Swift-Boat-Veterans-for-the-Truth-Gate: The File, 25 Aug. 2004

[skip fox]

Swift-Boat-Veterans-for-Truth-Gate: The File

(please send links to relevant stories)




Table of Contents:

I. Introduction and History of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (hereafter SBVT)
II. Recent accounts of other swift boat vets contradicting the SBVT
III. Changes or Qualifications in Stories of individual SBVT
IV. Points of collusion between Republicans and the SBVT

Each section separated by a line of asterisks.





*********************************************************


I. Introduction and History of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth:

Overall story:

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/9455159.htm


History of SBVT:

Website registered April 14, 2004. The following is a good historical
overview of their history with hot links. Great site!:

http://www.disinfopedia.org/wiki.phtml?title=Swift_Boat_Veterans_for_Truth#History



The entire overview of SBVT from same site:

http://www.disinfopedia.org/wiki.phtml?title=Swift_Boat_Veterans_for_Truth


On Hannity and Colmes, 23 Aug. Paul Galanti, a former Viet Nam POW
and author of upcoming anti-Kerry book, said that he was at a meeting "last
month" where he "heard" about Kerry from "Kerry's fellow officers."
Were they flying vets in (Swift boat vets, first, then POWs) and letting
O'Neill pump them full of his twisted obsessions, including the story of
"Kerry's master plan" (i.e., to launch himself into politics and the public
eye thru service in Vietnam and then public renunciations of that service)?
If we inquire into their methodologies of recruitment and forms of
internal propaganda and pressure, we might find out quite a bit that would
be damaging. (Just to show the coordination of a few men roping in and
trying to brainwash others would be damaging because it would focus
on the basic contrivance and manipulation practiced by their organization.




Kerry's official take on the SBVT:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4439188,00.html



Best job of debunking the SBVT, wingnut-by-wingunt:

http://swiftvets.eriposte.com/

and

http://swiftvets.eriposte.com/othersbvlies.htm#OTHERSBV





*********************************************************


II. Recent accounts (during the last week) of swift boat vets who were
actually THERE (what a concept!) and support Kerry . . .

A number of Kerry's crewmates--David Alston, Mike Medeiros, Del Sandusky
and Gene Thorson–have long been on record about Kerry's metals and heroism
and will be feature in the up-coming film about Kerry's service titled "Brothers in
Arms":

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/08/23/politics2057EDT0728.DTL

but within the past week a number of new supporters, men who were actually
with Kerry at the time of the incidents, have come forward:



1.) William Rood:

<Snip>


The first time we took fire--the usual rockets and automatic weapons--
Kerry ordered a "turn 90" and the three boats roared in on the ambush. It
worked. We routed the ambush, killing three of the attackers. The troops,
led by an Army adviser, jumped off the boats and began a sweep, which
killed another half dozen VC, wounded or captured others and found
weapons, blast masks and other supplies used to stage ambushes.

. . .

It happened again, another ambush. And again, Kerry ordered the turn
maneuver, and again it worked. As we headed for the riverbank, I remember
seeing a loaded B-40 launcher pointed at the boats. It wasn't fired as two
men jumped up from their spider holes.

We called Droz's boat up to assist us, and Kerry, followed
by one member of his crew, jumped ashore and chased a VC
behind a hooch--a thatched hut--maybe 15 yards inland from the
ambush site. Some who were there that day recall the man being
wounded as he ran. . . .

. . .

Not long after that, Kerry returned, reporting that he had killed
the man he chased behind the hooch. He also had picked up a loaded
B-40 rocket launcher, which we took back to our base in An Thoi
after the operation.

John O'Neill, author of a highly critical account of Kerry's Vietnam service,
describes the man Kerry chased as a "teenager" in a "loincloth."
I have no idea how old the gunner Kerry chased that day was, but both
Leeds and I recall that he was a grown man, dressed in the kind of garb
the VC usually wore.

