Very
good article in today's L.A. Times,
'I Did My Duty,' President Says of His Military Service Record.
The article, which is chiefly about Bush's appearance on MTP, mentions that several retired officials from Bush's unit don't remember him showing up for duty and that some records show he was suspended for failing to take a required medical exam. Also, this:
He later returned to Houston, but there were apparent problems there as well. His Texas records show, for instance, that in 1973 he could not be evaluated because "Bush has not been observed at this unit during the period of report."
That year Bush was allowed to leave the Texas National Guard eight months short of his six-year obligation so he could enroll at the Harvard Business School. On Sunday, the president said he "worked it out with the military" to win the early discharge.
Former Vermont governor and Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean appeared on CNN's "Late Edition With Wolf Blitzer" on Sunday and asked rhetorically, "Had the president not been a son of a congressman, would he have been able to be honorably discharged under the circumstances?"
Dean said all of Bush's military records should be released to the media, adding, "I think there's some hard questions that have been asked that the president needs to answer."
Dean, also the scion of a wealthy family who became draft eligible when he graduated from Yale during the war, was granted a medical deferment because of a back ailment.
Once again, Dean does yeoman's work in attacking Bush.
There is also an interesting sidebar article, Blix Decries Spin on Iraq Intelligence. Excerpt:
"I think we issued the correct warning. Nevertheless, they did not take that seriously," he said.
"And we now know that there were no weapons of mass destruction when the invasion started," he added. "Now we hear a case saying that 'well, there were programs, there were laboratories that were suitable ... or there were intentions.' I would say, all right, let's have evidence of that."
Blix said Western intelligence agencies had been too willing to believe questionable information from Iraqi defectors.
"However, the other side of it, I think, is the spin the politicians have given to it," he said. "I have never said that I think Prime Minister Blair or President Bush were in bad faith. But I do see that how they express themselves has to do with information management."