Bush AWOL documents fake?

I am suggesting nothing, I assert the Yellowcake Documents complaint is both diversionary and unfounded. I further submit that in perpetuating that particular meme, The Opposition clearly evidences a preference for rote partisanship as opposed to objective, analytically thought-out proactive discourse.

testing 123

DontTreadonMe as evidence of Fox's conservative bias (a fact with which I don't disagree) used quotes from Niel Gabler and the "woman panelist". He failed to mention that these two are the liberal members of Fox's weekly program "Newswatch". I am not surprised that the two conservative panelists on the program were not quoted.

Outfoxed - Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism

Speaking Out
Air National Guard Colonel Denies Bush Got Preferential Treatment
ABCNEWS.com

Sept. 17, 2004?- The man cited in media reports as having allegedly pressured others in the Texas Air National Guard to help George W. Bush is speaking out, telling ABC News in an exclusive interview that he never sought special treatment for Bush.


Retired Col. Walter Staudt, who was brigadier general of Bush's unit in Texas, interviewed Bush for the Guard position and retired in March 1972. He was mentioned in one of the memos allegedly written by Lt. Col. Jerry Killian as having pressured Killian to assist Bush, though Bush supposedly was not meeting Guard standards.
"I never pressured anybody about George Bush because I had no reason to," Staudt told ABC News in his first interview since the documents were made public.

The memo stated that "Staudt is pushing to sugar coat" a review of Bush's performance.

Staudt said he decided to come forward because he saw erroneous reports on television. CBS News first reported on the memos, which have come under scrutiny by document experts who question whether they are authentic. Killian, the purported author of the documents, died in 1984.

Staudt insisted Bush did not use connections to avoid being sent to Vietnam.

"He didn't use political influence to get into the Air National Guard," Staudt said, adding, "I don't know how they would know that, because I was the one who did it and I was the one who was there and I didn't talk to any of them."

?'Highly Qualified'

During his time in charge of the unit, Staudt decided whether to accept those who applied for pilot training. He recalled Bush as a standout candidate.

"He was highly qualified," he said. "He passed all the scrutiny and tests he was given."

Staudt said he never tried to influence Killian or other Guardsmen, and added that he never came under any pressure himself to accept Bush. "No one called me about taking George Bush into the Air National Guard," he said. "It was my decision. I swore him in. I never heard anything from anybody."

When he interviewed for the job, Bush was eager to join the pilot program, which Staudt said often was a hard sell. "I asked him, 'Why do you want to be a fighter pilot?' " Staudt recalled. "He said, 'Because my daddy was one.' He was a well-educated, bright-eyed young man, just the kind of guy we were looking for."

He added that Bush more than met the requirements for pilot training. "He presented himself well. I'd say he was in the upper 10 percent or 5 percent or whatever we ever talked to about going to pilot training. We were pretty particular because when he came back [from training], we had to fly with him."

Bush has repeatedly said he completed all of his Guard commitments. Critics of the president say he got special treatment because his father was a congressman and U.N. ambassador. There also have been questions about why the young Bush skipped a required medical exam in 1972 and apparently failed to show up for Guard activities for six months.

Records show Bush stopped flying F-102As in April 1972. He has said he moved to Alabama to work on the Senate campaign of a family friend. Staudt retired from the Guard in March of that year and said he was never contacted about Bush's performance.

"There was no contact between me and George Bush … he certainly never asked for help," Staudt said. "He didn't need any help as far as I knew."

He added that after retiring he was not involved in Air National Guard affairs. "I didn't check in with anybody ?- I had no reason to," he said. "I was busy with my civilian endeavors, and they were busy with their military options. I had no reason to talk to them, and I didn't."

Staudt said he continues to support Bush now that he is president. "My politics now are that I'm an American, and that's about all I can tell you," he said. "And I'm going to vote for George Bush."

ABC News' Ariane DeVogue contributed to this report.