<snip>


http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/082204Y.shtml


and

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/22/politics/campaign/22swift.html





2.) Robert Lambert:

<snip>

Three Navy men won Bronze Stars for their actions that day: Kerry,
Thurlow, and radarman first class Robert Eugene Lambert, a petty
officer in the boat captained by Thurlow. The citation for Lambert's
Bronze Star--previously undisclosed but obtained today under the
Freedom of Information Act from the National Personnel Records
Center in St. Louis--repeats the description of the incident included
in the citation for Thurlow's Bronze Star: "all units came under small
arms and automatic weapons fire from the river banks." Lambert's
citation also notes that Lambert--who assumed command of PCF-51
after Thurlow went to assist another Swift boat damaged by a mine--
"directed accurate suppressing fire at the enemy." The citation praises
Lambert's "coolness, professionalism and courage under fire."
<snip>


http://www.thenation.com/capitalgames/index.mhtml?bid=3&pid=1692






3.) Pat Runyon

<snip>

. . . An Ohio factory worker who was with John Kerry on a dangerous night
mission 36 years ago in Vietnam said he has no doubt Kerry was grazed
in a firefight and deserves his first Purple Heart for a combat injury.

. . .

Runyon said Kerry was wounded after one vessel (sanpan) tried to avoid
an inspection.

"Lt. Kerry said, 'I'm going to pop a flare, and when I do, I want that engine
started,' " Runyon said. But the outboard would not crank. Meanwhile,
the sampan's crew steered it to the riverbank, and people started running
on the shore. Runyon said shooting broke out.

Somehow, Kerry's weapon stopped firing. Runyon thinks he ran out of
ammunition. He said Kerry bent down to pick up another gun and got hit
in the arm.

"It wasn't a serious wound," Runyon said, and Kerry was able to start
shooting again. When the firefight was over, Runyon said Kerry told him
all he felt was a "burning sensation."

<snip>


http://www.cleveland.com/search/index.ssf?/base/isele/109265584379530.xml?isele





4.) Jim Russell:

<snip>

Three things that are forever pictured in my mind since that day over 30 years
ago are: (1) The No. 3, 50-foot long, Swift boat getting huge, huge air; John
Kerry thought it was about two feet. (He was farther away from it than I). I
think it was at least four feet and probably closer to six feet; (2) All the boats
turning left and letting loose at the same time like a deadly, choreographed
dance and; (3) A few minutes later, John Kerry bending over his boat picking
up one of the rangers that we were ferrying from out of the water. All the time
we were taking small arms fire from the beach; although because of our fusillade
into the jungle, I don't think it was very accurate, thank God. Anyone who
doesn't think that we were being fired upon must have been on a different river.

<snip>

http://www.telluridegateway.com/articles/2004/08/20/news/opinion/opinion01.txt




5.) Wayne D. Langhofer:

<snip>

Wayne D. Langhofer, now an employee at a Kansas gunpowder plant, told
the Washington Post in yesterday's editions, "There was a lot of firing going
on, and it came from both sides of the river."

Reflecting on the battle in the Bay Hap River, which resulted both in Kerry
being awarded the Bronze Star and receiving a third Purple Heart, which
allowed him to end his combat tour after just four months, Langhofer
said he distinctly remembered the "clack, clack, clack" of enemy AK-47s,
as well as muzzle flashes from the surrounding riverbanks. Langhofer manned
a machine gun aboard PCF-43, the boat that was directly behind Kerry's.

<snip>

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/08/23/swift_boat_veteran_backs_kerry_on_details_of_1969_ambush/




6.-8.) Jim McCann, Rich Baker, and Del Sandusky (with Jim Rusell, #4, above):

<snip>

In a conference call with reporters arranged by the campaign, three
Navy Swift boat officers who served with Kerry 35 years ago but
who said they have not been in touch with him for years defended
his service and his bravery. Rich McCann, Jim Russell and Rich
Baker said Kerry served honorably and took issue with questions
raised by the group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth about his
commendations.

