Bush's service records were "accidentally" destroyed

Grok Headline matches for Bush's service records were "accidentally" destroyed

Pentagon Says Bush Records of Service
Were Destroyed

Pentagon Says Bush Records of Service
Were Destroyed 07/10/2004 04:58 AM
NYT is attacking the other side .. How fucking convenient .. happens

nytimes.com/2004/07/09/politics/campaign/09records.html?ei=5 062&en=4820315663b5a96a&ex=1089950400&partner=GOOGLE&pagewanted=print& position=
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Bush's service records: The score card

Bush's service records: The score card 02/13/2004 06:58 AM
Did the president walk out on the Texas Air National Guard 30 years ago? A guide through the morass of new evidence.

Pentagon Finds Payroll Records for
Bush's Military Service
(washingtonpost.com)

Pentagon Finds Payroll Records for
Bush's Military Service
(washingtonpost.com) 07/23/2004 09:18 PM
washingtonpost.com - The Pentagon announced yesterday that it had found payroll records related to President Bush's time in the National Guard -- records that earlier this month were reported accidentally destroyed -- but the discovery did nothing to resolve the dispute over Bush's military service in 1972 and 1973.

Bush Military Records Destroyed

Bush Military Records Destroyed 07/10/2004 02:41 AM
Free Internet Press Jul 10 2004 7:19AM GMT

Pentagon: Bush Military Records
Destroyed (AP)

Pentagon: Bush Military Records
Destroyed (AP) 07/09/2004 10:15 AM
AP - Military payroll records that could more fully document President Bush's whereabouts during his service in the Texas Air National Guard were inadvertently destroyed, according to the Pentagon.

Postal Service Accidentally Delivers
$160 Million To Employees

Postal Service Accidentally Delivers
$160 Million To Employees 06/16/2004 04:44 PM
Talk about a computer error. The US Postal Service was supposed to pay a bonus of approximately $4,000 each to 1,900 former managers. However, someone set up their payment software to read from the wrong list of employees - one that has 76,000 employees. The mistake was caught a few days later, but not before 41,000 erroneous bonus checks went out, meaning an overpayment of over $160 million. As you might imagine, the USPS is trying to get the word out to employees not to spend the money, because it won't be there for very long.

Bush's records: Still AWOL

Bush's records: Still AWOL 02/10/2004 06:47 AM
President Bush told Tim Russert all his military records were made public in 2000, but there's no evidence to support his statement.

Bush's military records released

Bush's military records released 02/13/2004 10:36 PM
The White House releases the president's National Guard records to try to refute claims that he shirked military duties.

Bush's Vietnam records released

Bush's Vietnam records released 02/10/2004 09:14 PM
The White House releases President Bush's records to try to refute claims that he shirked military duties.

Key Bush Military Service Files
Destroyed (Reuters)

Key Bush Military Service Files
Destroyed (Reuters) 07/09/2004 11:54 AM
Reuters - Microfilm records related to President Bush's service in the Air National Guard three decades ago were accidentally destroyed when the military tried to improve its files, the Pentagon said on Friday.

Bush Military Service Files Were
Destroyed - Report

Bush Military Service Files Were
Destroyed - Report 07/10/2004 04:58 AM
Bush millitary service records disappear

reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=5627899
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Bush's driving records disclosed
(USATODAY.com)

Bush's driving records disclosed
(USATODAY.com) 02/13/2004 07:17 AM
USATODAY.com - The White House disclosed information in documents Thursday showing that President Bush had been arrested once for a college prank and was cited for two automobile accidents and two speeding tickets before he enlisted in the National Guard.

Many Gaps In Bush's Guard Records
(washingtonpost.com)

Many Gaps In Bush's Guard Records
(washingtonpost.com) 02/13/2004 11:55 PM
washingtonpost.com - Files released by the White House last night from President Bush's Vietnam-era service in the National Guard show that the future president was an exemplary pilot whose military record contains numerous gaps in the last two years of his six-year commitment.

Pentagon Releases Bush's Guard Records
(AP)

Pentagon Releases Bush's Guard Records
(AP) 07/23/2004 04:22 PM
AP - The Pentagon on Friday released payroll records from President Bush's 1972 service in the Alabama National Guard, saying its earlier contention the records were destroyed was an "inadvertent oversight."

Pentagon Finds Bush's Guard Records (AP)

Pentagon Finds Bush's Guard Records (AP) 07/23/2004 09:18 PM
AP - The Pentagon on Friday released newly discovered payroll records from President Bush's 1972 service in the Alabama National Guard, though the records shed no new light on the future president's activities during that summer.

Bush's National Guard Pay Records Are
Released

Bush's National Guard Pay Records Are
Released 02/10/2004 11:52 PM
Hoping to quell a controversy over the president's National Guard service, the White House continued to face questions about things that the records did not show.

