A recent ad attacking Kerry's Vietnam war service, from Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, has drawn quite some heat, rather deserved too. Instead of letting up on them, I feel that it is my duty to point out that these veterans seeking "truth" now traverse a leaky boat of their own. Sorry pun intended.

Initially, the ad seems pleasant enough with Edwards speaking, at what appears to be a rally, about how if one wants to know what "John Kerry's made of [to] just spend three minutes with the men who served with him thirty years ago." The screen then switches, after a picture of Kerry as a veteran, to a screen that says "here's what those men thought about Kerry". Then veterans who "served with Kerry" are shown individually denouncing Kerry for his war record. The funny thing is that, yes, the men on the video did serve in Vietnam around or at the same time that Kerry did, but they were not actually on his swift boat. Kerry had crewmembers from his actual boat with him at the Democratic National Convention. Plus many of those same ones at the convention actually had sought him out through his early campaigning and supported him on their own accord. There was no need for a financial incentive to get them to support kerry.

Near the middle of the ad, one of the swift boat men said that they were Kerry's doctor for his first Purple Heart wound, and claimed John Kerry lied about his first purple heart. His credentials are based on his claim that he was the doctor who took care of Kerry. Yet that is misleading because the medical record was not signed by that doctor. Also Lieutenant Commander George Elliott, deeply involved in the ad campaign against Kerry, regretted signing the affidavit, which said that Kerry did not deserve a Silver Star.

John McCain, a fellow veteran of Vietnam, has also denounced the attack on Kerry saying, to an Associated Press reporter that "It was the same kind of deal that was pulled on me." McCain also is quoted as saying that he thinks "the Bush campaign should specifically condemn the ad." When they denied involvement McCain said "I can't believe the president would pull such a cheap stunt."

What should be happening is a positive campaign for re-election. Instead of falsely attacking Kerry’s Vietnam record, the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth should be promoting Bush’s military record. Yet, I do see how that would be hard to do.

Links
Boston.com News
Veteran retracts criticism of Kerry
Media Matters for America
NY POST MUM ON "DOC" DOCS
USAToday.com
McCain condemns anti-Kerry ad