AWOL? Deserter? Bring It On! Bob Fertik - http://democrats.com/display.cfm?id=322

In the New Hampshire Democratic debate sponsored by FOX News on Jan. 22, ABC's Peter Jennings challenged Wesley Clark to repudiate the claim of Michael Moore that George W. Bush was a "deserter."

Mr. Moore said, in front of you, that President Bush-he's saying he'd like to see you, the general, and President Bush, who he called a "deserter." Now, that's a reckless charge not supported by the facts. And I was curious to know why you didn't contradict him... Do you still feel comfortable with the fact that someone should be standing up in your presence and calling the president of the United States a deserter?

Wesley Clark hedged his answer by saying:

that's Michael Moore's opinion. He's entitled to say that. I've seen-he's not the only person who's said that. I've not followed up on those facts.

After the debate, pundits and journalists joined Jennings in attacking Clark for not condemning Moore's statement. Those attacks continued through the Sunday talk shows, including Meet the Press, where Tim Russert, Tom Brokaw, and David Broder all attacked Clark.

So this raises a crucial question: What are the facts? Did Bush go "AWOL"? Is he a "deserter"?

Michael Moore isn't backing down. He quickly wrote a letter called George W. Bush, A.W.O.L., which accuses the media of deliberately burying the AWOL issue in 2000 to protect Bush, but raising the "deserter" issue now to distract voters "from the real issues: the war, the economy, and the failures of the Bush administration."

Without a doubt, Bush went AWOL on May 15, 1972. His superior officer wrote (see image at top) that Bush "cleared this base" on that date, simply walking away from his obligation to his country with two years left to serve. He did not request a new assignment until 9 days later, on May 24 1972. For those 9 days, Bush was simply "absent without leave" - AWOL.

But that is just the beginning of the story. In 2000, Iowa farmer Marty Heldt used documents released under the Freedom of Information Act to conclude that Bush was AWOL for an entire year - from May 1 1972 to April 30 1973. On October 4 2000, ret. 1st Lt. Mission Pilot Robert A. Rogers examined the documents in greater detail and concluded that Bush did not report for duty the following year either, the last of his 6-years in the Texas Air National Guard.

Despite the evidence, George W. Bush insists that he did perform his required drills at a base in Alabama in the fall of 1972, and then performed additional drills back in Texas in the spring of 1973. But the documents show otherwise, and Bush's commanding officers in both Alabama and Texas say they never saw Bush during those two years, as Walter Robinson of the Boston Globe first reported on May 23, 2000.

In 2000, the Bush campaign conducted a thorough search for witnesses or evidence to prove that Bush actually performed his service. They came up completely empty, until Nov 3, 2000 - just 4 days before the election - when the NY Times declared:

Documents reviewed by The Times showed that Mr. Bush served in at least 9 of the 17 months in question.

So despite solid evidence from witnesses and documents that Bush never peformed another drill, the Bush campaign's entire case rested on a single torn document with no name, no signature, and no date - literally one single "shred" of evidence.

Yet this document was cited by the New York Times in November 2000 as the definitive rebuttal, and is the entire basis for the claims of Peter Jennings, Tim Russert, Tom Brokaw, David Broder, and the rest of Bush's media defenders, that Bush was not AWOL - and was not a deserter. Since that report, no reporter - including Peter Jennings, Tim Russert, Tom Brokaw, and David Broder - has ever examined the evidence any further, or asked Mr. Bush for more details.

So, dear reader, here is the evidence: we report, you decide.

Article 85 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice has a word for this: deserter.

(a) Any member of the armed forces who
(1) without authority goes or remains absent from his unit, organization, or place of duty with intent to remain away therefrom permanently;

The language couldn't be much simpler. Yet Bush's defenders reject the charge of "deserter" completely out of hand.

Without a shred of evidence for their case, some of Bush's defenders resort to the most absurd defenses. On FOX, for example, the question of desertion was reduced to the following: if Bush was a "deserter", he would have been hanged or shot. He's still alive, hence he could not have been a "deserter."

Certainly in the Civil War, deserters were shot - as Cold Mountain vividly depicts. But countless numbers of soldiers went AWOL - or worse. Can anyone name a soldier who was shot or hanged for desertion during Vietnam?

