Posted on 09/08/2004 8:28:07 PM PDT by Pikamax
Democrats Say Bush Lied on Guard Service By MATT KELLEY
WASHINGTON - Democrats pounced on the latest revelations about President Bush's Air National Guard service Wednesday, saying newly released records show Bush shirked his duty and lied about it.
Bush's spokesmen said the records back up the president's assertion that he fulfilled all of his Vietnam-era military obligations and served honorably.
Meanwhile, the Texas Air National Guard released 128 pages of records on Bush's service from 1968 to 1973, all of which had been previously released by the White House. Two Texas officials said in sworn affidavits that the records were all the Texas Guard had on Bush's service.
CBS reported Wednesday night that it had obtained personal files from one of Bush's Texas commanders saying Bush discussed with him how to avoid drills during 1972. The report on "60 Minutes" said the files were from the personal records of Col. Jerry Killian, who died in 1984.
In the memos, Killian complained of pressure from higher-ups to give Bush positive evaluations and said Bush talked about how to avoid taking a physical exam in 1972, when Bush eventually skipped six months of training and lost his pilot's wings for missing the exam.
After the broadcast, the White House, without comment, released to the news media two of the memos, one ordering Bush to report for his physical exam and the other suspending him from flight status.
With national security and the war on terrorism looming large on voters' minds, supporters of Bush and Democratic nominee John Kerry are attacking each candidate's Vietnam War records. Republicans have accused Kerry, a decorated Vietnam combat veteran, of fabricating the events which led to his five medals. Democrats point to gaps in Bush's stateside Air National Guard service in 1972 and 1973 to say Bush shirked his duty.
The Defense Department on Tuesday released more than two dozen pages of records about Bush and his former Texas unit. They showed Bush flew for 336 hours in military jets after his flight training and ranked in the middle of his class.
The latest records do not shed any light on key questions about Bush's service: whether or where he trained in late 1972 and early 1973, why he skipped a required medical exam and whether he was investigated or punished for skipping the exam and six months' worth of training in 1972.
Pentagon officials said they discovered the documents released Tuesday while performing a more comprehensive search "out of an abundance of caution" in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by The Associated Press.
The newly released records also showed that while Bush says he was in Alabama training with another Guard unit in 1972, his home unit in Texas was participating in the air defense of the southern United States by keeping two jet fighters constantly ready for launch within five minutes' notice.
Democrats said that meant Bush passed on a chance to defend his country. Bush flew the F-102A jets his unit kept on alert but was grounded in August 1972 because of the missed medical check.
"When his unit was placed on a 24-hour alert mission to protect our country from surprise attack, why did George Bush not report for duty?" Democratic National Committee head Terry McAuliffe said in a conference call with reporters Wednesday.
McAuliffe also suggested Bush lied when he said he had released all available records and had fulfilled his Guard obligations.
"Either George Bush was deliberately lying to the American public or he had some type of very severe memory loss," McAuliffe said.
Bush spokesmen scoffed. They said the Pentagon had not done the extensive search Bush ordered and noted that Bush had approval to train in late 1972 with an Alabama unit.
"If the president had not fulfilled his commitment he would not have been honorably discharged," Bush spokesman Scott McClellan said Wednesday.
Adding to the criticism of Bush, a group called Texans for Truth announced an advertising campaign questioning whether Bush ever trained with the Alabama Air National Guard. The advertisement, set to run in several swing states, quotes a retired lieutenant colonel in the Alabama unit who says he searched for Bush but never met him in 1972 or 1973.
Bob Mintz is another of more than a dozen former members of the 187th Tactical Reconnaissance Group who say they never saw Bush train with the unit. Medical records released by the White House show Bush received a dental exam at the 187th base in January 1973.
"I never met the man and I'm sorry I didn't because he's somebody important," Mintz, 63, said in a conference call with reporters Wednesday. Mintz acknowledged Bush could have performed office duties for the 187th without crossing paths with Mintz.
The 128 pages of documents the Texas Air National Guard released to the AP on Wednesday duplicate records Bush released in February. The release also included sworn statements from Texas National Guard officials Travis Evans and Michael Blalock saying the records are the only ones related to Bush in the Texas Guard's files.
just ignore them.
just ignore the democrats. It's over.
John F*ckin' is still afraid to face the Swifties. <yawn Bring it on!
They keep beating this drum. Ye gads! If they didn't find any real dirt in the last election... if they didn't find any when he was running for Governor of Texas... what makes them think they are going to find any now?
How about THE SENATOR'S?
The Fat Lady has sung. They are toast.
How many more times are they going to try to make an issue over GW's National Guard Service? GW's 300+ FLYING hours are more working hours than Flipper spent in Vietnam. Flipper sees his lifelong dream slipping away. He can's believe people don't love and revere him for his heroic military feats. He needs to get a life. He's sure never had one yet.
So these clowns say they "can't find anybody" who saw Bush in Alabama. I remember a guy who came out almosr a year ago to say he remembers seeing Bush daily and eating lunch witgh him. His records show a dental exam in Alabama, so I guess the dentist saw him, too. Obviously these guys didn't look very hard.
I wasn't aware that President Bush was basing his qualifications on his Air National Guard service.
I know I'm going to sound contrary to most people here, but I feel this is going to go nuclear the next couple of days, week.... The press will have a freaking field day with this story. Bush's numbers will come down. Every chance they get they'll try and question him over this.
So, let's get both their military records and see who's the most honest, shall we?
What? Kerry and the Democrats will not release Kerry's records? Shouldn't the voters know what Kerry did while in the military, too?
Why are the Democrats covering for John Kerry's military records? Are they really that bad ?????
Better not vote for John Kerry. He's got something horrible to hide from his past. It's a huge Democrat cover up!! Imagine if it came out AFTER he was elected!
What else is new?
The democrats say that President Bush lied about everything.
The only people who believe them are other democrats.
Some pose as undecideds, some pose as independent, and some as moderates but in the dark where they can't be seen , the democrat feathers come out.
It's pretty hard to "go nuclear" with a story that has been stuck in exactly the same place for about 15 years.
It's like trying to get ratings by re-airing some old "Who's The Boss?" episodes against new "CSI" shows.
LOL. They really do.
Another huge step back wards for the Kerry campaign! Bye bye, John.
Now, it's time for little Johnny to release his military records. Let's see what's REALLY in his, shall we?
Next!!!
Didn't they just get done slamming Bush for evil, mean spirited ads about Kerry's military service? Didn't they even bring a note to his ranch and demand the attacks on Kerry's service be stopped?
Now, they're doing the very same thing they bitched at Bush about! They're attacking Bush's military service, and this time it's even the DNC doing it!
LOL. What idiots. Who's running that half assed Kerry campaign, anyway?
These are the desperate ramblings of deranged psychopaths, blabbering about imagined conspiracies and all of the bad people who continually do them wrong. Sure sign Bush is going to thrash these wack-jobs once and for all. Attacking the Command in Chief in time of war and wishing to replace him with a literal traitor who aided the enemy while our guys were being tortured, who flies the flag upside down and tosses his medals. Its a comfort to know that soon their vicious attacks will be forgotton and they will be relegated to the ash heap of history as the colossal losers that they are.
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