Outfoxed - Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism

If a neoconservative can explain to ME why the news of Iraq that the press is reporting compared to what Bush is saying about Iraq sound so paradoxically different, then I'll eat my shoe.

Texas Cmdr. Praised Bush To Pop
NEW YORK, Sept. 17, 2004

(CBS/AP) A packet of Texas Air National Guard records released Friday showed that the commanding officer of President Bush's basic training unit took a special interest in him as a trainee and wrote to his father to praise his son.

Bush's father, then a congressman from Texas, said in reply to the commander, "That a major general in the Air Force would take interest in a brand new Air Force trainee made a big impression on me."

Bush went on to say that his son "will be a gung ho member" of the Air Force and that Air Force instructors had "helped awaken the very best instincts in my son."

The letter and other material were the latest in a stream of documents released about Bush's service three decades ago during the Vietnam War, when Bush's critics say he got preferential treatment as the son of a congressman and U.N. ambassador. Critics have also questioned why Bush skipped a required medical examination in 1972 and failed to show up for drills during a six-month period that year.

The White House has said repeatedly that all of Bush's Guard records have been disclosed, only to be embarrassed when new documents have turned up. The long-running story took an unusual turn when CBS uncovered documents purportedly showing that Bush refused orders to take a physical examination in 1972 ?- but then the authenticity of the documents came under doubt.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CBS issued this statement Friday:
"CBS News is determined to answer the questions that have emerged about documents in a report originally broadcast on 60 MINUTES Wednesday. We will continue to aggressively report on those documents and all aspects of the story until the matter is resolved and, when it is, broadcast our findings as soon as possible. The network has provided two e-mail address for viewer feed back, one for general audience viewers and another for 60 Minutes viewers.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


In addition to the letter from Bush's father, the latest documents contain news releases that the Texas Air National Guard sent to Houston newspapers in 1970 about young Bush, then a second lieutenant and new pilot. "George Bush is one member of the younger generation who doesn't get his kicks from pot or hashish or speed," the news release said. "Oh, he gets high, all right, but not from narcotics."

Three decades later, a new book by Kitty Kelley has alleged that Bush used cocaine while he was a student at Yale University and later at Camp David while his father was president.

The White House has denounced Kelley's book, "The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty," and denied the charges.

The new packet of documents also contained two single-page orders documenting Bush's guard training in May and June of 1973 after he returned from Alabama. Those documents note that Bush was not allowed to fly. A year earlier, he had lost his flying status when he failed to take a required medical exam.

The letter written by Bush's father, former President Bush, was addressed to Maj. Gen. G.B. Greene Jr., commander of the training center at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, where Bush took his basic training. The file does not contain Greene's letter to Bush's father, but shows the letter his father wrote back.

"I was surprised and very, very pleased to receive your letter of Aug. 27th," Bush wrote, adding that he was impressed that a senior officer would take interest in a new trainee.

"Naturally, as a father I was pleased to read your comments about George," Bush wrote. "He is anxiously looking forward to going to flight school and with parental pride, I do have the feeling that he will be a gung ho member of the U.S. Air Force. I think that he will make a good pilot as well."

The letter went on to say that young Bush, on his first trip back home, was full of enthusiasm and kept the family up talking about his first instructor, Sgt. Henry Onacki, who had impressed Bush with his love of country and dedication to the Air Force.

"In this day and age when it has become a little bit fashionable to be critical of the military, I was delighted to see him return to our house with a real pride in the service and with a great respect for the leaders that he had encountered at Lackland."

Both Mr. Bush's and John Kerry's military service records have become a major issue in the presidential race. New records that have surfaced in recent weeks have raised more questions.

Mr. Bush's critics say the president got preferential treatment as the son of a congressman and U.N. ambassador. Critics also question why Mr. Bush skipped a required medical examination in 1972 and failed to show up for drills during a six-month period that year.

