President Bush (news - web sites) gestures as he addresses supporters gathered at the Cambria County War Memorial in Johnstown, Pa. for a campaign rally on Thursday, Sept. 9, 2004. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
Posted on 09/10/2004 10:44:49 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - Questions are being raised about the authenticity of newly unearthed memos which asserted that George W. Bush ignored a direct order from a superior officer in the Texas Air National Guard and lost his status as a pilot because he failed to meet military performance standards and undergo a required physical exam.
CBS, which reported on the memos on its "60 Minutes" program, said its experts who examined the documents concluded that they were authentic. They ostensibly were written by Lt. Col. Jerry Killian, one of Bush's commanders in 1972 and 1973.
But Killian's son, one of Killian's fellow officers and an independent document examiner questioned the memos. Gary Killian, who served in the Guard with his father and retired as a captain in 1991, said he doubted his father would have written an unsigned memo which said there was pressure to "sugar coat" Bush's performance review.
"It just wouldn't happen," he said. "No officer in his right mind would write a memo like that."
Bush spokesman Scott McClellan said Friday the White House, which distributed the memos after obtaining them from CBS, was not trying to verify their authenticity. "We don't know if the documents are fabricated or authentic," McClellan told reporters traveling with the president to West Virginia.
McClellan suggested the memos surfaced as part of "an orchestrated effort by Democrats and the Kerry campaign to tear down the president."
The personnel chief in Killian's unit at the time also said he believes the documents are fake.
"They looked to me like forgeries," said Rufus Martin. "I don't think Killian would do that, and I knew him for 17 years." Killian died in 1984.
Independent document examiner Sandra Ramsey Lines said the memos looked like they had been produced on a computer using Microsoft Word software. Lines, a document expert and fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, pointed to a superscript — a smaller, raised "th" in "111th Fighter Interceptor Squadron" — as evidence indicating forgery.
Microsoft Word automatically inserts superscripts in the same style as the two on the memos obtained by CBS, she said.
"I'm virtually certain these were computer generated," Lines said after reviewing copies of the documents at her office in Paradise Valley, Ariz. She produced a nearly identical document using her computer's Microsoft Word software.
The Defense Department released Bush's pilot logs this week under pressure from a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by The Associated Press.
Bush's Vietnam-era Air National Guard service became a focus of Democratic criticism this week amid a flurry of new reports about his activities. Democrats say Bush shirked his National Guard duties, a claim Bush denies.
Bush joined the Texas Air National Guard in 1968, serving more than a year on active Air Force duty while being trained to fly F-102A jets. He was honorably discharged from the Guard in October 1973 and left the Air Force Reserves in May 1974.
The first four months of 1972 are at the beginning of a controversial period in Bush's Guard service. After taking his last flight in April 1972, Bush went for six months without showing up for any training drills. In September 1972 he received permission to transfer to an Alabama Guard unit so he could work on a political campaign there.
That May, Bush also skipped a required yearly medical examination. In response, his commanders grounded Bush on Aug. 1, 1972.
President Bush (news - web sites) gestures as he addresses supporters gathered at the Cambria County War Memorial in Johnstown, Pa. for a campaign rally on Thursday, Sept. 9, 2004. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
President George W. Bush (news - web sites) greets a young resident of Ironton, Ohio, September 10, 2004 during a brief campaign stop. Bush, who accuses his Democratic rival of keeping his budget plans secret, has yet to offer plans of his own for funding his campaign promises and cutting the deficit in half, fiscal conservatives said. Photo by Jason Reed/Reuters
U.S. President George W. Bush (news - web sites) waves alongside Democratic Senator Zell Miller (D-GA) during their first campaign rally in Huntington, West Virginia, September 10, 2004. Bush and Miller will make stops for Bush's re-election in West Virginia and Ohio today. REUTERS/Jason Reed US ELECTION
Does anyone really believe that CBS is going to admit making a mistake on this story?
Well, don't hold your breath. Remember, CBS News thinks it knows what's best for us. Ergo, it could not be incorrect...about anything.
U.S. President George W. Bush (news - web sites) waves with Democratic Senator Zell Miller (D-GA) as they arrive for a day of campaigning together in Huntington, West Virginia, September 10, 2004. Bush and Miller will make campaign stops for Bush's re-election in West Virginia and Ohio. REUTERS/Jason Reed US ELECTION
That interview with a former staff person who knew him along with his son and the document expert really blow Rather and 60 Minutes right out of the water.
I see the WH has finally got a backbone and is now saying they don't know whether the docs are real or not.
Slowly but surely the truth boils within the tightly sealed pressure cooker (MSM), after a while a little steam escapes from a breach in the seal, the pressure continues to increase as America turns up the heat, and then another breach allows more steam out until.......
"The Defense Department released Bush's pilot logs this week under pressure from a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by The Associated Press.
They still get a zinger in there. You're not going to get something for nothing from AP.
Isn't this charge about the missed physical in doubt as well?
A_R
So who is going to check with the Defense Department where the supposed release came from? Check to see who is the person at Defense that released them, if anyone.
"I see the WH has finally got a backbone..."
Slowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwly they turned, step by step, inch by inch.......
Now if we can just get them to change their titles so it doesn't read as if Bush was involved in making the forged documents
Maybe they are forgeries, too.
The AP got the docs from a previous cull under the FOIA. The DoD just recently found these additional docs and released them to the AP.
The DoD didn't stonewall the original release.
What's this about Bush skipping a medical examination in May 1972? Is there any basis for that date beyond the forged document dated 04 May 1972? I thought that normally the physicals were scheduled for the month of the person's birthday (in Bush's case that would be July).
The docs the DoD gave Ap are genuine. They are not the same docs that CBS has.
There is no contention that the AP docs are forged, only that all the docs were not delivered at the same time, hence the 'lie' by AP that they had to arm twist to get them.
The release of the docs was approved by Bush when he signed his form 180.
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