Unfit for Command

Infobox_Book
name = Unfit for Command


author = John E. O'Neill and Jerome Corsi
cover_artist =
publisher = Regnery Publishing
release_date = August 2004
media_type = Hardcover/Paperback
pages =
size_weight =
isbn = ISBN 0-89526-017-4

Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry is a 2004 book about then U.S. Presidential candidate John Kerry by John O'Neill and Jerome Corsi published by Regnery Publishing, a conservative publishing house. It was a New York Times Bestseller, upon its release in August 2004 [cite news |date=2008-08-17|title=A Bestseller Race That May Not Go to the Swift |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2004/09/23/AR2005032200465.html ] . The book was release at the time that ads by Swift Vets and POWs for Truth, a group founded by O'Neill to oppose Kerry's campaign, were being aired on U.S. television.

Content and criticism

The book criticizes Kerry's judgment in battle, his truthfulness, his entitlement to certain medals, and his later anti-war activities. The book was based in part on interviews with veterans who served in or with Kerry's division, and also on biographies of Kerry [cite news | publisher=Regnery | date=2008-08-17|title=Book Details - Unfit for Command|url=http://www.regnery.com/regnery/040809_unfit.html] . Several members of Kerry's crew stated that O'Neill failed to interview them. [cite news|publisher=New York Times|date=2004-08-20|title=Friendly Fire: The Birth of an Anti-Kerry Ad|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/20/politics/campaign/20swift.html] Neither O'Neill nor Corsi had any firsthand knowledge of Kerry's service. O'Neill served on the Swift boats after Kerry left Vietnam and Corsi never served in Vietnam. [cite news | url=http://my.barackobama.com/page/-/email/Fight%20the%20Smears%20-%20Unfit%20for%20Publication.pdf | title=Unfit for Publication|publisher=Obama for America | date=2008-08-14 | first= | last= | accessdate = 2008-11-14 page 36] According to the Swiftboat skipper who served with Kerry, the book was "wrong." [cite news | url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-8524900_ITM | title=Swift boat skipper: Kerry critics wrong. |publisher=Chicago Tribune | date=2004-08-04 | first= | last= | accessdate = 2008-11-14]

Kerry's fellow soldiers released a point-by-point rebuttal of the claims and "The book's authors don't give Kerry's supporters the space or the credence that they warrant." [cite news | url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40224-2004Aug27.html | title=What Matters About Kerry and Vietnam |publisher=Washington Post | date=August 28, 2004 | first= | last= | accessdate = 2008-11-14] According to Seattle Times, the government documents support Kerry's war awards and claims. [cite news | url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002012250_swiftboat22.html | title=Participant in mission, documents support Kerry's war claim |publisher=Seattle Times | date=August 22, 2004| first= | last= | accessdate = 2008-11-14] Some veterans interviewed for the book complained that their statements were edited to strip out material favorable to Kerry. [cite news|publisher=New York Times|date=2004-08-20|title=Friendly Fire: The Birth of an Anti-Kerry Ad|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/20/politics/campaign/20swift.html "Mr. Runyon said the edited version was stripped of all references to enemy combat, making it look like just another night in the Mekong Delta."]

At the same time the book was being criticized, Swift Vets and POWs for Truth group was being criticized because "None of those in the attack ad by the Swift Boat group actually served on Kerry's boat. And their statements are contrary to the accounts of Kerry and those who served under him." [cite news | url=http://www.factcheck.org/article231.html | title=Republican-funded Group Attacks Kerry's War Record |publisher=Factcheck.org | date=August 6, 2004 | first= | last= | accessdate = 2008-11-14]

