Bush Defends Guard Duty After Democrat Attacks
By REUTERS
February 8, 2004
Filed at 3:22 p.m. ET
nytimes.com
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush accused Democrats on Sunday of misrepresenting his record of attendance in the Air National Guard far from the front lines of the Vietnam war, insisting ``I did my duty'' although there may be no evidence.
Bush said the Democrats' allegations -- that he shirked his duties and was absent without leave (AWOL) from the Guard in the early 1970s -- were untrue and politically motivated, and he declared on NBC's ``Meet the Press'' program, ``I'm not going to lose'' the November election.
While he did not name Democratic presidential front-runner and decorated Vietnam veteran John Kerry, Bush suggested that those stoking the controversy were denigrating the entire National Guard.
The Republican president expressed misgivings about the way Vietnam was executed, calling it a ``political war.'' Asked if he was in favor it, Bush said only: ``I supported my government. I did. And (I) would have gone had my (National Guard) unit been called up.''
Unlike Kerry, Bush did not volunteer to serve in Vietnam. Instead he joined the Texas Air National Guard.
``I put in my time, proudly so,'' Bush said.
Democrats already have challenged Bush's record of attendance in the guard in 1972 when he transferred temporarily to an Alabama unit to work on a political campaign.
Underscoring White House concerns that it could become a campaign issue, Bush went on the offensive for the first time, saying, ``What I don't like is when people say serving in the Guard ... may not be a true service.''
Democrats shot back, pointing to reports that Bush has not provided enough body armor, desert camouflage and equipment to some National Guard units preparing for deployments in Iraq.
Bush was upbeat about his re-election chances despite a new Time/CNN poll showing 55 percent of Americans have ``doubts and reservations'' about him. ``No, I'm not going to lose,'' Bush insisted.
According to a copy of the National Guard document granting him an ``honorable'' discharge on Oct. 1, 1973, Bush completed five years and four months of service -- less than the obligatory six years -- before going to Harvard Business School.
Bush said Democratic charges that he went ``AWOL'' by missing required drills in Alabama were evidence that the ``political season is here.''
'I DID MY DUTY'
``I served in the National Guard. I flew F-102 aircraft. I got an honorable discharge... I did my duty,'' Bush said.
Asked why no evidence has been found to show he reported to duty in Alabama during the summer and fall of 1972, Bush said: ``There may be no evidence, but I did report. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been honorably discharged.''
Bush said he would authorize the release of any documents relating to his Guard service during that period -- ``if we still have them.'' He said the records are kept in Colorado and have already been ``scoured.''
But attendance records of the 187th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron in Alabama do not show that Bush ever was there. ``I never saw the man, I never met the man,'' Kenneth Lott, the squadron's personnel officer at the time, told Newsweek.
Bush acknowledged that he did not volunteer to go to Vietnam. ``No, I didn't. You're right,'' he said.
Pressed on his feelings about that war, Bush said: ``It was a political war. We had politicians making military decisions.''
Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe thrust the issue to the political center stage a week ago by saying he welcomed a debate on military service if Kerry won the party's presidential nomination.
``I look forward to that debate when John Kerry, a war hero with a chest full of medals, is standing next to George Bush, a man who was AWOL in the Alabama National Guard,'' McAuliffe said. Asked whether he considered Bush ``AWOL'' during his service in the National Guard, Kerry responded, ``It is a question that's been raised and that ought to be answered.''
A new Time magazine poll says 60 percent think Kerry did his duty for the country during the Vietnam war. In contrast, 39 percent said Bush did his duty.
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