'Neill Calls Kerry's Wound ?another example of Kerry political theater.? [?Unfit for Command?, O'Neill, p.93]


TRUTH : The U.S. Navy Determined Kerry Deserved the Third Purple Heart. Official Naval documents available to the public at the Naval Historical Center in Washington , DC and available at www.JohnKerry.com include the after action reports, also known as ?spot reports.?

These reports contain the details of the four boats involved in these actions on March, 13. 1969?including Kerry's boat PCF-94. These reports contain specific details of time, personnel, combat action and even maps. These report specifically detail the injuries received by various members of the SWIFT boat flotilla?including Kerry. ?LTJG JOHN F. KERRY, USNR, HSHRAPNEL WOUND LEFT BUTTOCK AND CONTUSION RT. FOREARM (MINOR)?

MORE TRUTH : Kerry's injury report for This Action, Also Available at the Naval Historical Center in Washington DC, Reads that He Was Injured:

KERRY, JOHN F., XXXXXX, USN WOUNDED IN ACTION -
13 March 1969 vicinity of Song Bay Hap, South
Vietnam. Received shrapnel wounds in the left
buttocks and contusions on the right forearm
when a mine detonated close to PCF-94 while
engaged in operations on river. CONDITIONS AND
PROGNOSIS EXCELLENT. RESULT OF HOSTILE ACTION

5) THE LIE : John Kerry Wrote the After Action Report Which Detail His & Others Acts on Days He Won the Bronze Star. ?Several veterans insist that Mr. Kerry wrote his own reports, pointing to the initials K. J. W. on one of the reports and saying they are Mr. Kerry's.? [ New York Times, 8/20/04]


THE TRUTH :
1) Those Are Not Kerry's Initials

& 2) They Refer to Person Who Had Received Report At Headquarters

Swift Boat Vets for Bush Clearly Wrong?Initials Were For Someone Else. ?What's the W for, I cannot answer,' said Larry Thurlow, who said his boat was 50 to 60 yards from Mr. Kerry's. Mr. Kerry's middle initial is F, and a Navy official said the initials refer to the person who had received the report at headquarters, not the author.? [NYT, 8/20/04]


6) THE LIE : Swift Boat Vet for Bush Larry Thurlow Says Kerry Received No Enemy Gunfire on the Day of His Bronze Star.


THE TRUTH : Records Obtained By the Washington Post Show Thurlow's Own Bronze Star Citation Confirms the U.S. Navy, Rassmann, Crewmates & Kerry Account.

Washington Post: ?Records Counter a Critic of Kerry; Fellow Skipper's Citation Refers To Enemy Fire? ?Newly obtained military records of one of Sen. John F. Kerry's most vocal critics, who has accused the Democratic presidential candidate of lying about his wartime record to win medals, contradict his own version of events. In newspaper interviews and a best-selling book, Larry Thurlow, who commanded a Navy Swift boat alongside Kerry in Vietnam , has strongly disputed Kerry's claim that the Massachusetts Democrat's boat came under fire during a mission in Viet Cong-controlled territory on March 13, 1969 .

Kerry won a Bronze Star for his actions that day. But Thurlow's military records, portions of which were released yesterday to The Washington Post under the Freedom of Information Act, contain several references to "enemy small arms and automatic weapons fire" directed at ?all units' of the five-boat flotilla. Thurlow won his own Bronze Star that day, and the citation praises him for providing assistance to a damaged Swift boat "despite enemy bullets flying about him.? [ Washington Post, 8/19/04]


7) THE LIE : Merrie Spaeth Denies Having Made Multiple Visits to Bush White House.


THE TRUTH : Spaeth Made Multiple Visits, Received a Tour from Ken Starr, Advising Bush Officials and is Not Sure if There is Any More?

Spaeth At First Denied Making Multiple Visits to White House?Later Corected Her Story. ?When asked if she had ever visited the White House during Mr. Bush's tenure, Ms. Spaeth initially said that she had been there only once, in 2002, when Kenneth Starr gave her a personal tour. But this week Ms. Spaeth acknowledged that she had spent an hour in the Old Executive Office Building, part of the White House complex, in the spring of 2003, giving Mr. Bush's chief economic adviser, Stephen Friedman, public speaking advice. Asked if it was possible that she had worked with other administration officials, Ms. Spaeth said, ?The answer is ?no,? unless you refresh my memory'.? [NYT, 8/20/04]


8)THE LIE : O'Neill Attempts to Deny Jerome Corsi's Involvement in the Book?Tries to Say Corsi Was Just an Editor.

Wolf Blitzer: ?Over the past 24, 48 hours, there have been some serious questions raised about your co- author, Jerry Corsi. They have discovered some comments he's written on various Web sites which appear to be anti-Muslim, anti-Jewish, anti-Catholic. I could read some of them, but we don't have a whole lot of time. I wonder if you want to disassociate yourself from what he has written.

JOHN O'NEILL: Oh, absolutely. Jerry Corsi acted as sort of an editor of our book.? [CNN Wolf Blitzer, 8/11/2004]


THE TRUTH : Corsi Co-authors Attack on Kerry; Authors Large Portion of O'Neill's Book.

Corsi Credited As Co-Author of the Slanderous Book. The cover of ?Unfit for Command? lists authors ?John O'Neill and Jerome R. Corsi, PH.D.. Corsi is a co-holder of the Copyright to the book, he and O'Neill both write dedications, and the preface says ?O'Neill and Corsi had been friends since their undergraduate years.? After reconnecting they decided to work together to write this book .? [?Unfit for Command,? p.2]


9) THE LIE : John Kerry Had a Secret Admiral Riding On Board His 15ft Boat During His First Purple Heart.