Controversial statements

After controversial statements made by Corsi became public, O'Neill denied Corsi's coauthorship of the book, saying that Corsi was "simply an editor and not really any sort of co-author." [“Scarborough Country,” "MSNBC", 2004-08-10 ] [“John O'Neill Interview with Wolf Blitzer,” "CNN", 2004-08-11.] However, portions of the bookcite web| title = Excerpts from Unfit for Command| url =http://www.learnedhand.com/kerryunfit7.htm| accessdate = 2007-03-29 ] contain material also found in articles posted under Corsi's name at [http://WinterSoldier.com WinterSoldier.com] , a website critical of John Kerry,cite web| last =Corsi| first =Jerome| title =Communist Vietnamese honor John Kerry, the war protestor, as a hero in their victory over the United States in the Vietnam War – Part II| publisher =WinterSoldier.com| date= 2004-07-27| url =http://web.archive.org/web/20050324092901/ice.he.net/~freepnet/kerry/staticpages/index.php?page=20040604194804799| accessdate = 2007-03-29 ] cite web| last =Corsi| first =Jerome| title =Coordinating with the enemy: Vietnam Veterans Against the War in Paris and Hanoi| publisher =WinterSoldier.com| date= 2004-05-03| url =http://web.archive.org/web/20050305152602/ice.he.net/~freepnet/kerry/staticpages/index.php?page=2004060123330738| accessdate = 2007-03-29 ] and O'Neill is cited in a later book as describing Corsi as helping to write "Unfit for Command," and urging him to back out of media appearances after the controversial comments became public. [“To Set the Record Straight: How Swift Boat Veterans, POWS and the New Media Defeated John Kerry,” by Scott Swett and Tim Ziegler, pp. 120-124 ]

Controversy with publisher

In 2007 Corsi, along with several other authors, sued Regnery's parent company, Eagle Publishing, claiming the company “orchestrate [d] and participate [d] in a fraudulent, deceptively concealed and self-dealing scheme to divert book sales away from retail outlets and to wholly owned subsidiary organizations within the Eagle conglomerate.” [ cite news| url="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/07/books/07cons.html"|title=Conservative Authors Sue Publisher|accessdate=2008-08-17] The suit was dismissed on June 30, 2008 [ cite news| url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/02/arts/02arts-AUTHORSSUITD_BRF.html |title=Authors Suit Dismissed|accessdate=2008-08-17]

2008 election

Corsi published The Obama Nation in August 2008, criticizing current U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama. Corsi's motivations behind its publication and book itself has been compared to "Unfit for Command" and criticized as unsubstantiated, misleading, or inaccurate. [cite news | url=http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/08/democrats-seek.html | title=Democrats Seek to Undermine Anti-Obama Author With His Own Words |publisher=ABC News | date=August 14, 2008 | first= | last= | accessdate = 2008-11-14] [cite news |title=Book on Obama blasted for 'vicious innuendo' | url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/14/corsi.book/ |publisher=CNN |date=2008-08-14] cite news |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/13/AR2008081303959.html |title=New Books Aim To Unweave the Obama Narrative |author=Eli Saslow |publisher=Washington Post |date=2008-08-14] [cite news |title=Latest smear against Obama an abomination | url=http://www.suntimes.com/news/mitchell/1107452,CST-NWS-mitch14.article |publisher=Sun-Times |date=2008-08-14] [Kate Linthicum, " [http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-trailcorsi12-2008aug12,0,2342201.story?track=rss Book attacking Obama makes the bestseller list] ", "Los Angeles Times", August 12, 2008] [cite news |title=Wild theories of 'Obama Nation' author | url=http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/12526.html |publisher=The Politico |date=2008-08-14] cite news |first=Jim |last=Rutenberg |authorlink= |coauthors=Julie Bosman |title=Book Attacking Obama Hopes to Repeat ’04 Anti-Kerry Feat |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/13/us/politics/13book.html |work=New York Times |date=August 12, 2008 |accessdate=2008-08-13 ] [cite web|url=http://mediamatters.org/items/200808040005 |title="Unfit for Publication: Corsi's The Obama Nation filled with falsehoods" |publisher=Media Matters for America|date=August 4, 2008] [cite web|url=http://mediamatters.org/about_us/ |title="Who We Are" |publisher=Media Matters for America|date=August 10, 2008] In response, the Obama campaign issued a 40 page rebuttal called "Unfit for Publication", a play on the title of Corsi's 2004 book, on his website FightTheSmears.com, alleging serious factual errors. [cite news |title=Unfit For Publication: An Investigative Report On The Lies In Jerome Corsi's "Obama Nation" | url=http://my.barackobama.com/page/invite/corsi |publisher=Obama for America |date=2008-08-14]

ee also

*John Kerry presidential campaign, 2004
*Swift Vets and POWs for Truth

References