"He was the most aggressive officer in charge of Swift boats,"
Baker said. "With no disrespect to anyone out there, the whole
Swift boat operation took courage and guts every time you
stepped on those boats. But John Kerry was one step above the
rest of us."

. . .

In Pennsylvania, crewmate Del Sandusky said at a news conference
that he witnessed the combat missions for which Kerry received Silver
and Bronze stars and two of his three Purple Hearts. "He deserved every
one of his medals," Sandusky said.

<snip>


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26519-2004Aug23.html





*********************************************************


III. SBVT members who have recanted or qualified their original story, or whose
specific stories have been directly challenged, or who have been discredited:

a.). George Elliott:

<snip>

. . . George Elliott, a leading member of the group who was the
commander who signed the recommendation for Kerry's Bronze Star,
campaigned with Kerry in 1996, defending him after questions were
raised about Kerry's Silver Star. (Kerry received this medal for chasing
down and killing an enemy soldier on February 28, 1969.) And in 1969,
Elliot wrote Kerry's fitness report and noted, "In a combat environment
often requiring independent decisive action, Lt. j.g. Kerry was unsurpassed."
Now he says Kerry lied about his service in
Vietnam.

<snip>

http://www.thenation.com/capitalgames/index.mhtml?bid=3&pid=1692



b.) Alfred French in the SBVT ad implies he was present at the incident, but . . .

<snip>

French said he is relying on the accounts of three other veterans who
were friends of his at the time. A fourth veteran with whom French was
acquainted corroborated their accounts.

"I was not a witness to these events but my friends were," said French,
who was awarded two Bronze Stars during the war. "I believe these
people. These are people I served with."

One of the men is Larry Thurlow. . . .

<snip>


http://www.oregonlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/front_page/109300303292321.xml




c. Larry Thurlow's citation, containing references to incoming fire which Thurlow's
affidavit denies:

<snip>

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."

. . .

"I am here to state that we weren't under fire," he said. He speculated that Kerry
could have been the source of at least some of the language used in the citation.

<snip>

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13267-2004Aug18.html

Brentspeak reminds me that, although Thurlow accused "Kerry as
having been the one to have the citations worded his own way, . . .
the award recommendation for Thurlow's Bronze Star lists
as the primary eyewitness, Robert Lambert, Thurlow's own swiftmate
(debunking Thurlow's lame claim)."




d. John O'Neill himself, having claimed recently never to have been in Cambodia,
but in 1971 claimed otherwise. In an 24 Aug. 04 report on Aaron Brown by
Joe Johns:

<snip>

JOHNS: . . . John O'Neill said Kerry made up a story about being in Cambodia
beyond the legal borders of the Vietnam War in 1968. O'Neill said no one could
cross the border by river and he claimed in an audio tape that his publicist played
to CNN that he, himself, had never been to Cambodia either. But in 1971, O'Neill
said precisely the opposite to then President Richard Nixon.

(start tape)

O'NEILL: I was in Cambodia, sir. I worked along the border on the water.
NIXON: In a swift boat?
O'NEILL: Yes, sir.
(end tape)

JOHNS: Now, O'Neill may have an explanation for this but he has not returned
CNN's calls. What does seem clear is that a top member of the swift boat group
is now being held to the same standard of literal accuracy they've tried to impose
on John Kerry –

<snip>



e.) Task Force 115 (breaking 25 Aug. 2004):

<snip>

The Navy task force overseeing John Kerry's swift boat squadron in
Vietnam reported that his group of boats came under enemy fire during
a March 13, 1969, incident that three decades later is being challenged by
the Democratic presidential nominee's critics.

The March 18, 1969, weekly report from Task Force 115, which was
located by The Associated Press during a search of Navy archives, is
the latest document to surface that supports Kerry's description of an event
for which he won a Bronze Star and a third Purple Heart.

