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Bushco keeps saying that the issue of his Guard duty has been raised in every political campaign in which George Bush has engaged. CBS should ask Bush to point out exactly where and when Bush has answered the questions raised by the documents from Bush's official military file. What interview? With which reporter? Publicized in what newspaper or TV broadcast?
The memos basically have added two bits of information: that a direct order was given to George Bush that he go to a required annual medical exam and that Col. Killian was receiving pressure to sugarcoat Bush's evaluations.
But an order permanently suspending George Bush and James Bath from flying for failing to attend their annual medical exams, signed by Major General Greenlief, is not one of the memos in doubt. It is a part of Bush's official medical file. If Bush feels the Order suspending him from flying was unfair (for example, he never got the order telling him to attend) then why didn't he follow up and challenge the suspension? Would the National Guard have suspended someone for failing to attend an annual medical exam without making it clear to them beforehand that they were ordered to attend? And as far as Bush receiving favoritism while in the Guard, getting into the Guard itself was a mark of favoritism. Out of 3.7 million Americans who served in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam war, 2.5 million actually were "in country" at one time during the 10 years of war. Of those, only 6,000 over 10 years were National Guard. Of those 6,000, only 100 were killed in action. It's clear that the Guard was a de facto haven for those who wanted neither combat nor refuge in Canada.
If I were CBS, I would ask Bush when he ever answered the questions raised by his entire military record, of which the memos are only a small part.
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