Is anybody watching NIGHTLINE! I think they're outing SVFT.

[napi21]

I had it on in the background so I missed some of it, but ABC sent a camera crew to Vietnam to the spot where Kerry earned his medal. They're interviewing some natives who spoke of another american with a camera man who visited there a little whole ago and said some soldier who's now running for President didn't earn his medals.

[still_one]

1. Its about time

the repukes are the worst animals for what they have done to our soldiers

[bigwillq]

2. Liar Liar pants on fire is coming up

in the next segment.

[Poiuyt]

3. October surprise?

Personally, I think people on both sides are a little tried of hearing about what did or did not happen in Viet Nam.

[still_one]

5. Probably

and it is probably too little too late

[TahitiNut]

7. Guess what.

People were "a little tried (sic) of hearing about what did or did not happen in Viet Nam" even before the day I returned from there - November 15, 1969.

I got tired of hearing that people were tired of hearing about it a loong time ago.

[knowbody0]

19. i love you tahitinut

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

33. And I am tired of people pretending that was a just war

and acting tired of hearing from people like you that had to deal with all the ill effects of their fubars...hugs, fella :hug:

[liberalmuse]

35. My mother said that to me last week.

'Viet Nam is over. It's time to move on.' Dear god, I almost bit the woman's head off. It was so offensive. Perhaps it's because I had just seen 'Going Upriver', and remembered the deeply haunted eyes of many of our soldiers. Viet Nam is burned into this nation's soul. It is NOT over, and what's worse, we are doing it all over again in Iraq as our Viet Nam vets head into their middle and later years.

[lanparty]

42. Vietnam is NOT OVER ....

It's being played out in the streets of Iraq as we type!!!!

[knowbody0]

22. you must be young-i forgive you

[napi21]

4. I hope Nightline has a BIG audience!!!

I agree, It's about time!

[bigwillq]

6. Mr. O'Neil up now

What a fucking liar!

[still_one]

8. I hope O'neil ends up like atwater

[mitchum]

46. That's two of us...

If you mean what I think you mean :)

[Jackpine Radical]

55. Lee Atwater repented on his deathbed.

Suddenly he was sorry for all the terrible things he had done to get criminal Pugs elected to office.

[The Traveler]

9. Exposure of the lie is the message

The Liar is on now, to refute the villager's tale.

[kskiska]

10. O'Neill is rattled!!!

I've never seen him like this before. He's on the defensive and keeps holding up his book.

[bigwillq]

11. Koppel is laying the smackdown

O'Neil is such dirt.

[napi21]

14. Ted is doing well!

Mr. O'Neil, stop picking up books and answer!

[bigwillq]

29. Koppel did do very well

I'm just sad it's over!

[kskiska]

12. Koppel: "Do me a favor…

Stop picking up books."

We can't read them anyway. They're just reflecting white light.

[lanparty]

13. John O'Neill is self-destructing!!!!!

John O'Neill is being an ass!!!! He's trying to stall for time. He won't address the real issue. He's trying to take a unique minutia of an event out of context of the whole event.

O'Neill is making himself look nuts. He's attacking Koppell instead of the story. Just like they attacked Rather INSTEAD of the story!!!!

[aquart]

31. O'Neill looks like a desperate fool

Could anything be funnier than his insistence that Koppel should only have paid attention to what Kerry said, and SBVT said, and the Boston Globe said?

It kind of makes it clear that O'Neill has no idea what went on that day, and that he only has written reports to go on.

[friesianrider]

15. I just came here to post that!!!

Ted Koppel is ripping this SB asshole a new one!!!

Go ABC and Ted Koppel!!

[lanparty]

32. I wonder if Sinclair broadcasting pulled the plug ...

If I'm not mistaken, this broadcast refutes the smear piece they're going to run on Kerry!!!

I'm curious if Sinclair knew the broadcast in advance and pulled it just like they did the Iraq dead tribute and the Killian papers piece.

[aquart]

40. What a good question.

If they did, they should have their license suspended immediately.

Not that slimey Michael Powell would ever do that.

[KellyPaDem]

16. If he lifts up another book..

I'm going to smack him!!!

