US network faces doubts over Bush military documents

0 Comments | AFP, September, 2004

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Doubts mounted over the authenticity of documents discrediting President George W. Bush's military service, causing embarrassment to CBS television after it published the papers in a report.

The network's "60 Minutes" program, known for its investigative reporting, aired last week typewritten memos, apparently from Bush's unit commander in the Texas Air National Guard, that suggest the future president had failed to fulfill his service requirements in the 1970s.

The memos say Bush failed to appear for a mandatory medical examination in 1972. They were purportedly written by Lieutenant colonel Jerry Killian, who died in 1984.

Killian also apparently wrote of political pressure to "sugar-coat" Bush's annual review. By serving in the domestic...