It's utterly bizarre how FOX can reduce a complex legal case to a single equation, given the countless hours it spends each day micro-analyzing the thousands of steps between committing a crime and receiving full justice for that crime. Let's just cite a few current cases: Scott Peterson (is he a "murderer"?), Michael Jackson (is he a "child molester"?), Kobe Bryant (is he a "rapist"?). Is there a motion - or even a thought of a motion - that does not receive full-court coverage in these cases?

America has two systems of justice - a harsh and merciless one for the poor and weak, and a gentle and forgiving one for the rich and powerful. For five generations, the Bush family (including today's young adults) has benefited from this second system, while frequently enforcing the first - as George and Jeb Bush have together signed more executions than anyone else.

Given the power of the Bush family - and its evasion of justice for five generations, as Kevin Phillips has thoroughly documented in his best-selling book "American Dynasty" - the question of whether Bush was a "deserter" cannot be judged on the basis of his lack of punishment.

Any analysis of the appropriate punishment for Bush's crimes must take into account several factors:

Vietnam was not technically a "war" since Congress never declared war on Vietnam.
Bush was in the National Guard, which operates under different rules from active duty forces.
Still, Michael Moore was not arguing his case before the Supreme Court, but rather before a political rally. And Bush's defenders are not splitting legal hairs, but rather using man-on-the-street definitions. So our analysis will ignore these circumstances to examine the plain meaning of whether Bush was "AWOL" (absent without leave) and/or a "deserter."

The case for AWOL is open and shut, because Bush was absent without leave on several occasions, as the evidence makes clear and even his spokesmen admit. But the case for desertion is less clear. The question is whether Bush ever meant his AWOL to be permanent. Put another way, did Bush abandon his commitment to be a pilot in the Texas Air National Guard?

Given the totality of circumstances, we believe the answer to this question is Yes, making Bush indeed a "deserter."

It may be too late to try this case in a military court. But as we enter the 2004 election - an election in which Bush's single most important claim is his record as Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces he abandoned when he was young enough to fight - this case can be tried in the court of public opinion.

The Democrats should fight this battle, because it goes to the heart of Bush's lack of fitness to be Commander-in-Chief. And this is a battle the Democrats will win, because millions of Americans are outraged that Bush lied to them about the Iraq war.

The pro-Bush media has systematically downplayed this outrage. The anger is deep, and also broad. It is felt not only by the half of America that opposed the war, but also by millions who once supported it - including members of the armed services and their families.

The angriest members of the armed services are those in the Reserves and National Guard. They are carrying a burden they were not supposed to carry; they enlisted to assist the military and supplement their incomes, not to be full-time soldiers in the occupation of a country on the other side of the world.

This extended duty has caused great hardship to many in the armed services, and the media has covered many poignant stories. But Bush has not altered his strict policies to minimize these hardships. Yet when Bush was an officer, he put his personal desires before his orders.

And to make matters worse for those serving under him, Bush has invoked his "stop loss" power to force many to serve beyond the end of their tours.

Indeed, the "stop loss" issue makes Bush's "desertion" especially relevant today. Bush is forcing the troops under his command to serve long after their tours have expired; but when he was an officer, he deserted two years before his tour expired.

Bush is expecting the troops under his command to suffer hardships he was unwilling to suffer himself. Bush owes his troops - and the nation as a whole - the truth about his military career. If he is not willing to tell the truth, then he should resign. No one can command the respect of troops if he is a hypocrite - or a coward.

So here are the facts in "The People v. Lt. George W. Bush."