The Task Force report twice mentions the incident five days earlier and both
times calls it "an enemy initiated firefight" that included automatic weapons fire and
underwater mines used against a group of five boats that included Kerry's.

<snip>

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20040825_973.html





*********************************************************


IV. SBVT collusion with The Republican Party and/or Bush White House:


A schematic showing basic associations (and some contradictions):

http://nytimes.com/imagepages/2004/08/19/politics/campaign/20040820_SWIFT_GRAPH.html

and

<snip>

How the group came into existence is a story of how veterans with longstanding
anger about Mr. Kerry's antiwar statements in the early 1970's allied themselves
with Texas Republicans.

<snip>

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/20/politics/campaign/20swift.html


and:

<snip>

"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," the Times reported."Several of those now
declaring Mr. Kerry 'unfit' had lavished praise on him, some as recently
as last year.

<snip>

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5771731/


and:

<snip>

WASHINGTON, Aug. 20 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Public records reveal that two of the
people in the new "Swift Boat Veterans for Bush" television ad are Republican activists
. . . . This is just more proof that Bush's Republican allies are the ones behind this
disgraceful smear of John Kerry (news -web sites)'s military record. It's pretty clear what's
going on here. It's no wonder the Bush campaign refuses to condemn this smear.


<snip>

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=669&ncid=669&e=2&u=/usnw/20040820/pl_usnw/more_republican_ties_revealed_behind__swift_boat_vets_for_bush___says_kerry_campaign141_xml


and:

<snip>

Mr. Bush's campaign confirmed on Saturday . . . that one of the veteran in that advertisement
(SBV ad #1) was a member (of) the Bush campaign's veterans' advisory committee.

<snip>

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/22/politics/campaign/22swift.html


DU's Mayberry Machiavelli pointed out in a post:

Ken Cordier was on Bush campaign staff right up until his appearance in the
second Swift Boat commercial, proving that Bush campaign denials of connection
with the smear campaign are disingenuous (long word for "lies"):

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/08/21/edwards.swift...



And Benjamin Ginsberg, the national counsel for Bush's re-election campaign
had to resign due to connections with SBVT:

<snip>

The Washington Post revealed today that a top attorney to the Bush
campaign, Benjamin Ginsberg, has been advising the Swift Boat
Veterans for Truth.

<snip>


http://www.washingtondispatch.com/spectrum/archives/000511.html

and:

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6067942


We may get to know much more very soon since Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics
in Washington (CREW) has filed a Freedom of Information Act request investigating
links between the WH and the SBV for Truth group:

<snip>

(Melanie) Sloan (CREW's exec. director) decided to send the FOIA after reading that,
upon being asked whether she had worked with White House officials, SBVT public
relations coordinator Merrie Spaeth said "The answer is 'no' unless you refresh my
memory." (NYT 8/20/04). Sloan said that she was also skeptical of Bush political
advisor Karl Rove's claim that he has not spoken with his friend and large Republican
donor Bob Perry in over a year. The FOIA was sent, said Sloan, "to gather the
information Ms. Spaeth, Karl Rove and others may need to have their memories
refreshed as to whether or not SBVT illegally coordinated with the White House."

<snip>


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=669&ncid=669&e=1&u=/usnw/20040824/pl_usnw/crew_foias_white_house_contacts_with_swift_boat_veterans_group137_xml


Du's own Skinner (!) is doing a state-by-state search for collusion between local and state
Republican committees and the SBVTs in terms of rallies, links and ads on web-sites and selling
of SBVT materials, incl. Unfit for Command.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=649597&mesg_id=649597


such as . . .

