Peeling away the facade

Some of our readers are urging us to re-focus on Kerry’s military service and, in particular, his refusal to release his service records. One reader even wondered if Power Line would file a lawsuit to secure their release. Unfortunately, our professional, family, and blogging commitments prevent us from that sort of endeavor, but we do intend to remain involved in the Swiftvet controversy.
To that end, via Instapundit we offer this piece from the Richmond Times Dispatch by Roy Hoffman, a retired Navy Rear Admiral and the founder of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. Hoffman provides a concise deconstruction of Kerry’s “war hero facade.”
One element of Hoffman’s piece that hasn’t received enough attention is Kerry’s meeting with Madame Binh, a representative of the Viet Cong, and with other members of the Vietnamese Communist delegations to the Paris Peace Conference in 1970, while he was still a Naval Reserve officer. Hoffman notes that Kerry’s actions “constitute meeting with the enemy during time of war.” Moreover, “his subsequent press conference in July, 1971, urging President Nixon to accept Madame Binh’s proposal for the return of our POWs, was a major propaganda victory for the Communist regime.” How extraordinary it would be to elect a president who met with, and provided moral support to, a wartime enemy of the United States.
Kerry argues that he went to Paris out of concern for our troops and, especially, our POWs. But many of these POWs say that Kerry’s actions demoralized them and my have extended their captivity. As for our troops, most would have been content if Kerry had merely restrained from slandering them.

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