POLITICS BEYOND VIETNAM

On the presidential campaign trail much of the talk for days has been about events that happened more than 30 years ago in Vietnam. This is unfortunate for many reasons, the prime being that it is taking attention away from more critical issues, namely the economy, the war on terrorism and Iraq. The second is that many of the charges now being hurled at Democrat John Kerry are false. To end this phase of the campaign – and return attention to more pressing issues – President Bush should ensure that groups he is affiliated with, however loosely, stop repeating the dubious charges that Mr. Kerry exaggerated his service in Vietnam to build his resume.

Putting an end to this rhetoric is critical for Mr. Bush, especially after The New York Times revealed this weekend that Swift Boat Veterans for Truth is backed by prominent Texans with close ties to the Bush family and administration. The group has aired a television ad saying that John Kerry lied about his war record to win medals and lay the groundwork for a political career. The group has promoted the same message in a book and on talk shows. Mr. Kerry served two tours of duty in the Navy during the Vietnam War. He spent four and a half months in Vietnam commanding a Swift Boat. He earned three Purple Hearts, a Silver Star and a Bronze Star. The group says some of Mr. Kerry’s injuries were self-inflicted and that he did not face enemy fire when he rescued a comrade who had been knocked overboard.

Such accounts come from people who served near Kerry, but not with him. Veterans who served with Mr. Kerry, including the man he rescued, have backed up his version of events.

The group has stopped airing the television ad, but says another one is in the works and has refused to recant its stories, although media investigations have turned up many inconsistencies in their accounts. This is a good time for President Bush to denounce the group’s tactics and to severe ties with its members. This process began this weekend when a Bush campaign adviser who appeared in the Swift Boat ad quit.

Mr. Kerry last week denounced an add by the liberal group MoveOn PAC that questioned President Bush’s Vietnam service accusing the president of using family ties to get into the Texas Air National Guard to escape combat service in Vietnam.

Mr. Kerry said the ad was inappropriate. “This should be a campaign of issues, not insults,” he said.

Mr. Kerry can help the process by talking less about his service in Vietnam and more about what he plans to do to boost the economy, improve the situation in Iraq and to combat terrorism.

The focus of the presidential campaign should be on the future, not the past.