<snip>

"Bush Campaign Caught Promoting "Swift Boat Vets for Truth" While National
Campaign Denies Coordination, Campaign in Florida Promotes Rally

Tallahassee -- On the same day that the Bush-Cheney campaign repeatedly
denied coordinating attacks with the anti-Kerry group "Swift Boat Veterans for
Truth," the Bush-Cheney campaign in Florida was caught promoting a rally
in Gainesville for the group

<snip>

http://atrios.blogspot.com/2004_08_15_atrios_archive.html#109303885084378264


Example of Bush campaign rally in collusion with SBVT:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4439188,00.html


and DU's fine posts and members . . . on the job with cameras!! Wow! Check it out:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x657176

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x646015

http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040821/LOCAL/40821006/1078/news&template=printart



And the Official Minnesota Republican Website links the SBV ad:

<snip>

Webpage "Prepared and Paid for by Republican Party of Minnesota" Found
to Be Linking to the Swift Boat Ads. In Minnesota . . . an official Republican Party
webpage was recently found to be linking to the Swift Boat Ads. The webpage goes
on to . . . question . . . John Kerry's service in Vietnam: SWIFT VETS ARE
GETTING TO KERRY; DID HE LIE ABOUT HIS SERVICE, repeatedly, in an
effort to embellish it? DID HE TAKE CREDIT for engagements fought by other men . . .?
The website also contains a link to purchase the book produced by Swift Boat
Veterans for Truth, "Unfit For Command".

<snip>

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=669&ncid=669&e=1&u=/usnw/20040823/pl_usnw/kerry_edwards__reports_detail_even_closer_ties_to_bush_campaign__no_wonder_bush_won_t_condemn_this_smear_his_campaign_is_behind



Or even the right-wing affiliations (O'Neill with Charles Colson in
the Nixon WH) of those making the charges as these:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x647917

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=647199&mesg_id=647199

http://www.washingtondispatch.com/article_9865.shtml


The similarity between the attack on Kerry and the attacks
on other Bush opponents, including McCain, as well as
those who've opposed Karl Rove's candidates, suggests
on-going and systematic collusion:

<snip>

"It's amazing how similar this type of attack is to the pattern
of attacks I have seen over two decades -- in some cases
involving Bush's campaigns, in other cases they involved
campaigns in which Karl Rove was a participant,'' said
Wayne Slater, senior political writer at the Dallas Morning
News, who has covered Bush since his early days in Texas
politics and is author of the book "Bush's Brain,'' about Rove.

"In every case, the approach is the same: You have a
surrogate group of allies, independent of the Bush campaign,
raising questions not about the opponent's weakness but
directly about the opponent's strength,'' Slater said. "In every
case it works."

<snip>

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/08/24/SWIFT.TMP

[Wickerman]

1. excellent summation!

[skip fox]

2. Please keep sending links to relevant stories.

It will make a better resource for us all.

[alteredstate]

3. Wow!

This is incredible! I just sent the link to a skeptical co-worker. Thanks for putting it together.

[newyawker99]

6. Hi alteredstate!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[skip fox]

4. Another conflict of interest for section 4:

Yet another conflict of interest, as DUs BurtWorm has it: SBVT Treasurer Administers GOP FEC Compliance Firm. Her name is Susan Artceneaux

<snip>

Political Compliance Services Inc. is a consulting company based in Fairfax, VA.
On its website, it describes itself as "an accounting services vendor specializing in
FEC regulations. Our comprehensive approach to your individual accounting needs
will deliver you from the headaches and legal ramifications of FEC non-compliance."

Its website says that it "serves the following political organizations":

Candidate Committees
Separate Segregated Funds
Non-Connected PACs
Party Committees

In May 2004, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth paid $7500 to Political Compliance
Services for what is described on its IRS form 8872 as "Compliance Consulting".
Despite this, in August 2004 three campaign finance watchdog groups filed a
complaint with the Federal Election Commission arguing that the Swift Boat
Veterans for Truth were in breach of restrictions applying to 527 committees

On its website, Political Compliance Services boasts that: "Our consultants and
analysts are career experts in campaign and PAC accounting, finance,
administration and compliance." <11> However, it appears shy of disclosing
who exactly those consultants are. No information is given on the site regarding
who works for the company. Fortunately, its entry in the WHOIS database is more
informative. It lists Susan Arceneaux as the administrative contact for the company.