1. Unlike most of his fellow Yale students, Bush supported the Vietnam War. But when he graduated in 1968, he did not enlist to fight for his country - unlike Wesley Clark, John Kerry, and Al Gore. Instead, while hundreds of thousands of poor and middle-class draftees were facing death in Vietnam, Bush used his powerful family's connections (which he falsely denies) to get a safe and cushy slot in the Texas Air National Guard at Ellington Air Force Base in Houston. This was the start of a 6-year commitment, and taxpayers invested $1 million to teach Bush to be a pilot. But Bush flew for only 22 months after he finished 2 years of training. In his fourth year he was credited with only 22 flight duty days, 14 days short of the minimum 36 days he owed the Guard for that year. Even from the safety of Houston, Bush failed to fulfill his duty to his country.
2. Bush stopped flying completely in April 1972. The reason why has never been explained. But it seems hardly a coincidence that this when the armed forces began substance abuse testing for alcohol and drugs. No reporter - including Peter Jennings, Tim Russert, Tom Brokaw, and David Broder - has ever asked Bush why he stopped flying. (As Texas Governor, Bush enacted stiffer drug sentences; in his January 2004 State of the Union Address, Bush requested $23 million to fund drug testing of students by public schools, making this a legitimate and timely issue.)
3. On May 15 1972, Bush went absent without leave - AWOL. One year later, a commanding officer told his superiors that Bush had "cleared this base" on that date. According to Article 86, AWOL is an "instantaneous offense." After 3 days, ordinary AWOL becomes an "aggravated unauthorized absence." Bush did not even ask permission to leave for 9 days. Finally on May 24, Bush requested in writing a six-month transfer to an inactive postal Reserve unit in Alabama, for the stated purpose of working on the campaign of a very conservative Republican Senate candidate.
4. Besides pursuing right-wing politics, Bush was clearly trying to avoid flying: the unit Bush wanted to be transferred to had no airplanes! Bush's transfer request was therefore denied by National Guard Bureau headquarters on May 31 1972 because "he has a Military Service Obligation until 26 May 1974" and had to be "assigned to a specific Ready Reserve position only" - in other words, he had to continue flying. Since he had no new assignment, his Texas assignment remained in effect. By failing to report back to Ellington AFB in Texas, Bush further aggravated his already-aggravated AWOL.
5. By this point, Bush's AWOL was nearing the point of outright desertion as defined above: (1) without authority goes or remains absent from his unit, organization, or place of duty with intent to remain away therefrom permanently. Bush remained absent from his unit, and seemingly intended to remain away permanently. The explanation of intent is detailed, and many of its conditions apply to Bush. For example: (i) The intent need not exist throughout the absence, or for any particular period of time, as long as it exists at some time during the absence. (ii) it is no defense that the accused also intended to report for duty elsewhere. (iii) [Circumstantial evidence of intent can include:] ... the period of absence was lengthy; ... the accused purchased a ticket for a distant point; ... the accused was dissatisfied with the accuseds unit, ship, or with military service.
6. On his birthday (July 6, 1972), Bush was required to take his annual flight physical. Because of widespread drug problems among soldiers in Vietnam, a drug test was introduced that year for all servicemembers. It is not clear whether Bush took the physical and failed it, or whether he simply didn't show up. At the time, Bush was drinking heavily and possibly using illegal drugs. On August 1, Bush was grounded from flight for "his failure to accomplish annual medical examination." No reporter - including Peter Jennings, Tim Russert, Tom Brokaw, and David Broder - has ever asked Bush about his missed physical and his grounding from flight.
7. In the Air National Guard, expensively trained pilots are not casually suspended. There is normally a Flight Inquiry Board, which exercises the military chain of command's obligation to insure due process. If one had been convened, its three senior officer members would have documented why such a severe action was justified in relation to the country's military objectives at the time, as opposed to the simple desire of a trained pilot to just "give up flying". In October 2000, Democrats.com called upon George W. Bush to release his full military records, including any records of a Flight Inquiry Board. Bush never responded. No journalist - including Peter Jennings, Tim Russert, Tom Brokaw, and David Broder - has ever asked Bush why he won't release his full military records. (In December 2003, top Republican officials harshly criticized Gov. Howard Dean for withholding some of his gubernatorial records, making Bush's refusal to reveal his military records a legitimate and timely issue.)
