- In February, President Bush told a national television
audience that he would "absolutely"[1] authorize the release
of all records pertaining to his military service after questions had
arisen
about whether he fulfilled his duty. Days later, the White House claimed
it released everything, with Bush campaign spokesman Terry Holt telling
Fox News the documents were "black and white proof that the president
served in the National Guard."[2] But, as Associated Press now
reports,
the White House has only released "partial documentation" and
has refused to comply with the news service's Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA) request for the rest of the public record.[3]
-
- As AP notes, "records released so far do not put
to rest questions over whether Bush fulfilled his National Guard service
for a period during the Vietnam War."[4] Just last week, the Pentagon
claimed that key records still not made public about
where Bush was were "inadvertently destroyed."[5] While the White
House did acknowledge the missing records in February, AP reports that
the President still has not authorized the release of copies of destroyed
records that are legally required to exist at the Texas state archives.
[6] That is why the news agency has had to file a FOIA request.
-
- In its legal brief demanding the President release the
documents he promised to release, AP wrote, "A significant, ongoing
controversy exists over the president's military service during the Vietnam
War, specifically whether he performed his required service between May
and October 1972...The public has an intense and legitimate interest in
knowing the facts concerning the president's military service. Reviewing
the microfilm copy of the personnel file at the Texas Records center could
well answer the questions that have been raised." AP said full
disclosure
would give the public the whole story and also answer questions about
"allegations
that potentially embarrassing material was removed from Bush's military
file in 1997."[7]
-
- Sources:
-
- 1. "Transcript for Feb. 8th Guest: President George
W. Bush," MSNBC News, 2/13/04. http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4179618/
-
- 2. "White House Releases Bush Military Pay Records
," Fox News, 2/10/04.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,110956,00.html
-
- 3. "AP Continues Push for Bush Military
Records,"
Editor & Publisher, 7/16/04.
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/n
ws/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000579869
-
- 4. Ibid.
-
- 5. "Pentagon Says Bush Records Of Service Were
Destroyed,"
The New York Times, 7/09/04.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F
B0912FC385F0C7A8CDDAE0894DC404482
-
- 6. "AP Sues for Bush Guard Records," Editor
& Publisher, 6/22/04.
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/departments/news
room/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000543184
-
- 7. "AP Asks Judge to Order Quick Release of Bush
Military Records," First Amendment Center, 7/19/04.
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=13711
-
- http://www.misleader.org/daily_mislead/Read.asp?fn=df07222004.html
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