Text 1440, 153 rader
Skriven 2004-08-23 08:28:58 av John Hull (1:379/1.99)
Ärende: Dole Comes out against Kerry's War Stories
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Bob Dole, a TRUE war hero who was crippled for life in WWII, has finally
weighed in on Kerry's war record.


Dole Questions Kerry's Vietnam Wounds
 
 

Aug 22, 9:06 PM (ET)

By PETE YOST
 
(AP) Tad Devine, right, senior advisor of the Kerry-Edwards campaign, reacts as
he debates Bush-Cheney...
Full Image 
 
 
 
CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) - Former Republican Sen. Bob Dole suggested Sunday that
John Kerry apologize for past testimony before Congress about alleged
atrocities during the Vietnam War and joined critics of the Democratic
presidential candidate who say he received an early exit from combat for
"superficial wounds."

Dole also called on Kerry to release all the records of his service in Vietnam.

Separately, President Bush's re-election campaign continued to deny links to
Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, an anti-Kerry group running ads in three states,
after the resignation of a campaign volunteer who appeared in the group's new
ad.

With Kerry taking a break from campaigning, running mate John Edwards said Bush
needs to tell the group to pull its ads, a step the White House and the Bush
campaign refuse to take. The White House and Bush's campaign note that Kerry
has benefited from more than $62 million worth of similar advertising against
the president.

 
(AP) Tad Devine, senior advisor of the Kerry-Edwards campaign, is interviewed
on NBC's "Meet the Press"...
Full Image 
 
 
"This is the moment of truth for President Bush," Edwards said in North
Carolina. "The American people have to hear directly that these ads need to
come off the air." Kerry also fought back in another new ad.

Dole told CNN's "Late Edition" that he warned Kerry months ago about going "too
far" and that the Democrat may have himself to blame for the current situation,
in which polls show him losing support among veterans.

"One day he's saying that we were shooting civilians, cutting off their ears,
cutting off their heads, throwing away his medals or his ribbons," Dole said.
"The next day he's standing there, 'I want to be president because I'm a
Vietnam veteran.' Maybe he should apologize to all the other 2.5 million
veterans who served. He wasn't the only one in Vietnam," said Dole, whose World
War II wounds left him without the use of his right arm.

Dole added: "And here's, you know, a good guy, a good friend. I respect his
record. But three Purple Hearts and never bled that I know of. I mean, they're
all superficial wounds. Three Purple Hearts and you're out."

Kerry campaign spokesman Chad Clanton said: "It's unfortunate that Senator Dole
is making statements that official U.S. Navy records prove false. This is
partisan politics, not the truth."

 
(AP) Ken Mehlman, campaign manager of the Bush-Cheney campaign, is interviewed
on NBC's "Meet the Press"...
Full Image 
 
 
Other Kerry supporters also rose to his defense.

"Senator Kerry carries shrapnel in his thigh as distinct from President Bush
who carries two fillings in his teeth from his service in the Alabama National
Guard, which seems to be his only time that he showed up," John Podesta, former
chief of staff in the Clinton White House, said on ABC's "This Week."

Bush served stateside in the Guard during the Vietnam years. Podesta's
reference was to the White House's release of documents earlier this year
showing Bush's dental visits during his Guard years after questions arose about
whether he had always reported for duty.

Bush-Cheney campaign manager Ken Mehlman also blamed Kerry for the ongoing
debate, complaining on NBC's "Meet the Press" that "Kerry himself has attacked
the president for his service during the Vietnam years," while the Republican's
campaign has "so strongly praised" Kerry's tour of duty in Vietnam.

The Bush campaign also said the Federal Election Commission should immediately
dismiss what it termed a "frivolous" complaint by Kerry's campaign alleging
coordination between the re-election effort and the Swift Boat group.

 
(AP) John Kerry poses with crewmates during the Vietnam War in this file photo,
date and location...
Full Image 
 
 
The White House and the Bush campaign for weeks have denied any connection to
the Swift Boat organization, whose early financial support came largely from a
prominent Texas businessman with longtime ties to the state's top Republicans,
including Bush.

The group's latest ad includes a Bush-Cheney volunteer, retired Air Force Col.
Ken Cordier, condemning Kerry's 1971 congressional testimony that Dole spoke
of. Cordier was a prisoner of war during Vietnam.

"Colonel Cordier did not inform the campaign of his involvement in the
advertisement," a Bush campaign statement said. "Because of his involvement
Colonel Cordier will no longer participate as a volunteer for Bush-Cheney '04."

A new Kerry TV ad urged the president to "denounce the smear" and 'get back to
the issues" because America deserves better." The 30-second commercial, to air
in the same three states as the Swift Boat group ad - Ohio, West Virginia and
Wisconsin - compares Kerry's situation to the 2000 primary campaign when "Bush
smeared John McCain."

McCain has condemned the ads and called on the president to do so, too.

In response, Bush's campaign released a copy of a letter it was sending to
television station managers on Monday defending itself from the claims in the
new Kerry ad.

Questions mounted over the motives of Kerry's critics, two of whom had praised
his service in 1996, even as Kerry's supporters faced questions about the
candidate. Among the allegations is that Kerry lied about being in neutral
Cambodia on Christmas Eve 1968.

"I don't think anyone knows for sure whether or not they were in Cambodia that
night, but they were near Cambodia on Christmas Eve," John Hurley, who heads a
pro-Kerry veterans group, said on "Fox News Sunday.""He was five miles into
Cambodia on a different occasion."

Another allegation is that Kerry was not under enemy fire as after-action
reports say he was, an incident for which he received a Bronze Star, one of
five medals earned in Vietnam.

"The after-action reports were written from Kerry's spot reports from that
day," said Kerry critic Van Odell, also appearing on the same program. "None of
us knew he even got the Bronze Star until more recently."

---



John 

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