This article is actually quite interesting, and gives both sides of the story. The underlying message: it’s he says/she says, with no hope of resolution. And the debate is so silly — was he in Cambodia or near Cambodia? — it’s obviously an exercise in nitpicking.

What certainly comes across here is that the SBVFT’s animosity, as most of us know, stems not from Kerry’s actions in Vietnam, but the sense that he betrayed his colleagues by turning against the war. The smart ones realized he never betrayed the; he was protesting against the war and its architects — not his fellow fighters.

There’s an interesting wrap-up:

FactCheck.org, a nonpartisan group that monitors the accuracy of campaign ads, points to the crew members who support Kerry and notes initial funding for the opposition campaign came mainly from a Republican booster in Houston.

But the group added that it can’t definitively say which set of veterans should be believed.

“At this point, 35 years later and half a world away, we see no way to resolve which of these versions of reality is closer to the truth,” the group concluded.

Peter D. Feaver, a political science professor at Duke University who has studied political attitudes of veterans and military members, said the Swift Boat campaign could cost Kerry some support among undecided voters.

But he suggested Democrats want the controversy to continue brewing because it keeps the focus on Kerry’s service in Vietnam and off his tenure in the U.S. Senate, where Republicans want the spotlight.

“The Democrats are very happy to keep that story alive,” Feaver said.

That’s the big irony here. Whether it was January or February or December when John Kerry was at (or near) Cambodia, repeating this story does one thing for most voters: it reminds them that Kerry served and is a decorated war hero. While it reinforces the Kerry-haters’ belief (foolish though it may be) that he’s a liar and a rogue, they thought that before the SBVFT came along. So as I’ve said from day one, it’s a net minus for bush. The only media who are picking up the SBVFT’s spin are the World Net Dailies and other wingnut media, whose readers already know Kerry is the Antichrist anyway.

A big tempest in a teapot, and the only one to emerge from it looking better is Kerry.