[Eloriel]

17. Well? What happened? Anyone? n/t

[aquart]

18. "Closed society."

O'Neil sure has his talking points down.

[napi21]

20. What's with the Boston Globs already?

He's trying to tell Ted ABC doesn't know how to investigate!

[blm]

53. Boston Globe had GOP operatives working there for years planting antiKerry

stories. I beklieve one of them now works with the Bush administration, Ginsburg.

[kskiska]

21. Koppel: Why would a bunch of peasants

who've never heard of John Kerry independently tell the same story as Kerry?

[napi21]

24. Dear old Ted doesn't usually get this upset!

Of course, O'Neil isn't used to anyone telling him he's wrong either.

[gumby]

23. Did O'Neil look like a raving lunatic or what?

That guy is certifiable.

[MADem]

27. I LOVED THE WAY TED

...kept ASKING WHY WOULD THE PEASANTS LIE? What MOTIVE would they have? O'Neill totally lost it, his voice was shaking. He knows he is at the END of the LINE!

JUSTICE, Sweet, Sweet Justice at last!!!!!

[lawladyprof]

25. Unreal

O'Neill is arguing that Koppel should rely on Kerry's autobiography. Hey, Liar, you can't have it both ways if Koppel should rely on Kerry's book on this then he could rely on it for the true about his medals.

[MADem]

36. He picked out a specific sentence

...where Kerry says he chased the guy around a corner, and he was afraid there might be more than one guy back there, and fortunately there was only one guy--back THERE. O'Neill is trying to say there was ONLY one guy in the whole battle. It was so obvious that he was trying to parse words, it was pathetic.

The Vietnamese guy who told of the squads of eight and twelve guys that were there that day, with the rocket launcher guy as the leader, appears very credible, as does the woman with the weapons under her garden.

Two words for that swift mutha shit: Buh-BYE!

[lanparty]

44. So we should rely on the Kerry autobiography ...

... and read the next two pages where he describes the REST of the battle!!!

Or we should rely on the portions where Kerry says he spent Christmans in Cambodia!!!!

O'Neill was cornered like an animal and he knew it. He knew that he'd been called on his BS. The script stopped working because he met a reporter who actually DOES HIS JOB!!!!

[BootinUp]

26. I feel like I need a shower

after that. O'Neil is such an asshole.

Glad Nightline is doing something to show him for what he is.

[napi21]

28. Do you think Ted this partly because of the Sinclair thing?

[aquart]

37. No, they must have sent out their people when the SBVT thing broke.

This obviously took planning and logistics.

[Katarina]

30. Koppel going after Sinclair?

I Love It! He see's through the bullshit. O'Neil is a dirtbag. Jeebus, how many times did the moran say Closed Society? Pull the string - repeat the catchphrase. Fools.

[wishlist]

34. Loved when Ted said when we find something we don't cover it up!

Amen

[MADem]

38. I hope some activist taped it

...so they can put bits out on the web, that was some GOOD TV!

[3113]

45. "We didn't know what we would find, and would have....

Yes it was a great ending. I couldn't help but feel that Koppel's statement was pointed directly at CBS who decided not to air the Niger Yellocake scandle, "because it is too close to the election." C'mon CBS follow suit.

[nefarious]

39. That bastard O'Neill is just filled with vile poison

He's just burning to get revenge against the guy he calls Vietnam's war hero.

Who are you going to believe? An honorable a-hole sent by Nixon to discredit a turncoat vet or some goddamned communist infiltrator peasants who get their instructions from a closed society?

Ted Koppel saw right through the smear tactics and made O'Neill sorry he ever agreed to be on the show. Good work Ted... Hopefully it turns enough voters to our side to send the greedy asterisk moron back to Crawford.

[Bozita]

41. O'Neill meltdown, courtesy of Koppel and company

Somebody at ABC News should have provided O'Neill with a copy of "My Pet Goat."

Thanks, Ted.

[eleny]

43. I've nominated this thread for the DU homepage

Thanks so much for starting it. Nightline isn't on here yet in Mountain Time. So, I won't miss it. Meantime, everyone who is posting about it is so informative - a terrific preview. Thanks to everyone for making this thread so full of rich information. Anyone who doesn't see the program will know what went on in great detail.