O'NEILL: Well, his first Purple Heart was not on the ship. It was on a Boston Whaler. With him on the Boston whaler was Lieutenant William Schachte, now Rear Admiral William Schachte. He will tell you he falsified the award.

O'NEILL: Lieutenant William Schachte, now a rear admiral in the United States Navy, was on the small whaler with Kerry. He witnessed Kerry with an M-79 fire it and wound himself. []

O'NEILL: I'm claiming that, with respect to the Silver Star, the Purple Hearts, that he applied under false pretenses for those Purple Hearts, that he wounded himself with a grenade fragment on the first Purple Heart, as can be witnessed by Rear Admiral Bill Shakte (ph), who was on the boat, and many others, the division commander and others. [MSNBC Hardball, 8/12/2004 ; CNN Crossfire, 8/12/2004 ; FNC Hannity & Colmes, 8/10/2004]


THE TRUTH : Mysterious Admiral Was NOT on Kerry's Boat. Even O'Neill Website Agrees With That.

Crew on Boat Disputes Story?Says They Can Count to Three. ?But the two other men who acknowledged that they had been with Mr. Kerry, Bill Zaladonis and Mr. Runyon, say they cannot recall a third crew member. ?Me and Bill aren't the smartest, but we can count to three,' Mr. Runyon said in an interview.? [NYT, 8/20/04]

Boston Globe Biography Says Two Men Accompanied Kerry. Two men serving alongside him that night had similar memories of the incident that led to Kerry's first wartime injury. William Zaladonis, who was manning an M-60, and Patrick Runyon, operating the engine, said they spotted some people running from a sampan to a nearby shoreline. When they refused to obey a call to stop, Kerry's crew began shooting. [John F. Kerry, The Complete Biography by the Boston Globe Reporters who knew him Best, p.72]

"Tour Of Duty" Reports Three Men On Board. ?'Three of us, two enlisted men and myself, had stayed up all night in a Boston Whaler patrolling the shore off a Viet Cong-infested peninsula north of Cam Ranh?'? [Brinkley, Tour of Duty, p.146]


Even O'Neill's Website Contradicts O'Neill. "The action that led to John Kerry's first Purple Heart occurred on December 2, 1968 , during the month that he was undergoing training with Coastal Division 14 at Cam Ranh Bay. While waiting to receive his own Swift boat command, Kerry volunteered for a nighttime patrol mission commanding a small, foam-filled "skimmer" craft with two enlisted men."

[http://www.swiftvets.com/staticpages...p?page=Purple1]


10) THE LIE : O'Neill Claims There Was No Explosion Near Kerry's Boat: ?Neither weapons fire or mine explosion occurred near Kerry during incident? [?Unfit for Command? p. 87]


THE TRUTH : Every Official Account and Every Person On Board Kerry's Boat Disputed This Swift Boat Vet for Bush Fictional Tale.


The U.S. Navy Determined Kerry's Boat Was Hit. Official Naval documents available to the public at the Naval Historical Center in Washington , DC and available at www.JohnKerry.com include the after action reports, also known as ?spot reports.?

These reports contain the details of the four boats involved in these actions on March, 13. 1969?including Kerry's boat PCF-94. These reports contain specific details of time, personnel, combat action and even maps which mention the mine which PCF-3 struck and ?TWO OTHER MINE EXPLOSIONS OVC RVED.? Additionally, Kerry's boat was badly damaged at the time: ?PCF-94 HULL REG NR 50NS6678 BATTLE DAMAGE?PCF NOT CAPABLE OF EXECUTING MARKET TIME PATROL?TWO STBD AND ONE PORT MAIN CABIN WINDOWS BLOWN OUT. VCR-46 RADIO AND ALL REMOTE UNITS PILOT HOUSE INOP. AC WIRING SHORTED OUT. ONAN GENERATOR INOP. STEERAGE CONTROL AFTER HELM INOP. STBD (?)ILGE PUMP BROKEN. SCREWS CURLED AND CHIPPED. RADAR GEAR BOX FROZEN. MAIN ENGINES EXPERIENCED RPM DROP? BATTLE DAMAGE?


The Boston Globe Determined Kerry's Boat Was Hit. The Boston Globe, which has repeatedly criticized John Kerry for any exaggeration or misstatement for the past 30 years, did their own investigation into Kerry's military career. The Globe wrote in their book, ?John F. Kerry; A Complete Biography by the Boston Globe Reporters Who Know Him Best? that ? The flotilla of approximately five swift boats was cruising along a narrow canal, with Kerry's boat toward the front, when a mine detonated, throwing one of the crafts two feet into the air and knocking out its engine. In the swift boat behind it, Rassmann was eating a chocolate chip cookie in the pilothouse when his craft was also rocked by an explosion.? [p.106]


Kerry's Bronze Star citation recounts the events of that day and include this sentence, ? while exiting the River, a mine detonated under another Inshore Patrol Craft and almost simultaneously, another mine detonated close aboard his Inshore Patrol Craft knocking a man.? Versions of this citation were signed by the Secretary of the Navy and the Commander of U.S. Naval Forces in Vietnam. This citation is available for the public to read at www.JohnKerry.com.


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The American people wiil come to these fellows as the "Swift Boat Tellers Of Falshoods" before all this is over!