Thread: Did McCain sell out fellow POWs?

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hvU2 ... gD8U6LIPO0

McCain Camp Challenges Mailer's Claims
By JEFFREY COLLINS – 17 hours ago

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Supporters of Republican John McCain on Tuesday assailed a mailer sent to state newspaper editors claiming he sold out fellow POWs to get better treatment while held prisoner in Vietnam.

"Nothing could be further from the truth. I know because I was there," Orson Swindle, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel and former prisoner of war, said in a statement about the mailing from Vietnam Veterans Against John McCain.

The group's organizer, Jerry Kiley, who said he also is a Vietnam veteran, said in a telephone phone interview that he has been trying for years to spread what he said is the truth about McCain's record.

"John McCain has created this myth that he is a hero and he is not," Kiley said from his home in Garnerville, N.Y.

Kiley's group cites as evidence a May 1973 U.S. News & World Report article by McCain in which he said he realized, on his third or fourth day of captivity after his plane was shot down in 1967, that his knee was so swollen the blood might pool in it and kill him. So he offered to give military information to his captors in exchange for medical treatment.

In the article, McCain said he told the story to make the point that the North Vietnamese only gave medical treatment to POWs if they thought they were going to get something in return. He did not say that he went through with his end of the deal.

Kiley claims information McCain gave to the North Vietnamese led to an increase in U.S. planes being shot down.

McCain's spokesman, B.J. Boling, said McCain never passed military information to the North Vietnamese. He said the campaign was publicizing the mailer "to serve as an example of how we can bring these shadowy groups out into the open."

Kiley said his group sent the mailing to 80 newspaper editors. He said he is considering sending the information to editors in states with later primaries. South Carolina's Republican primary is Saturday.

McCain's state supporters have created what they call a "Truth Squad" to counter the kind of negative attacks that derailed his candidacy here in 2000.

Four years ago in the Democratic presidential race, a group calling itself Swift Boat Veterans For Truth ran television ads that challenged Democratic nominee John Kerry's service record in Vietnam

Originally Posted by Jonathan

Kiley's group cites as evidence a May 1973 U.S. News & World Report article by McCain in which he said he realized, on his third or fourth day of captivity after his plane was shot down in 1967, that his knee was so swollen the blood might pool in it and kill him. So he offered to give military information to his captors in exchange for medical treatment.

To be fair, the military code allows you to talk to save your life. Of course it also recommends you give them outdated and useless information.

On the other hand McCain is not a war hero, he admitted he was shot down due to his giant ego. A better pilot would have evaded the SAM.

Posting this is just wrong! I would not vote for John McCain and he may not be a hero, but he is a long way from being a traitor.

Originally Posted by justme

Posting this is just wrong! I would not vote for John McCain and he may not be a hero, but he is a long way from being a traitor.

This had been posted at World Net Daily this morning and should still be there.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/

I feel like we are criminalizing all Vietnam vets again. Kerry, there was hard evidence. I have, thanks be to God, never been a POW. I can not honestly say what I would or would not do under those circumstances. For all we know, McCain made up lies to the Vietnamese. The man spent years in hell, I can not nor will I condemn him for what he did or did not do during that time. Now what he has done afterwards, as an elected official is a totally different matter.

Originally Posted by justme

Posting this is just wrong! I would not vote for John McCain and he may not be a hero, but he is a long way from being a traitor.

He might not have been a traitor in Vietnam, but now as a Senator he is. He is trying to eliminate the US in favor of the North American Union. The definition of that is treason.

If McCain is innocent, the facts will vindicate him, but we need to know more about this. Even Fox News mentioned it last night.

Do a google search with these words:

McCain called traitor POW

The War Secrets Sen. John McCain Hides: www.vvof.org/mccain_hides.htm

Originally Posted by Jonathan

If McCain is innocent, the facts will vindicate him, but we need to know more about this. Even Fox News mentioned it last night.

Do a google search with these words:

McCain called traitor POW

The following is good enough for me:

Nothing could be further from the truth. I know because I was there," Orson Swindle, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel and former prisoner of war, said in a statement about the mailing from Vietnam Veterans Against John McCain

Why McCain Defends Kerry: www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=39892

McCain: Enemy of the POWs: http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/art ... 5124.shtml