8. At this stage, Bush was both AWOL and in violation of the standing order for an annual physical. Besides being grounded from flight, Bush could have been punished under two sections of UCMJ. Article 92 covers "Failure to obey order or regulation." Article 133 covers "Conduct unbecoming an officer and gentleman." No journalist - including Peter Jennings, Tim Russert, Tom Brokaw, and David Broder - has ever asked Bush how he avoided more serious punishment for his numerous violations of military rules.
9. How long was Bush AWOL? Bush went to Alabama despite his obligation to report for duty in Texas. He did not even bother to request a new assignment until September 5, when he again requested an assignment in Alabama - this time to the 187th Tactical Recon Group (which did have planes, but not the kind he was qualified to fly) "for the months of September, October and November." By the time this report was received, Bush had already missed the September training in Alabama. He was told to report for training on Oct. 7-8 and Nov. 4-5. Yet Bush's spokesman Dan Bartlett admitted to the NY Times on Nov 3. 2000 (4 days before the election that was decided by 537 votes in veteran-rich Florida) that "Bush did not serve on those dates because he was involved in the Senate campaign." So Bush was still AWOL after 6 months - and he admits it!
10. In the same NY Times interview, Bartlett claimed Bush "made up those dates later.... Mr. Bartlett pointed to a document in Mr. Bush's military records that showed credit for four days of duty ending Nov. 29 and for eight days ending Dec. 14, 1972, and, after he moved back to Houston, on dates in January, April and May." Unfortunately for Bush, this document lacks credibility, as Democrats.com made clear immediately after its first publication in the now-defunct George Magazine. For example, it does not have Lt. Bush's name on it; it is unsigned and undated; it is badly torn, making the dates impossible to discern; it was marked up by an unidentified individual; and it is self-contradictory. This non-credible document is thoroughly discredited by the statements of Bush's commanding officers that Bush never reported for duty. In October 2000, Paul Begala challenged Karl Rove on Meet the Press to "name one" person who served with Bush in Alabama. Rove could not.
11. In September 2000, Veterans for Real Truth published an ad in a Texas newspaper offering a $2,000 reward for proof that Bush performed any duties at Ellington Air Force Base between May 1972 and June 1973. On Oct. 14 2000, a group of Alabama veterans offered a $1,000 reward - subsequently matched by $1,000 from Democrats.com - for any proof that Bush reported for duty in Alabama. No one ever claimed either reward. No reporter - including Peter Jennings, Tim Russert, Tom Brokaw, and David Broder - has ever asked Bush for credible proof or witnesses that he served in Alabama or Texas after May 1972.
12. Did Bush stop flying and go AWOL because of a drug problem? One mysterious period in his life suggests this might have been the cause. Sometime the winter of 1973, Bush returned to Texas and uncharacteristically performed community service with troubled youth. During the 2000 campaign, J.H. Hatfield's thoroughly-researched biography "Fortunate Son" cited unidentified sources close to Bush who claimed Bush was arrested for cocaine use. One of those sources turned out to be Karl Rove. Shortly thereafter, a Texas reporter revealed that Hatfield had served prison time for attempted murder, a media frenzy ensued, and the publisher destroyed all copies of his book. Eventually Hatfield's book was published by Soft Skull Press, but his reputation had been destroyed by the Bush campaign and the media. Amidst financial ruin, Hatfield sank into depression and committed suicide, as told in the award-winning documentary Horns and Halos. Bush never denied taking cocaine, and instead tried to avoid all questions. When news organizations kept up the pressure, Bush said he could pass a security clearance - a clever dodge which only meant that he had no drug arrests after 1976. No reporter - including Peter Jennings, Tim Russert, Tom Brokaw, and David Broder - has ever asked Bush if he was arrested for drug or alcohol abuse before 1976, or if he performed community service.
13. Bush claims he attended National Guard drills during this period (the Spring of 1973) to meet his overdue obligations, but his commanding officer and friend Maj. Gen. Hodges said "I don't recall him coming back at all.'' And in Bush's annual report, Lt. Col. William Harris and Lt. Col. William Killian affirmed that "Lt. Bush has not been observed at this unit during the period of report," which covered the period from May 1, 1972 to April 30, 1973. And there are no entries for actual service in his official record after May 1972.
14. Bush's ultimate defense against the AWOL charge is that he was given an honorable discharge. But a close examination of the evidence by Democrats.com revealed that Bush was awarded points for drills he never attended, as the crowning act of favoritism in a military "career" that was dominated by favoritism from beginning to end.