Mr. Bush has repeatedly said he fulfilled all of his Air National Guard obligations.

The controversy over Mr. Bush's military service sharpened last week when CBS News' 60 Minutes disclosed memos said to be written by the late Lt. Col. Jerry Killian, Mr. Bush's National Guard commander.

The memos indicated that Killian had been pressured to sugarcoat Mr. Bush's performance, and that the future president had ignored an order to take a physical.

The authenticity of the memos have been challenged by critics who say the documents appear to have been prepared on a modern computer rather than a 1970-era typewriter, as would have been the case when Mr. Bush was in the guard.

Skeptics have also said the memos contain stylistic differences with other documents attributed to Killian, dated information and improper military lingo. Meanwhile, associates of the Col. Killian are split on whether the content of the memos reflected his thinking at the time.

CBS flew Killian's former secretary, Marian Carr Knox, 86, from Texas to New York for an interview. In the interview, Knox said she believed the documents were fake, but their content accurately reflected Killian's opinions.

"I know that I didn't type them," she said. "However, the information in those is correct."

Acknowledging questions raised about the documents suggesting lapses in Mr. Bush's National Guard service, CBS News promised a concerted effort to determine their authenticity while standing by its story.

"Enough questions have been raised that we are going redouble our efforts to answer those questions," CBS News President Andrew Heyward said.


©MMIV, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

flyboy804 wrote:

DontTreadonMe as evidence of Fox's conservative bias (a fact with which I don't disagree) used quotes from Niel Gabler and the "woman panelist". He failed to mention that these two are the liberal members of Fox's weekly program "Newswatch". I am not surprised that the two conservative panelists on the program were not quoted.

did i not say that i was going to make the clip available? then what would be the point of my quoting the whole thing?

so what's your point? just wanna say "look! the liberal didn't quote the conservatives! liberal bias! liberal bias!"

cool your jets until i find a way to post it. they don't make it easy to do here.

Parallels Drawn Between CBS Memos, Texan's Postings

By Michael Dobbs
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, September 18, 2004; Page A02

The former Texas National Guard officer suspected of providing CBS News with possibly forged records on President Bush's military service called on Democratic activists to wage "war" against Republican "dirty tricks" in a series of Internet postings in which he also used phrases similar to several employed in the disputed documents.

Retired Lt. Col. Bill Burkett, who earlier said he overheard Bush aides conspiring with the commander of the Texas National Guard to "sanitize" the president's military records, has refused to comment on reports that he could be CBS's confidential source ...

Navy Halts Kerry Medal Probe

The Navy's chief investigator has halted a formal investigation into questions about Sen. John Kerry's Vietnam combat decorations without answering key questions about the circumstances of those awards.

"Our examination found that existing documentation regarding the Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart medals indicates the awards approval process was properly followed," Navy inspector general, Vice Adm. R.A. Route said in a memo to Navy Secretary Gordon England ...

Texan Involved in CBS Report Tried to Help Kerry Campaign


By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK and JIM RUTENBERG

Published: September 18, 2004


BAIRD, Tex., Sept. 17 - Bill Burkett, the former Texas National Guard officer who has been caught up in the mystery of how CBS News acquired memos that seem to question President Bush's Vietnam-era National Guard service, unsuccessfully offered information and advice to help the Kerry campaign attack Mr. Bush, according to a posting Mr. Burkett wrote in an e-mail newsletter.

"I spent some time on the phone with the Kerry campaign seniors yesterday," Mr. Burkett wrote on Aug. 21 in an e-mail letter circulated to a list of about 600 Texas Democrats.

He complained that he had to "get through seven layers of bureaucratic kids trying to get a job after the election."

"I talked with Max Cleland," Mr. Burkett continued, referring to the former senator from Georgia who has been supporting Senator John Kerry's Democratic presidential bid.

Alluding to advertisements by a veterans group that deprecates Mr. Kerry's Vietnam service, Mr. Burkett continued, "I asked if they wanted to counterattack or ride this to ground and outlast it, not spending any money. He said counterattack."

