Another Evasion From Kerry

Kerry has refused to release his personal Vietnam diaries, among other things, claiming that he signed an exclusivity agreement with popular historian Douglas Brinkley.

Not so says Binkley.


The Kerry campaign has refused to release Kerry's personal Vietnam archive, including his journals and letters, saying that the senator is contractually bound to grant Brinkley exclusive access to the material. But Brinkley said this week the papers are the property of the senator and in his full control.

"I don't mind if John Kerry shows anybody anything," he said. "If he wants to let anybody in, that's his business. Go bug John Kerry, and leave me alone." The exclusivity agreement, he said, simply requires "that anybody quoting any of the material needs to cite my book."

And even though Brinkley still fawns over Kerry, he concludes that Kerry lied about that trip into Cambodia that is "seared" into his memory.

"I'm under the impression that they were near the Cambodian border," said Brinkley, in the interview. So Kerry's statement about being in Cambodia at Christmas "is obviously wrong," he said. "It's a mongrel phrase he should never have uttered. I stick to my story."