Click Here: <A HREF="aol://5863:126/alt.conspiracy:640735">- Bush dodged Vietnam draft</A> ----- Subject: - Bush dodged Vietnam draft From: "Lin" <A HREF="mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]">[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> Date: Thu, Sep 7, 2000 5:16 PM Message-id: <kdWt5.1845$[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Bush dodged Vietnam draft, court told By JULIAN BORGER WASHINGTON, WEDNESDAY The most serious scandal to threaten George W.Bush's US presidential campaign gathered momentum in a Texan courtroom yesterday after a retired local politician admitted he intervened 31years ago to help Mr Bush find a place in the National Guard and avoid going to Vietnam. The Republican frontrunner has thus far weathered questions over his youthful excesses, including allegations that he took cocaine. But claims that he used his family connections to dodge the draft have refused to go away and threaten to erode his support on the Republican right, for whom military service is a political benchmark. In a written statement under oath presented on Monday, Mr Ben Barnes, a former Speaker in the Texan state legislature, said that in 1968 he asked the head of the Texan Air National Guard, General James Rose, to give the young Mr Bush a sought-after place on a pilot training program. This automatically excused him from the draft. Joining the National Guard was a popular means to avoid serving in Vietnam, as it did not involve leaving the country or breaking the law, and it has been an issue in recent election campaigns. It is now Mr Bush's turn. The issue is particularly dangerous for him as it focuses attention on his privileged past. In his deposition, Mr Barnes said he had been asked to intervene by a Bush family friend, Mr Sid Adger, but he did not know whether the candidate's influential father, Mr George Bush senior (then a congressman), knew about the request. The former President said recently he was ``almost positive'' he never discussed the matter with Mr Adger, who died three years ago, and never asked for help. General Rose died in 1993. The Austin court case could damage the Republican front runner's image, as it revolves around an alleged attempt to cover up the details of Mr Bush's record during the Vietnam War. In the case, Mr Lawrence Littwin, the former director of the Texas lottery, is claiming that, under Mr George W.Bush's Governorship, the contract for operating the lottery was given to a corporation called Gtech, for whom Mr Barnes worked as the chief lobbyist, as a favor in return for Mr Barnes' silence over the Governor's Vietnam draft-dodging record. Mr Littwin is suing Gtech for orchestrating his dismissal after he proposed the $150million-a-year ($A234million) lottery contract be opened to competitive bids. His claims have been dismissed by Gtech, Mr Barnes and Mr Bush, who have pointed out that Mr Barnes left Gtech before Mr Littwin was even hired by the state lottery. Mr Bush this week denied his family had been directly involved in pulling strings to get him into the National Guard. ``I don't know if Ben Barnes did or not, but he was not asked by me or my dad,'' Mr Bush told reporters. ``I can just tell you, from my perspective, I never asked for, I don't believe I received special treatment.'' However, records published in the US press show that Mr Bush clinched a pilot slot in the National Guard ahead of thousands of other applicants despite scoring only 25 per cent in his aptitude test, the lowest acceptable grade. He was sworn in on the day he applied, in a hastily arranged ceremony for the press. ----- Aloha, He'Ping, Om, Shalom, Salaam. Em Hotep, Peace Be, Omnia Bona Bonis, All My Relations. Adieu, Adios, Aloha. Amen. Roads End <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
