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| Home Front: Politix |
| Bush Orders Release of Military Records |
| 2004-02-13 |
| WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush, trying to calm a political storm, ordered the release of all of his Vietnam-era military records Friday to counter Democrats’ suggestions that he shirked his duty in the Texas Air National Guard. Hundreds of pages of documents detailed Bush’s service in the Guard in Texas and his temporary duty in Alabama while working on a political campaign there in the early 1970s. Democrats have questioned whether Bush ever showed up for duty in Alabama. "The president felt everything should be made available to the public," White House press secretary said. "There were some who sought to leave a wrong impression that there was something to hide when there is not." OK Kerry! We showed ours now you show yours... lets see your actual, unedited, military records.... Bush’s service record has been an issue in each of his presidential campaigns and resurfaced this year when Terry McAuliffe, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said Bush had been AWOL - absent without leave - during his time in Alabama. Democrats hope to capitalize on the issue and undermine Bush’s election strength on national security issues by contrasting his service in the Guard, where he was a pilot who did not see combat, with that of Sen. John Kerry, the decorated Vietnam War veteran who is the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination. Didn’t Kerry state, on the record, that he killed a civilian mother and baby? And didn’t his superior say that he liked to go after ’non-military’ targets? Lets see Kerry’s record. Bush enlisted in the Texas Air National Guard at Ellington Air Force Base on May 27, 1968. The last day he was paid for Guard duty was July 30, 1973. He was placed on inactive Guard duty six months before his commitment at his request because he was starting Harvard Business School. He was honorably discharged. While he performed most of his service in Texas, Bush transferred to an Alabama guard unit in 1972 because he was working as the political director for the Senate campaign of Winton Blount, a Bush family friend. White House officials say Bush recalls serving both in Texas and Alabama. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the White House provided a dental record and payroll information from his file. The pay records show Bush, who was a 1st lieutenant, was paid for 25 days of service between May 1972 and May 1973, the year Democrats have been questioning. The pay records, however, do not say what Bush did to receive pay, or where he did it. |
| Posted by:CrazyFool |
| #9 GK - you get a pass for sheer enthusiasm LOL |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-2-14 12:37:32 AM |
| #8 The sad part about dredging up 30 year old "sludge" could be that it is harming some of our veterans. I imagine there are many vets who fought ghosts from that era for years and perhaps were just now putting the haunting memories where they belong. Only to have those nightmares resurrected by blind political ambitions. That would be most unfair and shameful should it occur. Let me be clear. I am no fan of John Kerry. |
| Posted by: GK 2004-2-13 11:45:28 PM |
| #7 Dems are going after blood on this and believe they have the press on their side. I believe the theory is that Bush crashed a plane while taxiing due to cocaine use/drinking and was made to do community service ... they think they can prove it from the records or that the absence of some details shows the records were altered. A bunch of the posters over on Kevin Drum's site are open about the fact that they don't care whether it's true or not, they just want revenge over Clinton investigations. |
| Posted by: anon 2004-2-13 10:52:19 PM |
| #6 Tibor and CF there's plenty to support your positions. I read an ambiguos article the other day where Zumwalt said Kerry was a pain in the a** and killed civilians. An accompanying comment said he referred to Bob Kerry. Here are two articles, I just found, that support your and CF's belief that Kerry was involved in civilian deaths. Definitely weren't written by John Kerry's campaign. Tour of Duty Heroism, and growing concern about war So as CF said:.We showed ours now you show yours... |
| Posted by: GK 2004-2-13 10:36:11 PM |
| #5 GK, In that case I apologize to Senator Kerry. I got my information from Vietnam Veterans Against John Kerry. Not an -er- unbiased site I admit. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2004-2-13 10:26:05 PM |
| #4 GK - Elmo Zumwalt is reported to have said the John Kerry f**ked things up for the Navy by indiscriminately killing civilians in the Mekong Delta. EZ is dead, so who knows if it's true, but maybe Kerry's records show something. |
| Posted by: Tibor 2004-2-13 10:05:36 PM |
| #3 CF not SH. It's my darn keyboard again Frank and .com. :) |
| Posted by: GK 2004-2-13 9:43:13 PM |
| #2 SH, that was Bob Kerry. Former Sen. and Gov. Bob Kerrey, often mentioned as a potential Democratic presidential candidate, says he has never been able "to make my own peace" over a mission he led in Vietnam that resulted in the deaths of "only women, children and older men." Kerrey said he initially believed his squad was attacking a Viet Cong district meeting. |
| Posted by: GK 2004-2-13 9:31:46 PM |
| #1 Just heard the BBC news and it had a fine example of the Beeb's 'balance. A report on Kerry closing in on the nomination, had no mention of the bimbo issue, but they got their balance by saying at the end of the report that Bush was being accused of being 'AWOL'. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2004-2-13 9:02:15 PM |