Kristof Flubs Basic Points About Swift Vet Controversy
Beldar and Captain Ed document several errors in Nick Kristof’s column today about the Swift Boat Vets. I would like to highlight the most egregious one:
Did Mr. Kerry deserve his Bronze Star? Yes. The Swift Boat Veterans claim that he was not facing enemy fire when he rescued a Green Beret, Jim Rassmann, but that is contradicted by those were there [sic], like William Rood and Mr. Rassmann (a Republican). In fact, Mr. Rassmann recommended Mr. Kerry for a Silver Star.
“In fact,” William Rood was not there, Nicky my boy. You’re mixing up your incidents. Here is a direct quote from Rood:
I was part of the operation that led to Kerry’s Silver Star. I have no firsthand knowledge of the events that resulted in his winning the Purple Hearts or the Bronze Star.
Whoops!
Keep in mind that this column was written by someone who chose to focus on the Swift Boat Vets’ allegations, and write a column about them in the New York Times.
So when you hear people like Tim Rutten talking about the “Swift boat nonsense” or the “phony Swift boat controversy,” ask yourself: do you think they are more informed about the controversy than Nick Kristof? Who himself lacks a grasp of the basic details?
I doubt it.
P.S. I have written Dan Okrent about this. I’ll let you know what he says. I have a feeling I am not the only one writing him, and that we will see a correction within the week.
UPDATE: One point mentioned in the Captain’s and Beldar’s posts was that Kristof misspoke when he said that “every enlisted man who was with Mr. Kerry on various boats when he won Purple Hearts and Silver and Bronze Stars says he deserved them.” But I believe that Kristof’s statement, while very carefully worded, is true. It ignores Swift Boat Veteran for Truth Steve Gardner, who served with Kerry longer than any of his supporters who served on the boat with him. But I believe that Gardner was not present for the specific awards mentioned.
UPDATE x2: Tom Maguire has more.
UPDATE x3: Beldar correctly points out that he did not specifically accuse Kristof of misspeaking, but rather of ignoring Gardner. Which Kristof undoubtedly did, in a way that was accurate — but misleading.
UPDATE x4: Thanks to Mickey Kaus for selecting me to join Beldar, Captain Ed, and Tom Maguire in the firm of “Fisk, Fisk, Fisk, and Fisk.” (An honor no doubt aided by Instapundit’s link.) With partners like that, I don’t even mind getting bottom billing!
At least they’re consistent. The media has been getting the Swiftvets story wrong from the beginning. Some of them don’t even know that Kerry commanded two different boats - PCF 44 and PCF 94. During interviews, Steve Gardner has been asked about the Bronze Star incident - he wasn’t there. Tedd Peck has been questioned about the Silver Star incident - he wasn’t there. The media is uniformly ignorant of the details, and yet they think they can question people about it intelligently.
It’s irritating as hell.
Comment by antimedia — 9/18/2004 @ 2:43 pm
I doubt if you’ll get much out of Okrent. He made it pretty clear when he came back from vacation that the Swiftee’s have been debunked by the facts…
Comment by dogman — 9/18/2004 @ 3:16 pm
Hey…just didn’t want you to miss this. It would look nice on your front page after months of posts implying the opposite…
Cheers.
Comment by Tom — 9/18/2004 @ 3:34 pm
I have no idea whether Kerry deserved his medals, though I think there is a hell of a lot more evidence to support that proposition (in some cases, at least) than the misguided mainstream media thinks.
You did notice that he still hasn’t released all his records, didn’t you?
Comment by Patterico — 9/18/2004 @ 3:39 pm
Patterico, thanks for the link and ping. I’ve emailed Mr. Kristof himself, who (to his credit) publishes some of the email he receives and responds to it via a link from his columns, and I hope that he’ll at least acknowledge some of his more eggregious errors. I didn’t bother to email Mr. Okrent this time — every time I’ve done so in the past regarding op-eds, I’ve gotten back a canned answer that op-ed columnists can say pretty much whatever they want at the NYT, regardless of its factual accuracy. But I’m glad you emailed him, and maybe he’ll surprise us, or maybe Mr. Kristof will.