[mitchum]

47. This is still only the second best ambush that could have happened to...

O'Neill. The BEST would have happened over thirty years ago. Hey, I'll settle for this one. I think this is curtains for that lying dirtbag.

[Demonaut]

48. A single vietnamese in a loin cloth....lol, oneill is delusional

[IkeWarnedUs]

49. Here's the story on the Nightline website

What Happened in Kerry's Vietnam Battles?
'Nightline' Speaks to Witnesses of Disputed Firefights
By ANDREW MORSE ABCNews.com 10/14/04

Oct. 14, 2004 — In the controversy over Sen. John Kerry's service in Vietnam, Americans have heard from Kerry, from the crew of the Navy Swift boats he commanded, and from other Swift boat veterans who question the official account of a 1969 incident for which Kerry was awarded a Silver Star. But there is one group they have not heard from: the Vietnamese who were there that day.
According to the military citation, Kerry was awarded the medal for his actions during an intense firefight on Feb. 28, 1969, during which he shot and killed a Viet Cong fighter who was armed with a rocket launcher. Members of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth group have charged that the Viet Cong fighter was a teenager who was alone, who was not part of a numerically superior force, and who was already wounded and running away when Kerry shot him.
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. The accounts were subsequently translated by a team of ABC News translators.

Much more: http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/Vote2004/story?id=166434&page=1

Unfortunately, it doesn't include John O'Neil's meltdown on the show tonight.

[Keirsey]

50. early morning kick

great article!!

[goodhue]

52. excellent

[Media_Lies_Daily]

54. This article needs to be sent to every single Sinclair advertiser.

[TahitiNut]

57. "fighter was a teenager"?? Newsflash: Most of them were teenagers.

In 1969, the vast majority of active NVA and VC combatants were "teenagers," which includes 19-year-olds, by the way.

The day after we were attacked by an augmented battalion of NVA, I happened to be in a medical unit adjacent to the POW compound getting a cup of coffee. A buddy took me into a ward where two wounded NVA "soldiers" were being treated and questioned.

They were only about 15 years old. They had C-ration can-openers on chains around their necks. That's how they were planning to eat, having not enough provisions to feed themselves.

The bullshit about "teenagers" merely leverages the abysmal ignorance of the American public about Vietnam - something they've been "tired of listening to" for more than 35 years.

[wishlist]

51. Swiftliar/cameraman went to the village before ABC -but covered up truth

A very important point of this broadcast is that apparently the Swiftliars had sent someone to this same village with a cameraman to try to get evidence contradicting Kerry- but since the villagers' recollections support the official military records and Kerry's version, the Swiftliars ignored what they found and O'Neil is covering up that they went there. Koppel was not as effective as he could have been in making this point clear.

John O'Neil denied that the Swiftliars went to the village but was terribly agitated and desperate to change the subject when Koppel confronted him because O'Neil knew the Swifties found out the same thing that Koppel found out- that there was lots of enemy fire and that the man Kerry killed was a prominent Viet Cong fighter in his 20's and not shot in the back.

Ted's closing comment that Nightline would not cover up what they found probably refers to Swiftliars who found out the truth too but didn't reveal it because of their anti-Kerry agenda (but also perhaps to CBS shelving the WMD story too)

[wicket]

56. Oh boy, this is delicious

:D

[goodhue]

58. kick

[FizzFuzz]

59. If video becomes available online, PLEASE someone tell me

private message me even!!

I don't watch TV at all. don't even know when Nightline is on. I would really appreciate knowing if this gets on the internet(s) so I can catch up.

[wishlist]

60. There was a thread somewhere on DU with link to online video feed

I saw thread this morning here on DU. Will try to locate it so people can watch this whole broadcast. The broadcast needs to be watched carefully in its entirety to come to the correct conclusions since for some reason Ted Koppel presented it in a rather confusing and cryptic manner rather than spelling out the conclusions which are very favorable to Kerry and damning against the Swiftliars campaign of smear.

[FizzFuzz]

61. wow! thanks and thanks for that heads up

appreciate your effort very much :)