CENTRAL VIEW for Monday, July 19, 2004

The Swift Boat veterans want to be heard

Whether or not the Kerry/Edwards campaign succeeds in using the upcoming Democratic Convention to tout John Kerry as a war hero depends on whether or not the many Vietnam veterans organization opposing John Kerry can break through the blackout currently imposed by the liberal mainstream media.

Frustration with the blackout has reached the boiling point with veteran’s organizations such as: Vietnam Veterans Against John Kerry, Swift Boat Veterans for the Truth and Vietnam Veterans for Academic Reform. On July 19th, these groups plan to conduct protests at local newspaper offices under the banner: “Stop the media cover-up for Kerry.”

These organizations have issued press releases or held news conferences outlining their problems with John Kerry on April 21, May 3, May 4 and May 16th to little or no notice by the mainstream media. At the National Press Club on May 4th, the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth announced that 220 out of 229 Swift Boat Vietnam veterans signed an open letter to John Kerry challenging his fitness to serve as Command-in-Chief.

But none of these veterans’ organizations question John Kerry’s patriotism while in Vietnam. They do question his patriotism after he returned to the United States.

They question how Kerry got three Purple Hearts for superficial wounds that did not require evacuation or even an hour of lost duty time. They question how he parlayed those dubious wounds into a ticket home after only four months of Swift Boat service? They question how he got a Silver Star with Combat V (no one ever heard of a Combat V appended to the Silver Star) for going ashore to hunt for souvenirs long after the fire fight that presented the possibility of souvenirs was over? But mostly, they question how Kerry could accuse his former comrades of war crimes they claim they did not commit.

The retired former commanding officer of Kerry’s Swift Boat squadron, Rear Admiral Roy Hoffman, went so far as to call Kerry a traitor. Hoffman now chairs Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. See: www.SwiftVets.com.

But the biggest and latest Kerry bombshell to be buried by the mainstream media came on May 28th with the visit of, Bill Lupette, a former Swift Boat sailor, to theVietnam War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). There, Lupette discovered John Kerry’s photograph on display in the hall honoring the anti-war activists who helped the Vietnamese communists win the Vietnam War.

Realizing his discovery would be questioned by Kerry’s supporters in the media; Lupette went back to the museum on June 2d and took more photos from a variety of perspectives that provide indisputable evidence of how John Kerry is revered by the communist victors. Many of Lupette’s photos are on display at: www.KerryLied.com. Similar documentation can be seen at:www.SwiftVets.com and www.vietnamveteransagainstjohnkerry.com.

If this, gentle reader, is all news to you that is because these stories are being virtually or entirely ignored by ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, NPR, PBS, The New York Times , The L.A. Times and The Washington Post.

Clearly the fix is in. The New York Times, which hates Bush and loves Kerry, has put the Abu Ghraid prison scandal on its front page 40 times. But the U.N. Oil-for-Food Scandal only made the front page one time. Does anyone detect a trend here?

Despite liberal mainstream reports or shadings to the contrary, the recent Senate Intelligence Committee Report, the 9/11 Commission Report and the report on pre-war British intelligence by Lord Butler, confirm that al Qaeda was working closely with both Iraq and Iran. They confirm that Saddam was seeking to purchase yellowcake uranium in Africa. They confirm Saddam was seeking to re-start his WMD programs.

Kerry and Bush backers alike should be outraged by this obvious media bias. Our First Amendment is too important to be prostituted this way.

William Hamilton, a retired military officer, syndicated columnist, featured commentator for USA Today and self-described “recovering lawyer,” is the co-author of The Grand Conspiracy and The Panama Conspiracy – two thrillers about terrorism directed against the United States

©2004. William Hamilton.

Dr. Hamilton can be contacted at:

Email: william@central-view.com