Halperin Alert/Koppelgate

In a breathtaking piece of investigative journalism, ABC's Nightline has gone straight to Vietnam in order to "shore up" their man Kerry. They have decided to tackle one specific charge made by the nuisance that is Swiftboat Veterans For Truth. Due to this incisive probe, the legitimacy of presidential hopeful Sen. John Kerry's Silver Star has now been established. However, to do this, Ted Koppel has chosen to believe a Vietcong commander and former Vietcong members and their families rather (ooops; maybe I should say "instead of") than highly decorated American Veterans.

"Nightline" traveled to Vietnam and found a number of witnesses who have never been heard from before, and who have no particular ax to grind for or against Kerry. Only one of them, in fact, even knew who Kerry is. The witnesses, all Vietnamese, are still living in the same villages where the fighting took place more than 35 years ago. A 'Nightline' producer visited them and recorded their accounts of that day."

"Vo Van Tam, now 54, was a local Viet Cong commander during the war."

"Villagers say this is what they saw: 'Firing from over here. Firing from over there. Firing from the boat,' Vo Thi Vi told "Nightline."

'Was the man killed by Kerry or by fire from the Swift boat? It was the heat of battle, Tam said, and he doesn't know exactly how the man with the rocket launcher died. "

"None of the villagers seems to be able to say for a fact that they saw an American chase the man who fired the B-40 into the woods and shoot him. Nobody seems to remember that. But they have no problem remembering Ba Thanh, the man who has been dismissed by Kerry's detractors as 'a lone, wounded, fleeing, young Vietcong in a loincloth.' (The description comes from Unfit for Command, by Swift boat veteran John O'Neill.) 'No, this is not correct,' Nguyen Thi Tuoi, 77, told ABC News. 'He wore a black pajama. He was strong. He was big and strong. He was about 26 or 27.'"

Now obviously, I have cut and pasted here so I highly recommend you read the entire article. The thing that just blows my mind is that Ted Koppel could sit there on ABC and put this report on and then expect me to believe a communist Vietcong commander over the word of a hundred or so decorated American Veterans. Oh yeah, and I am supposed to believe that they can go into a communist country, with minders, and find people who have spot on detailed memories of an event 35 years ago. They proudly claim:

"The Vietnamese government initially rejected "Nightline's" request to visit the village, saying it did not want to somehow influence the U.S. presidential election. Once "Nightline" explained that the intention was to simply find out what the Vietnamese people remember and think of what happened there, permission was granted."

No mention of the minder on the website. Oh yeah, and isn't it wonderful how cooperative the Vietnam Government is? And how unconcerned about the outcome of the research they are?

I must admit, for balance, Nightline did have SBV John O'Neill on. Yeah, they had him on so Ted could take his shot at bitchslapping this proud man!

I wonder if the domain name "Koppelgate.com" has been taken?