. . .

Susan Arceneaux is also the treasurer of The Majority Leader's Fund, a PAC
affiliated with the former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas <13>.
Interestingly, the Majority Leader's Fund has been a client of Political Compliance
Services <14>.

Arceneaux is also listed as the contact person for the recently-formed right-wing
PAC FreedomWorks, on its IRS form 8872 for the first quarter of 2004 <15>.

<snip>

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x69684

[skip fox]

5. The whole issue of O'Neill's claiming to be in Cambodia has expanded

End of this post shows new developments:

John O'Neill himself, having claimed recently never to have been in Cambodia,
but in 1971 claimed otherwise. In an 24 Aug. 04 report on Aaron Brown by
Joe Johns:

<snip>

JOHNS: . . . John O'Neill said Kerry made up a story about being in Cambodia
beyond the legal borders of the Vietnam War in 1968. O'Neill said no one could
cross the border by river and he claimed in an audio tape that his publicist played
to CNN that he, himself, had never been to Cambodia either. But in 1971, O'Neill
said precisely the opposite to then President Richard Nixon.

(starts tape)
O'NEILL: I was in Cambodia, sir. I worked along the border on the water.
NIXON: In a swift boat?
O'NEILL: Yes, sir.
(end tape)

JOHNS: Now, O'Neill may have an explanation for this but he has not returned
CNN's calls. What does seem clear is that a top member of the swift boat group
is now being held to the same standard of literal accuracy they've tried to impose
on John Kerry –
. . .

BROWN: And just quickly on the O'Neill thing, just for my edification here,
Mr. O'Neill's publicist played for you a tape where Mr. O'Neill says what again?

JOHNS: Well, he says in the tape essentially that he did not go to Cambodia,
plain and simple. He says that a couple times in fact in this little short interview
that was played for me on the phone. Now, of course, as you listen to that
conversation with Richard Nixon, he says something completely different or,
at least, that's what it sounds like --

<snip>

By the 25th of Aug. on the Hannity and Colmes show, O'Neill had figured how
to seem to answer this:

<snip>

COLMES: You claimed at one point you weren't , and then you claimed
you were. This is very confusing to people.

O'NEILL: Well, it shouldn't be confused. I was never in Cambodia, and Kerry
lied when he said he was in Cambodia.

COLMES: You said to Richard Nixon you were in Cambodia.

. . .

HANNITY: On the border.

COLMES: There's a tape of you saying that to Richard Nixon.

O'NEILL: What's the next sentence? I was along the Cambodian border.
That's exactly right. What I told Nixon and was trying to tell him in this
meeting was I was along the Cambodian border.

<snip>

http://mediamatters.org/items/200408250004


But the problem with that is he'd earlier claimed that not only no one
went into Cambodia, that no one came within 30 miles of the border:

<snip>

O'Neill: . . .everyone familiar with the entire operation series knows
that the PCF, the Swift Boat areas, stopped just north of Sa-Dec, some
50 miles from the border. The areas further north were PBRs--smaller
boats--and that the border was heavily guarded to ensure that nobody
could go across it.

(Interviewer): There were navy gunboats anchored in the Mekong River
Channel, through which a Swift Boat would have to pass.

O' NEILL: Yes. It would have been apprehended 30 miles before. But
were placed there because in 1967 some drunken Army guys actually
went up that river and were interned in Cambodia. And so to avoid future i
ncidents, those gunboats were placed there. And we checked with the c
ommander of those gunboats, whose name is Tom Anderson. He's also in the book.

<snip>

http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=4835

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x775416#775520

[RedEarth]

7. Wow....great work....!!!!!