Text 2024, 127 rader
Skriven 2004-09-10 11:21:00 av FRANK SCHEIDT (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av JOHN HULL
Ärende: Bush's Service Record
=============================
-=> Quoting John Hull to All <=-

 JH> All you Bush haters - and you know who you are - who have been trying
 JH> to make hay about Bush's TANG service really need to get your facts
 JH> straight.  He hasn't done any of the things he's been accused of.  He
 JH> isn't being investigated by the DOD to see if any medals he received
 JH> are legit.  Kerry is being investigated.  

 JH> I hope this becomes a commonly known fact in this country in the next
 JH> couple of days.

Don't count on it, John ... [sigh] ...

 JH> Reported by Byron York in "The Hill" September 9, 2004

 JH> Bush's National Guard years
 JH> Before you fall for Dems' spin, here are the facts 

 JH> What do you really know about George W. Bush's time in the Air
 JH> National Guard? That he didn't show up for duty in Alabama? That he
 JH> missed a physical? That his daddy got him in?

 JH> News coverage of the president's years in the Guard has tended to
 JH> focus on one brief portion of that time - to the exclusion of virtually
 JH> everything else. So just for the record, here, in full, is what Bush
 JH> did: 
 JH> The future president joined the Guard in May 1968. Almost immediately,
 JH> he began an extended period of training. Six weeks of basic training.
 JH> Fifty-three weeks of flight training. Twenty-one weeks of
 JH> fighter-interceptor training.  
 JH> That was 80 weeks to begin with, and there were other training periods
 JH> thrown in as well. It was full-time work. By the time it was over, Bush
 JH> had served nearly two years.

 JH> Not two years of weekends. Two years.

 JH> After training, Bush kept flying, racking up hundreds of hours in
 JH> F-102 jets. As he did, he accumulated points toward his National Guard
 JH> service requirements. At the time, guardsmen were required to
 JH> accumulate a minimum of 50 points to meet their yearly obligation.

 JH> According to records released earlier this year, Bush earned 253
 JH> points in his first year, May 1968 to May 1969 (since he joined in May
 JH> 1968, his service thereafter was measured on a May-to-May basis).

 JH> Bush earned 340 points in 1969-1970. He earned 137 points in
 JH> 1970-1971. And he earned 112 points in 1971-1972. The numbers indicate
 JH> that in his first four years, Bush not only showed up, he showed up a
 JH> lot. Did you know that? 
 JH> That brings the story to May 1972 - the time that has been the focus
 JH> of so many news reports - when Bush "deserted" (according to anti-Bush
 JH> filmmaker Michael Moore) or went "AWOL" (according to Terry McAuliffe,
 JH> chairman of the Democratic National Committee).

 JH> Bush asked for permission to go to Alabama to work on a Senate
 JH> campaign. His superior officers said OK. Requests like that weren't
 JH> unusual, says retired Col. William Campenni, who flew with Bush in 1970
 JH> and 1971. 
 JH> "In 1972, there was an enormous glut of pilots," Campenni says. "The
 JH> Vietnam War was winding down, and the Air Force was putting pilots in
 JH> desk jobs. In '72 or '73, if you were a pilot, active or Guard, and you
 JH> had an obligation and wanted to get out, no problem. In fact, you were
 JH> helping them solve their problem."

 JH> So Bush stopped flying. From May 1972 to May 1973, he earned just 56
 JH> points — not much, but enough to meet his requirement.

 JH> Then, in 1973, as Bush made plans to leave the Guard and go to Harvard
 JH> Business School, he again started showing up frequently.

 JH> In June and July of 1973, he accumulated 56 points, enough to meet the
 JH> minimum requirement for the 1973-1974 year.

 JH> Then, at his request, he was given permission to go. Bush received an
 JH> honorable discharge after serving five years, four months and five days
 JH> of his original six-year commitment. By that time, however, he had
 JH> accumulated enough points in each year to cover six years of service.

 JH> During his service, Bush received high marks as a pilot.

 JH> A 1970 evaluation said Bush "clearly stands out as a top notch fighter
 JH> interceptor pilot" and was "a natural leader whom his contemporaries
 JH> look to for leadership." 

 JH> A 1971 evaluation called Bush "an exceptionally fine young officer and
 JH> pilot" who "continually flies intercept missions with the unit to
 JH> increase his proficiency even further." And a 1972 evaluation called
 JH> Bush "an exceptional fighter interceptor pilot and officer."

 JH> Now, it is only natural that news reports questioning Bush's service -
 JH> in The Boston Globe and The New York Times, on CBS and in other outlets
 JH> - would come out now. Democrats are spitting mad over attacks on John
 JH> Kerry's record by the group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. 

 JH> And, as it is with Kerry, it's reasonable to look at a candidate's
 JH> entire record, including his military service - or lack of it. Voters
 JH> are perfectly able to decide whether it's important or not in November.

 JH> The Kerry camp blames Bush for the Swift boat veterans' attack, but
 JH> anyone who has spent much time talking to the Swifties gets the sense
 JH> that they are doing it entirely for their own reasons.

 JH> And it should be noted in passing that Kerry has personally questioned
 JH> Bush's service, while Bush has not personally questioned Kerry's.

 JH> In April - before the Swift boat veterans had said a word - Kerry said
 JH> Bush "has yet to explain to America whether or not, and tell the truth,
 JH> about whether he showed up for duty." Earlier, Kerry said, "Just
 JH> because you get an honorable discharge does not, in fact, answer that
 JH> question." 
 JH> Now, after the Swift boat episode, the spotlight has returned to Bush.
 JH> 
 JH> That's fine. We should know as much as we can.

 JH> And perhaps someday Kerry will release more of his military records as
 JH> well. 

Very interesting article.  One thing which is certain, though, 
is that the New York Times would burn down their own 
building before ever printing anything like *this* article ... 
[sigh] ...

... Dead lawyers make the best fertilizer.

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