Commander in Chief?
Or Commander in Thief?

George W. Bush joined the Air National Guard in May 1968 for a six-year enlistment. During his fifth year, May 1972 to May 1973, he performed zero hours of duty. Besides failing to report for duty, Gov. Bush disobeyed an order to report for a required annual medical exam and was suspended from flying in August 1972.

Should a man who took an oath to do his patriotic duty, and then didn't do it, be our next Commander in Chief?

What George W. Bush did when he was "young and irresponsible" may not be important today. What is important today is his evasiveness when asked about his military service. His responses have contradicted his military records, standard military procedures, the testimony of his former commanding officers, and even his official biography. He has not been able to produce even one eyewitness to confirm that he reported for duty during the "missing year."

"Had he [Bush] reported in, I would have had some recall, and I do not. I had been in Texas, done my flight training there. If we had had a first lieutenant from Texas, I would have remembered."
(Gen. William Turnipseed (ret), in the Boston Globe, May 23, 2000)

"If [Bush] had come back to Houston, I would have kept him flying the 102 until he got out. But I don't recall him coming back at all."
(Maj. Gen. Bobby Hodges (ret), in the Boston Globe, July 28, 2000)

"Lt. Bush has not been observed at this unit during the period of this report."
(Lieutenant Colonel William D. Harris Jr. and Lieutenant Colonel Jerry B. Killian, on Bush's annual efficiency report dated May 2, 1973)

"There was a sense of shared responsibility… The responsibility to show up and do your job."
(George W. Bush, in the National Guard Review, Winter 1998)

If this story surprises you, that's because nearly all the news media have ignored it. Martin Heldt, an Iowa farmer, has done what all those journalists have been unable or unwilling to do: he used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain Gov. Bush's National Guard records. Mr. Heldt's research has created a troubling picture of Gov. Bush's dereliction of duty. You can see that picture for yourself — newspaper reports, military records, and a timeline of relevant events — at http://www.awolbush.com.

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