http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/sti/2000/06/18/stifgnusa02001.html Bush flies into an air force cocaine cloud Tom Rhodes, New York THE Republican frontrunner for the White House, George W Bush, was suspended from flying as a young pilot for failing to take a medical examination that included a drug test. Documents obtained by The Sunday Times reveal that in August 1972, as a 26-year-old subaltern in the Air National Guard, Bush was grounded for failing to "accomplish" an annual medical that would have indicated whether he was taking drugs. Rumours of cocaine use and "lost weekends in Mexico" have plagued Bush Jr, 53, son of the last Republican president, for months since he declared himself a candidate in the presidential race. With character enshrined as an election issue after the short-lived but popular candidacy of John McCain, the Arizona senator and Vietnam war hero, the latest revelation is certain to rekindle interest in Bush's past. Yesterday it provoked accusations by Democrats of a cover-up. While he has consistently admitted to a "misspent youth", Bush has evaded questions about cocaine or other drug use, implying only that he has not taken illegal substances since 1974, the year after he left the Air National Guard. Allegations about his stint in a reserve unit at the height of the Vietnam war are likely to provoke parallels with Bill Clinton, whose early presidential candidacy was mired in accusations of draft-dodging and questions of whether he inhaled marijuana as a student. Bush was not required to face drug tests when he first entered the reserve unit as a Yale graduate in 1968. It was only at the end of 1971 that the US Air Force, facing a backlash against drug-fuelled escapades in Vietnam, introduced a screening policy. In April 1972 the Pentagon implemented a drug-abuse testing programme that required officers on "extended active duty", including reservists such as Bush, to undergo at least one random drug test every year. The annual medical exam that year included a routine analysis of urine, a close examination of the nasal cavities and specific questions about drugs. Under regulations issued in the 1972 air force manual, doctors were directed to ask: "Do you now or have you ever used or experimented with any drug, other than prescribed by a physician (to include LSD, marijuana, hashish, narcotics or other dangerous drugs as determined by the attorney-general of the United States)?" The code stated that personnel must undergo the medical in the month following their birthday. For Bush, this meant August. In May, the young airman moved from his air force training base in Houston to Alabama. He was working part-time on the Republican Senate campaign of Winton Blount, a politician he had met through his father, then a congressman, while continuing his military service. To avoid constant travel, he applied to move his training programme from Houston to Dannelly air base in Montgomery, Alabama. There is no evidence in his record, however, that once there he ever attended the periodic drills required by part-time guardsmen. William Turnipseed, a retired general who commanded the Alabama unit at the time, said Bush never appeared for duty. Two commanders at Ellington air force base in Houston said in his record they were unable to perform his annual evaluation covering the year from May 1, 1972 to April 30, 1973. "Lt Bush has not been observed at this unit during the period of this report," they wrote. He eventually served 32 days in Houston before requesting and receiving a discharge in October 1973, eight months before the end of his six-year term. The Bush presidential campaign last week insisted that the Texas governor had performed his duties to the letter and denied that Bush was involved with drugs at the time. Dan Bartlett, a spokesman, said Bush had transferred to Alabama as a non-flying guardsman and so required no medical assessment. "As he was not flying, there was no reason for him to take the flight exam," said Bartlett. "And he was not aware of any changes that required a drug test." Bush was said to have been unable to take the medical because he was in Alabama while his doctor was in Houston. His campaign official, however, said Bush was aware that he would be suspended for missing his medical as soon as he left Houston because the air force was unable to process his new status before the August deadline for the test. "It was just a question of following the bureaucratic procedure of the time," he said. "He knew the suspension would have to take place." This explanation does not impress Democrats, who claim Bush's past will become the subject of intense scrutiny in the run-up to the Republican convention in Philadelphia at the end of next month. Chris Lapetina, a former marine and Democratic political consultant, said controversy about the medical exam could hurt Bush's chances among several voting blocks, including pensioners and veterans. Many servicemen would be upset if they thought a possible future president had avoided an obligatory military examination that included a drug test, he said. "When someone doesn't take a physical in the military there's got to be very good reason," Lapetina said. "It looks like he made a decision not to take it because the alternative was unpalatable." Veterans claim Bush has not been shy in extolling the virtues of his flying career despite not being backed up by his record. His military record came under scrutiny last year following accusations that he had been given a helping hand by his influential father, then a Texas congressman, in obtaining a place in the air guard unit while others were forced into Vietnam service. Ben Barnes, a former Texan politician, alleged that he had secured Bush's position after being asked to do so by a wealthy oilman who was a friend of the elder Bush. The younger Bush, who has consistently denied that he joined the unit to avoid Vietnam duty, said he had no idea that anyone exerted influence on his behalf. <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! 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