Vietnam.....again
New developments in Bush's National Guard records are being reported by the AP this morning. Kevin Drum has the latest,
"NATIONAL GUARD UPDATE....The National Guard story has suddenly burst back on the scene. Here's the latest:
Nick Kristof devoted his entire column today to Bush's missing months in Alabama during 1972. Bush has always maintained that he trained with the 187th Air National Guard Tactical squadron at Dannelly Air National Guard base while he was in Alabama, but the 187th was a small unit and Kristof quotes Bob Mintz, a fighter pilot in the 187th during 1972, who says that Bush was never there.
Kristof also links to a lengthy analysis of Bush's National Guard service by retired Col. Gerald Lechliter. Lechliter charges that Bush received credit (and pay) for drills that he shouldn't have.
The Boston Globe, based partly on Lechliter's document, reports this morning that Bush failed to meet his training requirements twice during his duty with the National Guard: first in 1972 when he was in Alabama, and second in 1974 when he was attending Harvard Business School. In 1999, Bush spokesman Dan Bartlett said that Bush trained with a Boston unit while he was at Harvard, but the Globe quotes Bartlett as admitting now that "I must have misspoke."
A new story from the Associated Press reports that the Defense Department, after receiving a FOIA request from AP, has mysteriously located some additional Bush records. For the most part the records don't have anything new, but one of them casts some additional light on the training Bush missed with his regular unit in Houston: "Significantly, it showed the unit joined a '24-hour active alert mission to safeguard against surprise attack' in the southern United State beginning on Oct. 6, 1972, a time when Bush did not report for duty, according to his pay records."
And of course 60 Minutes II will have its interview with Ben Barnes tonight. Barnes will be telling the story of how he pulled strings to get Bush into the National Guard back in 1968.
What goes around comes around. As I mentioned before, I doubt that this debate is good for the country, but apparently a lot of people figure that if the Swift Boat group can make up smear stories about John Kerry's military service with impunity, then it's fair to retaliate with true stories about Bush's. I can't say that I blame them."
posted by ian @ 5:51 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
Byron York's latest piece brings some perspective to this National Guard issue:
Bush’s National Guard years
Before you fall for Dems’ spin, here are the facts
What do you really know about George W. Bush’s time in the Air National Guard?
That he didn’t show up for duty in Alabama? That he missed a physical? That his daddy got him in?
News coverage of the president’s years in the Guard has tended to focus on one brief portion of that time — to the exclusion of virtually everything else. So just for the record, here, in full, is what Bush did:
The future president joined the Guard in May 1968. Almost immediately, he began an extended period of training. Six weeks of basic training. Fifty-three weeks of flight training. Twenty-one weeks of fighter-interceptor training.
That was 80 weeks to begin with, and there were other training periods thrown in as well. It was full-time work. By the time it was over, Bush had served nearly two years.
Not two years of weekends. Two years.
After training, Bush kept flying, racking up hundreds of hours in F-102 jets. As he did, he accumulated points toward his National Guard service requirements. At the time, guardsmen were required to accumulate a minimum of 50 points to meet their yearly obligation.
According to records released earlier this year, Bush earned 253 points in his first year, May 1968 to May 1969 (since he joined in May 1968, his service thereafter was measured on a May-to-May basis).
Bush earned 340 points in 1969-1970. He earned 137 points in 1970-1971. And he earned 112 points in 1971-1972. The numbers indicate that in his first four years, Bush not only showed up, he showed up a lot. Did you know that?
That brings the story to May 1972 — the time that has been the focus of so many news reports — when Bush “deserted” (according to anti-Bush filmmaker Michael Moore) or went “AWOL” (according to Terry McAuliffe, chairman of the Democratic National Committee).
Bush asked for permission to go to Alabama to work on a Senate campaign. His superior officers said OK. Requests like that weren’t unusual, says retired Col. William Campenni, who flew with Bush in 1970 and 1971.
“In 1972, there was an enormous glut of pilots,” Campenni says. “The Vietnam War was winding down, and the Air Force was putting pilots in desk jobs. In ’72 or ’73, if you were a pilot, active or Guard, and you had an obligation and wanted to get out, no problem. In fact, you were helping them solve their problem.”
So Bush stopped flying. From May 1972 to May 1973, he earned just 56 points — not much, but enough to meet his requirement.
Then, in 1973, as Bush made plans to leave the Guard and go to Harvard Business School, he again started showing up frequently.
In June and July of 1973, he accumulated 56 points, enough to meet the minimum requirement for the 1973-1974 year.
Then, at his request, he was given permission to go. Bush received an honorable discharge after serving five years, four months and five days of his original six-year commitment. By that time, however, he had accumulated enough points in each year to cover six years of service.
During his service, Bush received high marks as a pilot.
A 1970 evaluation said Bush “clearly stands out as a top notch fighter interceptor pilot” and was “a natural leader whom his contemporaries look to for leadership.”
A 1971 evaluation called Bush “an exceptionally fine young officer and pilot” who “continually flies intercept missions with the unit to increase his proficiency even further.” And a 1972 evaluation called Bush “an exceptional fighter interceptor pilot and officer.”
Now, it is only natural that news reports questioning Bush’s service — in The Boston Globe and The New York Times, on CBS and in other outlets — would come out now. Democrats are spitting mad over attacks on John Kerry’s record by the group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.
And, as it is with Kerry, it’s reasonable to look at a candidate’s entire record, including his military service — or lack of it. Voters are perfectly able to decide whether it’s important or not in November.
The Kerry camp blames Bush for the Swift boat veterans’ attack, but anyone who has spent much time talking to the Swifties gets the sense that they are doing it entirely for their own reasons.
And it should be noted in passing that Kerry has personally questioned Bush’s service, while Bush has not personally questioned Kerry’s.
In April — before the Swift boat veterans had said a word — Kerry said Bush “has yet to explain to America whether or not, and tell the truth, about whether he showed up for duty.” Earlier, Kerry said, “Just because you get an honorable discharge does not, in fact, answer that question.”
Now, after the Swift boat episode, the spotlight has returned to Bush.
That’s fine. We should know as much as we can.
And perhaps someday Kerry will release more of his military records as well.
Oh, and Barnes wasn't even lieutenant governor in 1968 when Bush entered the National Guard.
Oh, and the documents that the 60 Minutes story was based on are forgeries.
Keep trying.
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