Editorial: Ad’s smear should be condemned

Monday, Aug. 9, 2004 | 8:54 a.m.

A group of veterans who oppose Democrat John Kerry's campaign for president has produced a television ad and is publishing a book that disputes the basis for some of the combat medals Kerry received during the Vietnam War. But the ad, from a group calling itself Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, contains anything but the truth. The ad leaves the impression that these men served with Kerry on his swift boat, but the fact is they didn't. Indeed, those who actually served with Kerry on his swift boat have attested to his bravery under hostile conditions and say that his actions saved their lives. It's also come to light that one of the central figures in the ad, Kerry's former commanding officer, has subsequently recanted his assertion that Kerry wasn't honest about what happened in Vietnam. Lt. Commander George Elliott told The Boston Globe it was a "terrible mi stake" to suggest Kerry didn't deserve the Silver Star, one of the nation's highest military honors.

Kerry's campaign noted that this wasn't a disinterested veterans group -- it has received financial support from a Texan who is a big contributor to the Republican Party. On Thursday Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican who endured five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, condemned the ad as "dishonest and dishonorable." He called on President Bush to denounce the ad. McCain knows something about these kinds of smear campaigns -- they were used against him by right-wing groups when he ran against George Bush during the 2000 Republican primaries. Despite McCain's appeal last week, Bush refused to repudiate the ad. It's shameful that Bush has decided that a win-at-all-costs campaign -- including letting someone else do the dirty work to keep his hands clean -- is more important than truth and common decency. This says a lot about Bush's character.