Edwards wants Bush to address Guard memos

[Evilmav2]

Edwards wants Bush to address Guard memos

By KEVIN LANDRIGAN, Telegraph Staff
landrigank@telegraph-nh.com

Published: Friday, Sep. 10, 2004

NASHUA - President Bush should have to explain newly released records that reveal his former Texas National Guard superior was asked to “sugar coat” performance records after finding Bush failed standards to be a trained pilot, Sen. John Edwards said Thursday.

“I think they are reasonable and legitimate questions the White House ought to answer,” Edwards said during an interview with The Telegraph.

CBS News released 1972 and 1973 memos Wednesday from Lt. Col. Jerry Killian, who had commanded the 111th Fighter Interceptor Squadron where Bush served.

In one, Killian wrote that higher-ups wanted him to “sugar coat” Bush’s record after he got suspended from flying for failing performance standards and missing a required physical.

Killian died in 1984.

White House communications director Dan Bartlett said Bush did not take the physical because he was not going to be in a flying capacity while in Alabama working on a congressional campaign.

“Those who are trying to read the mind of a person dead 20 years are stretching at best. The president, at every turn, did what he was told to do,” Bartlett said.

Edwards said the American people have “moved on” and already dismissed attacks from a pro-Bush veterans group that Kerry didn’t deserve combat medals he received during the Vietnam War and had endangered prisoners of war with his strident protest of the war upon his return.

“I think people now having heard so much about it have a sense about John Kerry, his service to the country and his patriotism and what he’s done with the rest of his life,” Edwards said.

“I think people believe it’s time for us to talk about them, what are we going to do to improve their lives and how are we going to do that.”

The Bush-Cheney principals or their spouses have visited New Hampshire four times over the past six weeks, but Edwards does not fear this onslaught could lead to a “knockout blow” here.

Kerry, Edwards and their spouses have campaigned here four times since the first-in-the-nation primary in January.

“I think they see what we see, which are the polls have gone up and down, and as we approach the election, this is going to be a very close, competitive race. Every vote will matter and every vote in New Hampshire will matter,” Edwards said.

“They may have been here four or five times. I can’t begin to count the number of times John Kerry and John Edwards have been here in the last year and a half. We know this state like the back of our hand.”

Polls nationally conclude that despite the growing body count in Iraq, voters trust Bush more than Kerry on dealing with that war.

Edwards predicted this will change as the election approaches and what he called “the mess” there only worsens.

“I think, as a practical matter, as we go forward it will become increasingly clear just from the American people seeing what is happening there that we need a new, fresh leader who will bring others into this effort so we are not doing this alone,” Edwards said.

Bush campaign spokeswoman Maria Comella said Kerry has had eight different positions on Iraq and of late borrowed lines from Howard Dean, the Democratic hopeful who throughout 2003 criticized Kerry for giving Bush authorization to attack Iraq.

“Voters have to ask themselves how long this latest position Senator Kerry has taken on Iraq will last,” Comella said.

But Edwards said Kerry will go beyond what Bush has offered and present a plan for mobilizing more international support so that U.S. troops could pull out of Iraq by end of a first Kerry administration, in early 2009.

“To my knowledge, he (Bush) has given no indication what his plan is or if he has a plan,” Edwards said.

Meanwhile, he urged the Republican-led Congress and White House to permit an independent probe into what connections the Saudi government had with the terrorists who attacked New York and Washington on Sept. 11.

Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., has alleged such connections in a newly published book.

“This is the kind of information the American people are entitled to know about, given what happened,” Edwards said.

“I think what Bob Graham is saying is that there is a lot of information out there which should make people suspicious and leads him to a particular conclusion.”

The Bush-Cheney campaign has ridiculed Graham’s credibility, noting Graham’s own Democratic presidential campaign fizzled a few months after saying Bush should face impeachment charges for his Iraq policy.

Kevin Landrigan can be reached at 224-8804 or landrigank@telegraph-nh.com.

[LRB]

The only explaining that needs to be done is by Edwards who needs to explain why he's asking for an explanation of charges based upon obviously forged documents.

[kg_veteran]

Yeah, Bush should answer questions about forged documents detailing things that didn't happen.

What a tool.

[dude1394]

Maybe he can ask his big brother to release his records.

[Drbio]

Originally posted by: dude1394
Maybe he can ask his big brother to release his records.

Exactly. This would be funny if not so pathetic.

[FishForLunch]

Is edwards of the opinion too that only Vietnam vets should run for the highest office in the land?

[LRB]

I have a document that was given to me by unimpeachable sources and has been examined by several experts which wish to remain anonymous which clearly show Edwards informing John Kerry that Edwards was indeed the Son of Sam murder. I want an explanation from Edwards and Kerry on this.