Vietnam Controversy Costing Kerry, Says Historian!! Liberals Hate
America!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday, Aug. 23, 2004

Author and Vietnam historian B. G. Burkett tells in an exclusive
interview that Senator John Kerry is mired in a quagmire worse than
the one he complained about in Vietnam.

The controversy may just cost him the presidency, Burkett says.

?Kerry keeps losing points every day this controversy wears on in the
media,? Burkett told shortly before Kerry?s campaign filed a legal
complaint with the FEC to stop the Swift Boat Veterans ads.

A sign of desperation?

Burkett is no stranger to such controversy and measures. He has been
sued multiple times after exposing phony military records of Vietnam
veterans - many of whom never even served in Vietnam.

Burkett?s book ?Stolen Valor: How the Vietnam Generation Was Robbed of
Its Heroes and Its History? (Verity Press) was published in 1998 and
has become a must read for those who want to unlock the truth about
Vietnam and its aftermath.

In fact, Burkett?s book has been credited in being among the first to
question John Kerry?s war record. Burkett has interviewed and spoken
with many of the Swift Boaters who served with Kerry and his
commanding officers.

Kerry Responds

As Swift Boat Veterans for the Truth keep ramming away at John Kerry?s
carefully crafted hero image, the beleaguered candidate has finally
turned to a media blitz of his own.

In his new TV ad Kerry defends his actions that led to him receiving
the Bronze Star.

The ad features Jim Rassmann, one of his loyal dozen ?band of
brothers,? certifying Kerry?s bravery under fire as the future senator
from Massachusetts and presidential candidate pulled him from the
water under withering fire after a couple of mines exploded during a
South Vietnam river operation.

Or was it just one mine that exploded? And were there small arms
sweeping the area as well as the after-action reports claimed?

The Swift Boat vets that criticize Kerry say only one mine exploded
under a boat not commanded by Kerry and there was no accompanying
enemy fire.

How did Green Beret Rassmann fall off Kerry?s boat only to be rescued
from the drink by Kerry? Burkett says witnesses attest that Rassmann
fell off Kerry?s boat because Kerry engaged the boat in a frantic
maneuver to flee from away from the action around the exploding mine.

Preponderance of Evidence

What will settle the controversy?

?They [the Swift boat group] will go away only if Kerry announces he
has removed himself from the race,? replies a cynical Burkett, who has
been making a study of the growing controversy that has dominated the
TV talk shows and radio pundits.

Although Burkett feels that the fog of war may forever keep the real
truth from emerging from the smoke, he does believe that the vet group
is moving ahead in establishing its less flattering version of the
Kerry exploits by ?a preponderance of the evidence.?

?These Swift Boats moved in squadrons and formations,? explains
Burkett. ?Sometimes the better vantage point for observing the action
was from another boat.?

And John O?Neil, co-author of the bestseller ?Unfit for Command? has
interviewed these other observers, taking dispute with the so-called
?after-action? reports filed by Lt. (j.g.) Kerry.

These reports later provided the basis for Kerry?s now much celebrated
Silver Star, Bronze Star and three Purple Heart decorations - all
earned in an abbreviated and bigger than life four month stint
in-country.

?The people up the chain of command assumed that none of their
officers would cheat,? opines Burkett.

?It?s a back and forth catfight? says Burkett, who thinks that the
tide may break dramatically to the side of the disaffected vets if one
of the loyal Kerry band of brothers turns colors.

How likely is that?

?Well, they [Swift Boat Veterans for the Truth] keep hoping,? says
Burkett. But if O?Neil has done his homework so has Kerry, he
explains. ?Kerry long ago called all his men together to settle on one
version of the action.?

Other critics say that Kerry?s campaign has already put on the payroll
one or more of his ?band of brothers.?

Veteran Steve Gardner, however, is one of the Kerry crew members who
has never gone along with the Kerry program: ?I watched him put his
crew in jeopardy, his indecisive moves??

So why was Gardner so singular?

?You have to realize that Gardner was an unusual member of the crew,?
explains the author. ?Gardner had a previous tour of duty on Swift
Boats. He knew the right way to confront the enemy - not the Kerry way
[steering to open water].?

Kerry?s Navy More Like McHale?s

Burkett goes on to explain that a stalwart, chance-taking Kerry would
be contrary to the historic Kerry, who he describes as ?always
belly-aching and whining about how the admirals had decided to send
the Swift Boats up those dangerous jungle-clogged rivers.?

According to Burkett, Kerry had volunteered with the notion that his
tour was going to be a sort of gentlemanly duty of offshore
coast-watching - not close combat with an enemy lurking on the shores.

Burkett has suggested in the past that the way out of the dilemma for
Kerry would be for Kerry to open up all his files by executing a
blanket SF-180 form allowing all the press to have independent access
to his file.

Burkett, however, says the release of Kerry?s full file, which he does
not believe has taken place despite Kerry?s claims otherwise, will
still not stop the Swift Boat Vets who are opposed to Kerry.

?It would have some bearing to the press, but it?s not going to deter
this group,? says Burkett.

?And remember,? adds Burkett, ?this is not a bunch of Republicans
going after Kerry. If Kerry were running as a Republican, the attacks
would be just the same.?

Burkett himself has criticized President Bush for his National Guard
duty during the Vietnam War.

Just how worried is the Kerry camp?

?You bet they are worried,? says Burkett. ?This election may just turn
on those five percent undecided out there. The bottom line is simple
-- the longer the dispute wears on, the more Kerry loses. They?re
never going to resolve this dispute.?




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Liberals Hate America!