Tom, the decision by the Naval Inspector General, Vice Admiral Route, that you link to does not remotely constiute a conclusion by the Navy that Kerry deserved his medals. Read carefully, Adm. Route’s one-page letter shows that Adm. Route declined to convene a detailed investigation into that subject because of a judgment that it would not be “productive.” I respect Adm. Route’s position, and agree that he’s probably the appropriate official to make that value judgment on the Navy’s behalf. Kerry will get to keep his medals (or ribbons, or whatever he didn’t throw over the Capitol fence in 1972). But Adm. Route’s decision provided no substantive answer to any of the questions swirling around them, and the American public need no more be bound by its decision not to order a formal investigation than by the Navy’s original award of the medals to Kerry in the first place.
Comment by Beldar — 9/18/2004 @ 3:56 pm
I believe that Kristof’s statement [about Gardner], while very carefully worded, is true…
Shh, don’t tell him! A guy who could misplace Rood could misplace Gardner.
OK, I’m kidding, sort of. Good job, and I agree with you. Still, it is awfully weaselly of Kristof - the Band of Brothers includes guys who weren’t around for Kerry’s medals.
Comment by Tom Maguire — 9/19/2004 @ 9:00 am
Kristof’s comment about the enlisted men on his boat is indeed true. HOWEVER, the Swift Boat book is not just about the medals, it is about Kerry’s larger pattern of deception. Steve Gardner, the one enlisted man among the 10 who served the longest with Kerry, was witness to the incident where, under Kerry’s orders, they killed a man and his son—and Kerry later reported it as 5 VC’s killed. People gloss over this deception because it did not involve a medal; but it serves to bolster the SwiftVets’ point that Kerry wrote false reports.
Comment by mcg — 9/19/2004 @ 9:16 am
We should have a mug shot of Kristof with a tag “Misleading but Accurate” and link to your article. When they correct the articles, add another tag “Days To Correction”. As a matter of fact, you can have an award “Fake but Accurate” and “Misleading but Accurate” for all those shoddy journalists out there. I bet the NYT, LA Times and AP will be the top 3 contenders for the first spot. Let’s the game begins.
Comment by Lan Nguyen — 9/19/2004 @ 9:22 am
I wanted to add that I bet we will get a correction out of Kristof on this, and that Mr. Okrent may respond to his readers.
My theory is that, post Rathergate, bloggers get a little more respect, and these guys are hearing footsteps.
My evidence is that I got a correction out of Kristof just a few weeks ago, when he flacked fore the Texans for Truth. I also (incredibly) heard back from an assistant to Mr. Okrent.
We are also aided by the fact that Kristof is just dead wrong about Rood.
Comment by Tom Maguire — 9/19/2004 @ 10:45 am
The media is still focusing on the medals controversy, which the Swifties only focused on in their first ad. They claim the Swifties have been debunked. Bunkum! They ignore the following ads put out by the Swifties, which consist mostly of audio of John Kerry himself. Hmmm, why do they ignore those ads.
They also ignore the other medals controversy, the one where John Kerry throws his medals, or is it ribbons or is it other Vets medals or ribbons, or medals bought at local Army Surplus stores. This episode is featured in the recent Swiftboat Vet ad. It is devastating.
I hope the Swifties get to Kerry meeting with the Viet commies and Viet Cong. To bring this forward in time, they should couple this personal diplomacy with America’s enemies with Kerry’s trip to Commandante Daniel Ortega with his pal Sen. Harkin.
Comment by Jabba the Nutt — 9/19/2004 @ 10:56 am
Fisking Nicholas Kristof’s NYT op-ed “A War Hero or a Phony?”
In Saturday’s New York Times, columnist Nicholas D. Kristof offers an interesting op-ed entitled “A War Hero or a Phony?” Since only one presidential candidate has claimed to be a war hero, you’d be correct in inferring that it’s about Sen. Kerry. If y…
Trackback by BeldarBlog — 9/19/2004 @ 2:55 pm
Beldar,
…and the American public need no more be bound by its decision not to order a formal investigation than by the Navy’s original award of the medals to Kerry in the first place.
Has it ever occurred to you, in your rush to discredit all things Kerry, that what you’re questioning here is the integrity of the process by which the U.S. Navy awards medals?
I hope these “swirling questions” are worth it(especially considering they conveniently can’t be proven or disproven, as they are memory fragments of people who may or may not know what they’re talking about).
Comment by Tom — 9/19/2004 @ 7:58 pm
Tom,
No process is immune from mistake or abuse. This includes the process by which Navy medals are awarded.
Comment by Erik — 9/21/2004 @ 11:00 am