The Boston Globe reports that a source for those Kerry-hating Swift boat veterans -- who's also one of the stars of their attack ad -- has recanted:

...yesterday, a key figure in the anti-Kerry campaign, Kerry's former commanding officer, backed off one of the key contentions. Lieutenant Commander George Elliott said in an interview that he had made a "terrible mistake" in signing an affidavit that suggests Kerry did not deserve the Silver Star -- one of the main allegations in the book....

Elliott is quoted as saying that Kerry "lied about what occurred in Vietnam ... for example, in connection with his Silver Star, I was never informed that he had simply shot a wounded, fleeing Viet Cong in the back."...

Yesterday, reached at his home, Elliott said he regretted signing the affidavit and said he still thinks Kerry deserved the Silver Star.

"I still don't think he shot the guy in the back," Elliott said. "It was a terrible mistake probably for me to sign the affidavit with those words. I'm the one in trouble here."...

The affidavit also contradicted earlier statements by Elliott, who came to Boston during Kerry's 1996 Senate campaign to defend Kerry on similar charges, saying that Kerry acted properly and deserved the Silver Star....

Bizarrely, Elliott, who recommended Kerry for a Bronze Star for a subsequent incident for which Kerry also won a Purple Heart, says Kerry didn't deserve that Purple Heart. Why? 'Tis a muddle...

Elliott, asked about the contradiction between his recommendation and his new questioning of Kerry's third Purple Heart, responded, "It makes me look kind of silly, to be perfectly honest."

But he said: "I simply have no reason for these guys to be lying, and if they are lying in concert, it is one hell of a conspiracy. So, on the basis of all of the information that has come out, I have chosen to believe the other men. I absolutely do not know first hand."

"If they are lying in concert, it is one hell of a conspiracy" -- yup, it sure is.