By Art
Moore
© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com
Amid ongoing criticism by Swift
Boat Veterans for Truth, the author of a sympathetic biography of John
Kerry's war years appeared to back off his book's portrayal of the senator
as a hero but insisted in a subsequent statement paid for by the Kerry
campaign that he was misinterpreted.
In a New York Times interview published yesterday, Douglas Brinkley,
author of "Tour of Duty: John Kerry and the Vietnam War," commented on the
impact of efforts to refute the two presidential candidates' recounting of
their Vietnam-era military service.
"Every American now knows that there's something really screwy about
George Bush and the National Guard, and they know that John Kerry was not
the war hero we thought he was," Brinkley told the Times.
The paper added that Brinkley made the comment "acknowledging that Mr.
Kerry's opponents had succeeded in raising questions about his service."
The University of New Orleans professor did not respond to WND's
request to elaborate on the remark, but he issued a press release stating
the Times story "leaves the false impression that I think John Kerry was
not 'the war hero we thought he was.'"
"Nothing could be further from the truth," Brinkley said. "He was a
great American fighting man in Vietnam and deserved all of his medals.
Over the past year I have vigorously defended Kerry's military record and
will continue to do so."
Brinkley said his comment was meant to be about the political
consequences of the anti-Kerry Swift boat attacks vs. the anti-Bush
National Guard ones.
"I was speaking about public perceptions not my personal beliefs," he
stated.
But Jerome Corsi, co-author of the swiftboat vets group's New York
Times No. 1 best-seller, "Unfit for
Command,"thinks the initial interpretation -- that Brinkley is
stepping away from the book -- is more consistent with the historian's
recent, less vigrous posture.
"It sounds like the Kerry campaign, in a panic, got to Brinkley and he
is running for cover," Corsi said.
Brinkley's statement, issued via U.S. Newswire, was paid for by
Kerry-Edwards 2004, according to Editor & Publisher.
The Kerry campaign did not immediately respond to a request from WND,
seeking to find out whether Brinkley's statement was initiated by the
campaign itself.
Corsi notes that it was Brinkley's book, published in January, that
raised the ire of so many of the men who served with Kerry and prompted
the formation of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth in early April.
The founder of the group, Adm. Roy Hoffman, became incensed when he
read the book's negative portrayal of his character, and Kerry offered to
help correct the record in a new edition.
But no update was produced until the paperback version, coming out this
week. As WorldNetDaily
reported, Brinkley also told a veteran who says his battalion was
"sullied" by a war-crimes charge in the book that publisher Harper
Colllins would issue a new edition within two weeks.
But that promise was made in early May.
Corsi characterizes the book as poorly researched and full of glaring
inconsistencies.
"He did little else but take Kerry's word for events in Vietnam," Corsi
said. "It is more of a campaign biography that fits the rules of
hagiography rather than a serious, critical biography and is not worthy of
the standards of a professor with a Ph.D."
As just one example, Corsi says Brinkley states in the book that
Kerry's resignation letter from Vietnam Veterans Against the War is in the
controversial anti-war group's archives, but the author footnotes Kerry as
the source without researching it himself.
Corsi noted Kerry has refused to make public the materials used
exclusively by Brinkley in the book, including his diaries and letters.
Kerry had insisted in interviews that he had an agreement with Brinkley
that prevented release of the diaries, but the historian says he has given
up all rights, and it is up to the senator to give permission.
Brinkley told the Washington Post in August, "I don't mind if John
Kerry shows anybody anything. If he wants to let anybody in, that's his
business. Go bug John Kerry, and leave me alone."
The author explained that the exclusivity agreement simply requires
"that anybody quoting any of the material needs to cite my book."
Corsi pointed out Brinkley was forced to concede "Unfit For Command's"
assertion that Kerry
did not illegally spend Christmas 1968 in Camodia as he has claimed
for three decades. As a senator, Kerry testified that the memory was
"seared, seared in me."
"Tour of Duty" does not mention Kerry's claim, but quoted from his
journal, which said his swiftboat was "patrolling near the Cambodian
line."
After the swiftboat vets' Cambodia charge gained attention, the Kerry
campaign let out word that Brinkley was going to defend the senator's
position in an article in the New Yorker.
But the expected story never came.
Brinkley has not presented a strong defense of the book, Corsi
maintains.
"I don't see Brinkley anywhere saying, 'Here are our standards, here is
the documentation, here is how we defend our assertions,'" he said.
Related offer:
"Unfit for
Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry"
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Art Moore is a news editor with
WorldNetDaily.com.
