Posted on 10/26/2004 11:18:26 PM PDT by Technical Editor
WASHINGTON Oct 26, 2004 — Unearthed under legal pressure, three-decade-old documents portray President Bush as a capable and well-liked Air National Guard pilot who stopped flying and attending regular drills two-thirds of the way through his six-year commitment without consequence.
The files, many of them forced to light by Freedom of Information lawsuits by The Associated Press, conflict with some of the harshest attacks Democrats have levied on Bush's Vietnam-era service, such as suggestions that Bush was a deserter or absent without leave.
But gaps in the records leave unanswered questions about the final two years of his military service in 1972 and 1973. Chief among them: Why did Bush's commanders apparently tolerate his lapses in training and approve his honorable discharge?
Bush's commanders could have punished him or ordered him to two years of active duty for missing drills for six months in 1972 and skipping a required pilot's medical exam. Instead, they allowed him to make up some of his missed training and granted him an honorable discharge.
Bush, Kerry Trade National Security Barbs The Note: A Lifetime in Politics Noted Now: The Latest Breaking Political News "Obviously, the commander saw the lieutenant's interest in the guard was waning," said retired Maj. Gen. Paul A. Weaver Jr., a former head of the Air National Guard. "Had he been good before? Yeah. Does that mean he should nail him to the wall? No. The culture at the time was not to enforce that."
But the culture apparently did not apply to everyone. Although no records mention any punishment against Bush other than being grounded, the Texas unit's files show another airman was ordered to involuntary active duty in March 1972 as punishment.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
This is getting to be sheer buffoonery . . . People are sick and tired and resentful about hearing about Vietnam.
Dang. For a minute I thought your title:
"Associated Press trotting out Bush guard story....again"
was the actual one in the article.
"AP: New Bush Guard Papers Leave Questions"
I was hoping that someone would post that,as I read the article. THANKS!
I think this may be the third time this was posted tonight, fyi.
Not until after the election. They explosives angle blew up, so they have to get something else. The idea is to fling as much at Bush as possible and hope it sticks.
The dumb part is that the people who care about this have long ago made up their minds.
IF YOU THROW ENOUGH MUD,,,,
SOME of that MUD will stick,,,
and the MUD that DOES stick...
IS VERY, VERY HARD TO REMOVE!!
To prevent duplicates, please do not alter the heading. Thank you.
Soooooooooooooooooooo .. when are they gonna ask Kerry why he had so many meetings with the VC ???
That Kelley guy is the same one who wrote the AP article supporting Rathergate earlier. I remember emailing AP to tell them what a fool Kelley was making of himself and the AP.
If you first don't succeed, try try again.
Isn't a form of dementia to keep repeating a lie over and over again??
These dipshits are amazing.
How many times are they going to try and make this non story....a story?!
This shows that the Dems have NO CONFIDENCE in their Candidate.
The media does not even care that it is obvious that they are showing liberal bias...and becoming a spokesmachine for the Kerry Campaign.
Democrats are desperate. They have no agenda..so they are stuck with throwing out bogus claims...and filing law suits to steal elections.
THE DEMOCRAPS ARE MORE WORTHLESS THAN THE FRENCH!
I'm sorry but, you have to laugh after a while. These people are starting to LOOK desperate!
But gaps in the records leave unanswered questions about the final two years of his military service in 1972 and 1973
Unlike Kerry's which leaves a gap from 1971 to 1976. Form 180 please.
They try, oh, how they try....
Hey, thanks for that image. Guess I'll be up watching TV for a few hours...;)
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