The case against John Kerry

Dolores Janiewski (Letters, December 20) has misconstrued the Swift Boat veterans’ case against John Kerry.

It was not about whether the Vietnam War was necessary or about atrocities in general.

It concerned Kerry’s allegations of atrocities carried out by men under his command.

As the Swift Boats were the only unit Kerry had personal knowledge of during his tour of duty, they had every right to take exception to his demonising of them.

Kerry tried to counteract the vets by assembling a few loyal to him, carting them around on campaign stops and relying on a sympathetic press to ignore or discredit his accusers. However, the vets’ multi-pronged campaign, consisting of the best-selling book, a fundraising website, TV ads and talk radio interviews succeeded in pulling off an effective end run around the establishment press.

Kerry’s small ‘‘band of brothers’’ was no match for the 245 members of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth – including virtually the entire chain of command above Kerry – all of whom agreed he was ‘‘unfit for command’’.

Kerry’s accusations before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, based on hearsay, were officially investigated but never substantiated. Witnesses either backtracked or totally disavowed stories.