Soldier and slander.(Campaign 2004 II)

IN his cover story last issue on John Kerry's other Vietnam war record--his record, that is, of slandering American troops--Mackubin Thomas Owens may have made a mistake. Owens wrote that Kerry "will have to explain to his fellow veterans why he chose a path that dishonors their service." This may not be the case. The Owens article has been widely picked up, cited in the New York Times and on NBC's Nightly News among other places, but the press has shown no appetite for pressing Kerry about his 1971 testimony before the Senate. A brief recap: Kerry described the findings of something called the Winter Soldier Investigation, a project of anti-war activists such as Jane Fonda and Mark Lane, which trumped up stories of rape, torture, and other atrocities by American soldiers in Vietnam. As Owens wrote, the stories should have been unbelievable on their face (especially for veterans), were debunked even by anti-war liberals at the time, and have been further discredited since.

The media have brushed off the issue as irrelevant or a pointless "re-fighting" of the Vietnam War. But Kerry, who now surrounds himself with Vietnam veterans, has an obligation to explain whether he still believes his allegations, and if not, to apologize for them. Instead, his campaign seems determined to misrepresent his testimony, precisely because it is so indefensible.

According to a spokesman, Kerry "praised the noble service of his fellow servicemen and women." If so, this was the oddest "praise" soldiers ever received. The closest Kerry has come to having to account for his remarks was in an interview by a reporter for the Knight Ridder news service. Asked why he relied on the Winter Soldier Investigation, Kerry replied, "Because some of it was highly documented and very disturbing. I did in my heart what I thought was correct to help people understand what was going on. I've always honored the service of people over there. I never insinuated that everybody fell into one pot."

This is a statement shot through with mendacity. The Winter Soldier charges were not "highly documented," but totally unsubstantiated. Kerry didn't "help people understand what was going on," but rather helped publicize lies--and, as a decorated veteran, gave them more credibility than Jane Fonda ever could. He didn't "honor" the service of vets, but said "we are ashamed of ... what we were called on to do in Southeast Asia," and maintained that America "has created a monster, a monster in the form of millions of men [Vietnam veterans] who have been taught to ...