I agree that it would have been a bad act for Kerry to coerce Mr. Pitkin. I am puzzled, however, as to how he would apply such pressure, since simply walking away would seem to have been a viable option. I suspect that the coercion amounted to Mr. Kerry saying, essentially, "Just tell them what you told us." It seems odd that a young man who was innocent would subject himself to the jeopardy of possible prosecution on Kerry's say-so.

Also, note that, in the Fox story, the following text appears:

He has said the graphic testimony he gave was merely a repetition of testimony combat veterans told him.

As usual, Fox tweaks its copy for the benefit of the gullible, so that they will not be unnecessarily confused. It implies that Kerry has offered an excuse of some sort, and that his remarks to Congress was "merely a repetition". His remarks were exactly a repetition of what he had been told by soldiers who claimed they had committed bad acts. Some of the claimants were later discredited, much like George Tenet has been for his deception of the President.

When you guys do this, you know you are doing it for political expediency. It would earn you an "F" in any serious academic arena. On top of that, God is watching you.

Let me summarize the above for those who are impaired with regard to journalistic ethics and are unimpressed with the need to report accurately:

Kerry reporting to Congress what he had been told by about a hundred soldiers is now transformed into Kerry condemning every soldier who ever served in Vietnam as a war criminal.

Period.