Bush Service Documents Only Deepen Controversy

[taikuchin]

Bush Service Documents Only Deepen Controversy
By Brian Knowlton
International Herald Tribune

Wednesday 11 February 2004

White House releases Guard data to show he fulfilled his duty
WASHINGTON The White House on Tuesday released payroll records meant to confirm that President George W. Bush fulfilled his required duty in the Air National Guard during the Vietnam War, as he and his advisers sought to put to rest a potentially damaging political controversy.

"These documents clearly show that the president fulfilled his duties," Scott McClellan, the White House spokesman, said. "He met the requirements necessary to fulfill his duties."

The papers released Tuesday included a summary of retirement credits earned by Bush in the guard, which had been released during Bush's 2000 campaign. They also, however, for the first time included some payroll records, including specific dates for which Bush was paid.

The payroll records had arrived late Monday from the Air Reserve Personnel Center in Denver, Colorado, McClellan said, after officials there "on their own went back and looked for these records." Some of those released were illegible, and the White House promised clearer versions soon.
McClellan, however, was unable to say why the newly provided documents left a gap for several months in late 1972 and early 1973. That period falls within roughly a year when two former commanders of Bush's units said they had not "observed" Bush on their bases. Nor was McClellan able to say why the White House could not provide a fellow guardsman of Bush's to confirm that he had attended drills and summer meetings either at his base near Houston nor in Alabama, where he received permission to fulfill his requirements while working on a campaign there. "Obviously, we would have made people available" had they been found, he said. As reporters pressed him for answers, McClellan suggested that Bush's political foes were seeking to manufacture controversy out of nothing.

The question of Bush's service, raised in the 2000 election, received renewed attention after the Democratic national chairman, Terry McAuliffe, suggested Feb. 1 that Bush had been AWOL, or absent without leave, from the guard. Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, who looks increasingly likely to be Bush's opponent in the Nov. 2 election, has not repeated that language but has suggested that the president should explain his military record. Kerry himself is a decorated Vietnam veteran. And on a Sunday television appearance, Bush was asked about his service and vowed to release relevant documents. Politically, the release of the documents Tuesday may lend some support to both sides, allowing Bush to say that he fulfilled his legal duties, but leaving enough of a gray area that Democrats may not let the matter lie.

Bush and his Republican backers have counted on two areas of support as he begins his campaign: a recovering economy, and the muscular response to the Sept. 11 attacks, which he said Sunday had made him a "war president."

But the "war president" image might have worked more effectively against a Democratic candidate like Howard Dean, the antiwar candidate whom Republicans derided as weak on national security, than against Kerry, who regularly brings up his Vietnam experience and often appears with veterans who fought alongside him there.

The White House had previously pointed to Bush's honorable discharge, saying he would not have received it had he fallen short of his duty requirements. Bush aides apparently decided in the past week that they needed to do more. McClellan could not answer questions about whether Bush's payroll records necessarily proved that he had served.

The opinion columnist Richard Cohen wrote in The Washington Post on Tuesday that as a member of the National Guard during the Vietnam War, Bush avoided weekly drills and summer camp for two years by pretending to have moved from one state to another, but was paid nonetheless. He suggested that this was not terribly difficult.
And McClellan brushed aside a question about whether Bush had enlisted in the Air National Guard to avoid service in Vietnam. Few guard units were called to serve in Vietnam. The Air National Guard's Web site says: "Vietnam revealed a negative aspect of relying on reservists. For largely domestic political reasons, President Johnson chose not to mobilize most of the nations' reserve forces." Partly as a result, it adds, "The Reserves and the Guard acquired reputations as draft havens."

The White House also released a memo by retired Lieutenant Colonel Albert Lloyd Jr., who was personnel director for the Texas Air National Guard from 1969 to 1995, in which he said that a review of Bush's records "proves that he completed his military obligation in a satisfactory manner." Dan Bartlett, White House communications director, said earlier that drills Bush attended from in 1973 probably took place at Ellington Air Force Base in Houston. But two commanders there said in May 1973 that they could not evaluate his performance because he had not been seen in the preceding 12 months.

[BlueMeanie]

Blah blah blah. Isnt there more to life than finding some way to bash President Bush?