15. Early in 2000, Iowa farmer Marty Heldt filed a FOIA request for Bush's military records, and published those documents on his Web site for the world to see. He concluded that Bush was AWOL for one full year. Former ANG pilot Bob Rogers examined the documents more carefully and concluded that Bush was AWOL for two years. Heldt, Rogers, Democrats.com, and a network of Internet activists contacted every major news organization about this story, provided them with the FOIA documents, and urged them to investigate. The Boston Globe's Walter Robinson was the only reporter in the entire country who seriously investigated the allegations.
16. Bush dodged questions about his military service throughout the 2000 campaign. His official biography claimed "he flew for several years" after he completed his training. This was a lie: Bush only flew for 22 months. Even though the 2000 campaign was largely about "character," the media never examined Bush's military service. For example, Peter Jennings devoted exactly one sentence to the issue in a 4-hour broadcast comparing the biographies of Bush and Gore. Bush never admitted his grounding in 1972 for failing to complete his flight physical, nor missing his subsequent duty. On November 4 2000, Democrats.com revealed that Bush's aides, led by Bush's current Press Secretary Dan Bartlett, visited the headquarters of the Texas Air National Guard and removed Bush's service records. These records would have proved Bush's AWOL. These records may have been subsequently altered to hide the truth, as is suggested by the torn and undated document that was offered to George Magazine and the NY Times as "proof" of Bush's service.
17. On Nov. 2, 2000, Senators Bob Kerrey (D-NE), Daniel Inouye (D-HI), and Max Cleland (D-GA) - all decorated veterans - held a press conference to challenge Bush about his AWOL. Inouye said, "During my service, if I missed training for two years, at the least, I would have been court-martialed. I would have been placed in prison." The news media barely covered this important press conference, even though the entire fall campaign had focused on Bush's attacks on Al Gore's character.
18. That same day, a FOX TV reporter in Maine discovered proof that Bush had been arrested for DUI in 1976 near his family's home in Kennebunkport. A media frenzy followed. Bush had been leading in the polls until then, but his support eroded quickly.
19. Just before 8 p.m. on Election Day 2000, the networks called Florida for Gore on the basis of exit polls showing Gore comfortably ahead. At 2 a.m. that night, Bush's first cousin at FOX News declared Bush the winner in Florida, even though the election was a dead heat. Nationally, Gore beat Bush by 543,895 votes. But Bush claimed victory in Florida, which gave him just enough Electoral College votes for the Presidency. After 36 days of legal battles, 5 partisan Republican justices on the Supreme Court threw out 175,000 uncounted ballots and declared Bush the winner. Millions of Americans believed Bush stole the election, and Bush was hounded by protests until the attack on September 11, 2001. No reporter - including Peter Jennings, Tim Russert, Tom Brokaw, and David Broder - ever asked Bush why he fought relentlessly in the courts for an office he lost at the polls.
20. On September 11, 4 hijacked planes flew towards the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Bush says he saw the first plane hit the World Trade Center, but he did not order the Air Force to scramble jets to intercept the hijacked planes. Instead, Bush entered a classroom and read a children's book for nearly 30 minutes. Then he made a brief statement on TV and boarded Air Force One, which flew away from Washington after false claims by Ari Fleischer that terrorists had threated Air Force One with secret codes. (Bush's Republican Party eventually sold copies of himself on the phone aboard Air Force One that day to raise funds for his campaign.) Nevertheless, Bush was proclaimed a hero and subsequently compared to Winston Churchill for his wartime "leadership." Since then, Bush has done everything in his power to obstruct inquiries into the September 11 attack, first by Congress and then by the 9-11 Commission. No reporter - including Peter Jennings, Tim Russert, Tom Brokaw, and David Broder - has asked Bush why he ignored numerous warnings of an Al Qaeda attack in the United States, why he failed to order the immediate scrambling of jets to protect New York or Washington, and why he is so adamantly opposed to letting Americans discover the truth about his "leadership" before and during the 9-11 attack.
21. On May 1 2003, Bush celebrated the "end" of the War in Iraq by landing on the U.S.S. Lincoln and strutting across the deck of the carrier in a flight suit much like the uniform he dishonored when he went AWOL in 1972. By parading in a uniform he previously dishonored, Bush made his desertion a legitimate and timely issue for the 2004 campaign.
    These are the facts. We invite George W. Bush - as well as Peter Jennings, Tim Russert, Tom Brokaw, David Broder, and the rest of the media - to refute any of them.

On behalf of Michael Moore and Wesley Clark, we demand an apology and full and accurate reporting on all of these issues.

Peter Jennings, Tim Russert, Tom Brokaw, and David Broder - what is your answer?

Resources; Marty Heldt, Democrats.com, AWOLBUSH.com, Michael Moore, Uggabugga Timeline