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Politics : Don't Blame Me, I Voted For Kerry -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: PROLIFE who wrote (1723)	2/11/2004 11:52:03 PM
From: ChinuSFO	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 81568

Bush arms himself with service record By Roy Eccleston, Washington 12feb04 FACING an election battle against a war hero, US President George W. Bush has distributed pay records from his time in the Texas Air National Guard to try to kill off claims he was absent without leave during the Vietnam War. But the records, which the White House says were unearthed only this week, have not cleared up allegations by Democrats that Mr Bush – a fighter pilot – failed to show up for duty for long periods. The documents say Mr Bush received pay for service during the 1972-74 period, accumulating enough points from duties to be entitled to an honorable discharge when he left the military. But they also show the then lieutenant Bush received no pay at all for about six months of 1972, during which he had transferred to Alabama to work on a Senate political campaign. The issue was raised in the 2000 election, but has blown up again because Massachusetts senator John Kerry – who looks certain to be the Democratic presidential candidate – volunteered to go to Vietnam and won several medals for bravery. Senator Kerry declined to comment yesterday, after previously likening Mr Bush's service in the National Guard to others who refused to serve in Vietnam. The Air National Guard's website admits it acquired a reputation "as draft havens for relatively affluent young white men". But White House spokesman Scott McClellan rejected the criticisms. "These records I'm holding here clearly document the President fulfilling his duties in the National Guard," he said. "The President was proud of his service. The President recalls serving both when he was in Texas and when he was in Alabama." But he said the White House had been unable to find anyone who could remember serving with a man who later became the US President. "I mean, obviously, we would have made people available," he said. In contrast, Senator Kerry has campaigned with his comrades-in-arms, including a Green Beret whose life he saved. Mr McClellan said the new information came from the US military's personnel centres in St Louis and Colorado state, which had begun to pull the information together after Mr Bush said at the weekend that he would agree to his pay records being made public. The documents showed that accusations Mr Bush was a "deserter" or "AWOL" were "outrageous and baseless", Mr McClellan said. theaustralian.news.com.au