"Our newest ad highlights a continuing pattern by Senator Kerry of placing his personal ambitions above the interests of our nation,” said John O’Neill, author if Unfit for Command. “When he secretly met with the enemy in 1970, he did so at great detriment to his fellow sailors, to our POWs, and to our nation. He undermined our war effort, giving the enemy greater resolve and determination.”

“More recently, his announcement to withdraw troops in Iraq commencing in six months is caused by that very same political expediency and has the very same effect. All he has done has given terrorists the resolve to stick with it for another six months,” said O’Neill.

The ad states:

“Even before Jane Fonda went to Hanoi to meet with the enemy and mock America, John Kerry secretly met with enemy leaders in Paris though we were still at war and Americans were being held in North Vietnamese prison camps.

“Then he returned and accused American troops of committing war crimes on a daily basis. In a time of war, can America trust a man who betrayed his country?”

“Kerry’s meeting with leaders of North Vietnam came at a time when our men were still in prison camps,” said Admiral Roy Hoffmann, founder of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. “Kerry’s meeting gave credibility to the communist regime’s wartime propaganda efforts and extended the imprisonment of our POWs by two years,” said Hoffmann.

The ad will air for six days on national cable and locally in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Nevada, and New Mexico starting on Wednesday, September 22, 2004. Swift Boat Veterans for Truth spent $1.3 million on the buy.

“Kerry’s meeting not only gave aid to the enemy, he also returned home to denounce his shipmates and all veterans by accusing fellow veterans of war crimes and outrageous atrocities,” Hoffmann added. “Our latest television ad explains this reprehensible behavior. This is not about politics, this is about judgment, truthfulness, reliability, loyalty and trust – all absolute tenets of command. John Kerry is not fit to the Commander in Chief of the armed forces of the United States.”

Swift Boat Veterans for Truth is a nonpartisan, unincorporated political organization under section 527 of the IRS code. SBVT complies with the regulations of section 527. Rear Admiral Roy Hoffmann (ret.) chairs the group, and Weymouth Symmes serves as treasurer. To date, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth has raised more than $6.7 million from grassroots supporters in all fifty states.

To schedule an interview with a member of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, please call Sean McCabe (ext. 110) or Steve Burke (ext. 108) at 703-683-5004.