Pentagon Finds Bush's Military Payroll
Records

Pentagon Finds Bush's Military Payroll
Records 07/23/2004 04:49 PM
Reuters via Wired News Jul 23 2004 9:02PM GMT

Bush's National Guard File Missing
Records (AP)

Bush's National Guard File Missing
Records (AP) 09/05/2004 01:18 PM
AP - Documents that should have been written to explain gaps in President Bush's Texas Air National Guard service are missing from the military records released about his service in 1972 and 1973, according to regulations and outside experts.

Bush's National Guard File Missing
Records

Bush's National Guard File Missing
Records 09/05/2004 04:39 PM
Bush's National Guard File Missing Records Documents that should have been written to explain gaps in President Bush (news - web sites)'s Texas Air National Guard service are missing from the military records released about his service in 1972 and 1973, according to regulations and outside experts. For example, Air National Guard regulations at the time required commanders to write an investigative report for the Air Force when Bush missed his annual medical exam in 1972. The regulations also required commanders to confirm in writing that Bush received counseling after missing five months of drills. No such records have been made public...

Bush's Military Records Fail to Dispel
AWOL Charges

Bush's Military Records Fail to Dispel
AWOL Charges 07/23/2004 09:56 PM
Reuters via Wired News Jul 24 2004 1:40AM GMT

White House Releases Bush's Military
Records (washingtonpost.com)

White House Releases Bush's Military
Records (washingtonpost.com) 02/11/2004 08:17 AM
White House Release More of Bush's Military Record; Offered no indication of why there was a gap in Bush's service from April to October, 1972. 2/11 .. Washington Post on the records .. released proof .. WashPo .. Yes

washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28838-2004Feb10.html
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Bush's Vietnam-Era Military Records Show
Gaps (Reuters)

Bush's Vietnam-Era Military Records Show
Gaps (Reuters) 02/10/2004 08:06 PM
Reuters - President Bush was absent for long periods of his final two years of National Guard duty but met service requirements, according to new records cited by the White House in an effort to refute accusations he shirked Vietnam War-era military obligations.

Yahoo! News - Pentagon Finds Bush's
Guard Records

Yahoo! News - Pentagon Finds Bush's
Guard Records 07/24/2004 11:20 PM
Pentagon Finds Bush's Guard Records .. after all

story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=5&u=/ap/20040723/ ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_military_records
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Pentagon Finds Bush's Military Payroll
Records (Reuters)

Pentagon Finds Bush's Military Payroll
Records (Reuters) 07/23/2004 04:22 PM
Reuters - Payroll records related to President Bush's service in the Air National Guard three decades ago that the Pentagon said earlier this month were accidentally destroyed now have been located, defense officials said on Friday.

the Salon article about Bush's service
record

the Salon article about Bush's service
record 09/03/2004 10:29 AM
George W. Bush's Missing Year

salon.com/news/feature/2004/09/02/allison/index.html
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Clark Hints at Bush's Military Service
(AP)

Clark Hints at Bush's Military Service
(AP) 01/17/2004 10:42 PM
AP - Wesley Clark suggested Saturday that questions remain about President Bush's Vietnam-era service in the Texas Air National Guard, but the retired general stopped short of endorsing a comment by actor-director Michael Moore that Bush was "a deserter."

Democrats Question Bush's Service, Costs
of War (Reuters)

Democrats Question Bush's Service, Costs
of War (Reuters) 09/08/2004 06:15 PM
Reuters - Democrats raised new questions about President Bush's Vietnam-era National Guard service on Wednesday as White House hopeful John Kerry charged the Iraq war was draining resources from the U.S. economy at home.

Critical memos on Bush's Guard service
faked?

Critical memos on Bush's Guard service
faked? 09/11/2004 03:56 AM

USATODAY.com - Questions about Bush's
Guard service unanswered

USATODAY.com - Questions about Bush's
Guard service unanswered 08/27/2004 05:26 PM
Questions about Bush's Guard service unanswered .. "What about George?" .. In USA Today .. reminds us .. subject .. Bush

usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/president/2004-08-23 -bush-service_x.htm
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Visual timeline of Bush's Air National
Guard service

Visual timeline of Bush's Air National
Guard service 09/09/2004 01:04 PM
Mark Frauenfelder: President Bush had a lot of fun as a pilot in the Air National Guard. He got to fly really cool jets, while maintaining the lifestyle of a rich playboy with plenty of upst airs connections that allowed him to ignore direct orders from his commander and come and go as he pleased. And now, the President has a team of folks dedicated to smearing Kerry for volunteering for hazardous duty in Vietnam. And it's working! Most people now believe Bush is a military hero while Kerry is a shirking, wobbly liar. The president is a lot smarter than I thought.

