There is a group of Vietnam veterans, calling themselves Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, that has been lambasting John Kerry over his claims regarding his own Vietnam service. Problem is, it isn't going over too well.

For one thing, Lieutenant Commander George Elliott has called his signing of the affidavit a "terrible mistake". Even the leading urban legends web site has chimed in (here, as well). Probably the most significant and revealing detail, though, is this bit noted at FactCheck.org:

None of those in the attack ad by the Swift Boat group actually served on Kerry's boat. And their statements are contrary to the accounts of Kerry and those who served under him.

Well, now that is interesting– the people casting their aspersions weren't actually his crewmates. That's like me telling great stories of fraternity hazing in college, only stories about houses other than the one I was pledged to. Well like that, but not really. Because any frat stories I might have would have nothing to do with the race for the White House. The stories that this group is telling, however, are explicitly to do with the race.

That's not even all there is in terms of misleading information. The following is also taken from the FactCheck.org page:

Two who appear in the ad say Kerry didn't deserve his first purple heart. Louis Letson, a medical officer and Lieutenant Commander, says in the ad that he knows Kerry is lying about his first purple heart because "I treated him for that." However, medical records provided by the Kerry campaign to FactCheck.org do not list Letson as the "person administering treatment" for Kerry's injury on December 3, 1968 . The medical officer who signed this sick call report is J.C. Carreon, who is listed as treating Kerry for shrapnel to the left arm.

This seems to be only getting shadier the deeper one looks. So who is behind it all?

There's this bit dug up in May by Salon.com writer Joe Conason:

When the "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" launched its campaign against John Kerry 10 days ago, leadership and guidance were provided by Republican activists and presidential friends from Texas – notably Houston attorney John E. O'Neill and corporate media consultant Merrie Spaeth. Indeed, although the group made its debut at a press conference in Washington, it looked and sounded like a Texas GOP operation.

On closer inspection, the ostensibly nonpartisan "Swift Boat Vets" seem to have another pair of significant sponsors with deep and long-standing Republican connections in Missouri. Both are officers of Gannon International, a St. Louis conglomerate that does lots of overseas business in, of all places, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

If the tactics ring a note of familiarity, that would be because they so closely resemble those used to attack and unseat Max Cleland of Georgia in 2002, as well as John McCain himself when he was running against Bush for the GOP nomination in 2000. And just as is the case with Kerry, Cleland was facing someone who had dodged his Vietnam service. Without his own record to refer to, he had to discredit Cleland's. Ironically-enough, McCain faced the same flak from the same source as Kerry is now. (Was this what Bush meant when he claimed to be a uniter?)

(For more information, and hyper-linked citations, also visit http://www.eriposte.com/media/liars_inc/swiftboat.htm.)