A retired colonel volunteering for President George W. Bush's re-election bid stepped down Saturday after it emerged he had appeared in a television ad by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a political group legally barred from coordinating with campaigns.
The Bush campaign said Ken Cordier, a former prisoner of war, had not disclosed his participation before the ad aired and would no longer serve as a volunteer. The group's organizer dismissed any connection to the Bush team as "tangential."
Swift Boat Veterans for Truth has charged that Democratic nominee John Kerry lied to obtain at least two of his five military decorations and betrayed American troops by opposing the war after returning home. Kerry's campaign filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission alleging illegal coordination between the group and the Bush team, and released a new ad calling on Bush to denounce the attacks.
An Annenberg Public Policy Center study found 57 percent of Americans were aware of the ads. A CBS News poll showed Bush leading among veterans 55 to 37 since the ads began airing on 5 August in three states on a modest budget.
Kerry gained backing from veterans supporting his account of key incidents, including a journalist and former Swift Boat commander who wrote that the attacks came from people who were not present during the events in question.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in August 2004, in its own words.