"So I gave them the information to do it with," Mr. Burkett wrote. "But none of them have called me back."

Mr. Burkett did not say what information he offered. Earlier this year, he gained attention for saying that in 1998 he saw aides to Gov. George W. Bush of Texas and Guard officials dispose of pieces of Mr. Bush's National Guard record that could prove politically embarrassing. Mr. Bush's aides have denied his account.

"I volunteered to come back out with more," Mr. Burkett wrote.

Mr. Burkett, who was at home on his ranch in Baird, near Abilene, on Friday, declined to comment.

]Mr. Cleland said in a telephone interview that Mr. Burkett called him "a couple of weeks ago," as he was out campaigning for Mr. Kerry.

"I couldn't swear to it whether he used the term documents or information," Mr. Cleland said. "It was some kind of stuff, some kind of information he wanted to get to the campaign, or something, regarding Bush's National Guard service. I referred him up to somebody in the campaign."

Mr. Cleland said he received up to 100 calls a week from people with tips and ideas. "He sounded like he had something," Mr. Cleland said. "But of course, in this business, you go around, every friend, everyone around the corner, has some something or other."

Campaign officials said Mr. Cleland had referred Mr. Burkett to someone at the campaign who passed his message on to the research department, where the message was set aside amid the deluge of other calls.

Mr. Burkett has returned to national attention since CBS News and "60 Minutes" reported last week on four memos reportedly from the personal files of Lt. Col. Jerry Killian, Mr. Bush's squadron commander, who died 20 years ago. The memos said that Colonel Killian was under pressure to "sugar coat" the record of the young Lieutenant Bush and that the officer had disobeyed a direct order to take a physical.

Forensic experts, a secretary who said she typed Lieutenant Killian's memos and members of his family have said that they doubt the authenticity of the documents. CBS News has said it is evaluating their legitimacy and has declined to identify its sources. But one person at CBS confirmed an account in Newsweek that Mr. Burkett had helped with the reports. The official was unable to say what role he played.

Mr. Burkett is an avid Democrat and a frequent contributor to the Texas Democratic e-mail list. His name also shows up occasionally as a contributor of criticism of the Bush administration on a Web site, onlinejournal.com. Asked about his contributions to that site, Mr. Burkett on Friday declined to comment. His wife, Nicki, later confirmed that the articles were indeed his.

His many online musings provide a glimpse of his thinking, including his intense desire to remove Mr. Bush from office. They include some inconclusive references to the possibility of more documents appearing about Mr. Bush's Guard service. Aside from the CBS report, the Pentagon on Friday released new documents from Mr. Bush's files.

Addressing Mr. Bush rhetorically in an article on the Web site on Aug. 25, Mr. Burkett wrote, "I know from your files that we have now reassembled, the fact that you did not fulfill your oath, taken when you were commissioned to 'obey the orders of the officers appointed over you.' " On Sept. 4, shortly before CBS News broadcast its report, Mr. Burkett told the Democratic e-mail list he had a hunch that more material might soon emerge to embarrass the president. "No proof, just gut instinct," Mr. Burkett added.

Mr. Burkett's lawyer, David Van Os, said his client had not fabricated any documents. "From my knowledge of Bill's character, I am 100 percent positively, unequivocally certain that Bill Burkett has not created or falsified any documents," Mr. Van Os said.

In another development, ABC News reported on Friday that former Col. Walter B. Staudt - who interviewed Mr. Bush for enrollment to the Texas Air National Guard in 1968 and who was named in a disputed Killian memo as exerting influence on behalf of Mr. Bush - said he "never pressured anybody about George Bush." He also told ABC News that he planned to vote for Mr. Bush.


David D. Kirkpatrick reported from Baird for this article, and Jim Rutenberg from New York. Nathan Levy contributed reporting from Baird.