[lisa]

I am not a Bush fan nor am I am Clinton fan.
I DO find it facinating that they can't find even one person who remembers serving in the guard with Bush. Normally, people would crawl out of the woodwork to tell if they knew a president back in the days before he was president. Yet no one that was in the guard at the same time he was remembers him being there?? Amazing!

[taikuchin]

Originally Posted by BlueMeanie

Blah blah blah. Isnt there more to life than finding some way to bash President Bush?

Good response...& typical.

[OC Cruzer]

The only reason the controversy deepens is the democrats can't find what they WANT to find, and can't twist the available info into what they want it to say.

Sure is great to see the democrats feel so good about what's going on in America and the rest of the world, that they can make President Bushes 30 year old Nat. Guard record a priority

[4ABRUZN]

Originally Posted by OC Cruzer

The only reason the controversy deepens is the democrats can't find what they WANT to find, and can't twist the available info into what they want it to say.

Sure is great to see the democrats feel so good about what's going on in America and the rest of the world, that they can make President Bushes 30 year old Nat. Guard record a priority

Whereas spending $41 million to investigate a bl*wjob was a wise investment of the taxpayers money....

[my80volare]

Newly released records reflect payments and credits for Air National Guard service meeting minimum requirements, despite a six-month gap.

February 11, 2004
Modified: February 12, 2004

Summary



With Democrats openly accusing President Bush of being "AWOL" from his Air National Guard service during the 1970's, the White House released personnel and payroll records showing Bush was paid and credited for service during the period in question. -- barely.

What the records show

The records show that National Guard officials credited Bush with enough points to meet minimum requirements for the 12-month period ending May 26, 1973, the period of the original alleged "gap" in his records. An Air Force "Reserve Personnel Record Card" shows Bush received a total of 9 points for active duty training, 31 points for inactive duty training, and 15 points awarded for his membership in the reserves. The points total 56, exceeding the 50-point requirement for satisfactory service during the period, though barely.

An eye witness, you ask?

And after records were released, The Washington Times reported that a woman who had dated Bush during the summer of 1972, Emily Marks Curtis, says she "distinctly remembers" Bush returning to Montgomery after the election to fulfill his Air National Guard commitment. "I can say categorically he was there, and that's why he came back," the Times quoted her as saying. She added that Bush rented an apartment for a two-week stay and that she met him for dinner several times. While she did not claim to have witnessed him doing Guard duty, according to the Times she said, "He told me that was why he was in Montgomery. There is no other reason why he would come back to Montgomery."

And in fact, Bush was at Dannelly Air National Guard base in Montgomery as late as Jan. 6, 1973, according to a document released by the White House Feb. 11. The document is a record of a dental examination of Bush on that date. The payroll records released two days earlier show Bush received pay and credit for service for Jan. 6 and for five other days closely clustered between Jan. 4 and Jan. 10.

Get the Facts, not DNC spin The complete story is there, and FactCheck.org is hardly a right wing site. They scrutinize statements made by both sides of the issue.

This is just another example of left wing politics and hypocracy. When Clinton was running, his Viet Nam service "wasn't an issue". Now, the same people that defended Clinton are bashing Bush? I guess since the arguement didn't work in 2000, its time to drag it back up again? Just like with WMD, the Bush haters will refuse to accept anything that proves them wrong.

[saxonburgcruiser]

Originally Posted by 4ABRUZN

Wheres spending $41 million to investigate a bl*wjob was a wise investment of the taxpayers money....

That is just about the dumbist thing i have read this week....if you truly feel that 41 million was spent to investigate a BJ, then i really feel sorry for you

[Dreamacre]

Originally Posted by taikuchin

Good response...& typical.

I see you not mentioning anything about John Kerry!

He protested righ along side of Hanoi Jane back in the 70's, and the President of Viet Nam even mentions John Kerry in his book, saying that Kerry helped Viet Nam win the war against the US.

The Vets must LOVE Kerry.

[saxonburgcruiser]

Originally Posted by lisa

I am not a Bush fan nor am I am Clinton fan.
I DO find it facinating that they can't find even one person who remembers serving in the guard with Bush. Normally, people would crawl out of the woodwork to tell if they knew a president back in the days before he was president. Yet no one that was in the guard at the same time he was remembers him being there?? Amazing!

That's odd, just this morning on the news i heard an interview with a colonel who remembers quite a bit of him being there.