Simon sez: "I put together this visual explanation of Dubya's Air National Guard service (or lack thereof) based entirely on the released documents to date. My goal was to put the confusing mixture of events and records into some kind of order." Link

"President George W. Bush's Military
Service: A Critical Analysis"

"President George W. Bush's Military
Service: A Critical Analysis" 09/09/2004 08:36 AM

Bush's Father Wrote to General About
Guard Service (Reuters)

Bush's Father Wrote to General About
Guard Service (Reuters) 09/17/2004 06:22 PM
Reuters - The Pentagon on Friday released more documents on President Bush's Vietnam-era Air National Guard Service, including a letter from his then-congressman father George Bush thanking a general for "taking interest in a brand new Air Force trainee."

Media failed to find facts behind Bush's
service record

Media failed to find facts behind Bush's
service record 09/09/2004 06:49 PM
Media failed to find facts behind Bush's service record .. a look at how the media .. months

suntimes.com/output/elect/cst-nws-banal11.html
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"further down in the document it lists
Bush's required service requirements
while in the Reserve (pdf)"

"further down in the document it lists
Bush's required service requirements
while in the Reserve (pdf)" 09/15/2004 02:28 AM

"Military records support Kerry's
account of Vietnam service"

"Military records support Kerry's
account of Vietnam service" 08/23/2004 02:43 AM

60 Minutes Report on Bush's Guard
Service Referenced Falsified Memos?

60 Minutes Report on Bush's Guard
Service Referenced Falsified Memos? 09/11/2004 06:29 PM
A tempest is crawling across the blogosphere, and it isn't named Ivan. At the eye of the storm is CBS, and a 60 minutes report allegedly raising "New Questions On Bush Guard Duty". But were the memos at the heart of this story authentic?

Did the White House release forged
documents about Bush's service record?

Did the White House release forged
documents about Bush's service record? 09/09/2004 04:24 PM
Mark Frauenfelder: Charles at Little Green Footballs presents a persuasive argument that the memos recently released by the White House about President Bush's National Guard service are forgeries.

I opened Microsoft Word, set the font to Microsoft’s Times New Roman, tabbed over to the default tab stop to enter the date “18 August 1973,” then typed the rest of the document purportedly from the personal records of the late Lieutenant Colonel Jerry B. Killian.

And my Microsoft Word version, typed in 2004, is an exact match for the documents trumpeted by CBS News as “authentic.” The spacing is not just similar—it is identical in every respect.

(Background: CNN reported that "the White House, without comment, released to the news media two of the memos, one ordering Bush to report for his physical exam and the other suspending him from flight status." Here are PDF copiesof the memos the White House released.)

I think the documents are indeed forgeries, but who made them? Could it be a White House dirty trick to make the Democrats look bad? Are there real documents that these forgeries are based on that are even more damning about the President's behavior? I'm sure there's more news to come. Link (Thanks, Bob!)

UPDATE: Eric sez: If you weren't reflexively looking for the interpretation of events that reflected most poorly on Bush, you might have noted that the White House did not release those records, they merely passed along without comment copies that had been sent to them by CBS.

UPDATE:David sez: "Saw your post on this on BoingBoing. Fark.com had a couple big discussions today about the potential forgeries (here and here ).

Someone posted the two images (White House released and Word generated), so I fired up an image editor and had a look. While the font character spacing are very similar, most typography experts in the threads agreed that the original had type-write like characteristics (number 8 slightly high on the line, etc.) that would be hard to reproduce in Word. More importantly, the superscript "th" which caused most of the interest is not in the same position in the two images (see attached superimposed comparison).

It's possible that the original was generated on a typewriter with a proportional width Times New Roman font wheel or ball (available at the time), with the same common margin settings as Word uses by default. The superscript used in Word is artificially generated (smaller font size, elevated baseline), whereas the typewritter superscript "th" would need to be carved in the same space as other characters, which is why it appears lower. David Schwab

KRT Wire | 08/20/2004 | Military records
support Kerry's account of Vietnam
service

KRT Wire | 08/20/2004 | Military records
support Kerry's account of Vietnam
service 08/21/2004 02:55 PM
Military records support Kerry's account of Vietnam service .. Knight Ridder humiliates them

realcities.com/mld/krwashington/9455159.
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staugustine.com: Local News: Public
records audit: Some records requests met
with suspicion and threats 02/07/04

staugustine.com: Local News: Public
records audit: Some records requests met
with suspicion and threats 02/07/04 02/10/2004 02:50 AM
staugustine.com: Local News: Public records audit: Some records requests met with suspicion and threats .. tested how officials responded to a routine request to inspect records .. The St. Augustine Record .. Not so well, sadly .. Best excuse

staugustine.com/stories/020704/new_2111766.shtml
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Grok Description matches for Bush's service records were "accidentally" destroyed
GrokA matches for Bush's service records were "accidentally" destroyed

Bush's service records were "accidentally" destroyed

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