For The Record: Bush Documents

[Jon8503]

Sept. 15, 2004
Bush Memo Info Accurate

(CBS) Last week, on 60 Minutes, we heard for the first time the full story from a Texas politician, former Texas House Speaker Ben Barnes, who says he helped President George Bush get a highly coveted place in the National Guard.

60 Minutes also presented documents for the first time which indicated that once Mr. Bush was accepted into the Guard, he failed to live up to the requirements of his service, including following an order. And we also reported that the documents were written by Lt. Bush's National Guard squad commander, Col. Jerry Killian, who passed away in 1984.

In the past week, those documents have been subjected to extraordinary scrutiny and criticism.

Now, another voice - a credible voice - has entered the debate. Col. Killian's secretary, Marion Carr Knox, describes herself as Col. Killian's "right hand" during much of the 1970s.

She flew to New York this afternoon to tell 60 Minutes that she believes the documents we obtained are not authentic.
But there's yet another confusing twist to this story. She told Correspondent Dan Rather that she believes what the documents actually say is exactly as we reported.


http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/09/15/60II/main643768.shtml

[Julian English]

1. The take home message remains

ETA that the below is a quote:

"60 Minutes will continue to aggressively investigate the story of President Bush's service in the National Guard -- and the story of the documents and memos in Col. Killian's file.

Are those documents authentic, as experts consulted by CBS News continue to maintain? Or were they forgeries or re-creations, as Marion Carr Knox and many other believe?

We will keep an open mind and we will continue to report credible evidence and responsible points of view as we try to answer the questions raised about the authenticity of the documents.

Having said that, we do feel that it's important to underscore this point: Those who have criticized aspects of our story have never criticized the major thrust of our report -- that George Bush received preferential treatment to get into the National Guard, and once accepted, failed to satisfy the requirements of his service." (Emphasis added)

[LisaLynne]

2. Mr. Rather ...

was pretty much calling out W, forcing his hand. He's saying, if this isn't true, dispute it. Say you were there. W can't.

[Julian English]

3. Sure, W can dispute it--but he would be disputing it with another lie