Here's the RNC memo on dissing National Guard

[grasswire]

Here's the memo. This is why all the talking heads are accusing Kerry and McAuliffe of insulting members of the National Guard. (not copyrighted)

http://www.gop.com/RNCResearch/Read.aspx?ID=3880

KERRY AND TERRY BELITTLE NATIONAL GUARD SERVICE

Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) Compares Guard Service To Draft-Dodging. “‘If people went to Canada, if people opposed the war, if people chose to be in the Guard, that’s their choice, and I’ve never raised that in an issue,’ he said.” (Noelle Straub, “Kerry Presents Himself As GOP’s Worst Nightmare,” Boston Herald, 2/3/04)

Kerry Repeats Insult Of Guard. “‘I’ve never made any judgments about any choice somebody made about avoiding the draft, about going to Canada, going to jail, being a conscientious objector, going into the National Guard,’ Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran, told Fox News Channel. ‘Those are choices people make.’” (Nick Anderson, “Buoyant Kerry Embraces Role Of Frontrunner,” Los Angeles Times, 2/4/04)

DNC Chair Terry McAuliffe Says President Bush’s National Guard Service Not Part Of Military. “George Bush never served in our military and our country.” (ABC’s “This Week,” 2/1/04)

BUT THEY IGNORE HONORABLE SERVICE
OF NATIONAL GUARD TODAY

Over 460,000 Men And Women Serving In Air And Army National Guard. (2003 Reserve Forces Almanac, 2003, p.100)

8,866 National Guard Soldiers Participated In Iraq War. (“Forces: U.S. & Coalition/Army, Army National Guard,” CNN’s “War In Iraq” Special Report Website, http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/iraq/forces/coalition/deployment/army/army.national.guard.html, Accessed 2/3/04)

22 Percent, Or More Than 28,000, Of 130,000 Soldiers In Iraq Right Now Are From National Guard And Reserves. (Jim Garamone, “Officials Detail Iraq Rotation Plans To Congress,” American Forces Press Service, 1/28/04; Ron Martz, “Guard, Reserve Dying In Iraq,” Cox News Service, 1/17/04)

AND THROUGHOUT HISTORY

“Air National Guard And Reserve Units Make Up Between 60 Percent And 80 Percent” Of Air Force Personnel Who Served In Liberation Of Afghanistan. (Matt Kelley, “Air National Guard, Reserve Forces A Big Part Of War In Afghanistan,” The Associated Press, 4/20/02)

63,000 Guardsmen Served In Desert Storm, And Guard Has Played Major Role In Peacekeeping Operations In Last Decade. “Approximately 63,000 Army Guardsmen were called to serve in Desert Storm, and in the decade since then Guardsmen have seen a greater role than ever before – conducting peacekeeping in Somalia, Haiti, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, Bosnia, and Kosovo.” (Army National Guard Website, www.arng.army.mil, Accessed 2/4/04)

“The Guard Doubled The Size Of The Regular Army When It Was Mobilized In 1940, More Than A Year Before Pearl Harbor, And Contributed 19 Divisions To” World War II, Plus Numerous Aviation Squadrons. (Army National Guard Website, www.arng.army.mil, Accessed 2/4/04)

Army National Guard, “The Oldest Component Of The Armed Forces Of The United States And One Of The Nation’s Longest Enduring Institutions, Celebrated Its 366th Birthday In 2002.” (Army National Guard Website, www.arng.army.mil, Accessed 2/4/04)

Air National Guardsmen Participated In Almost Every Conflict Since First World War. “Although the Air National Guard was not established as a separate reserve component of the U.S. Air Force until 18 September 1947, National Guard aviators have played significant roles in all of America’s wars and most of its major contingencies since the First World War era.” (Air National Guard Website, www.ang.af.mil, Accessed 2/4/04)

[Wickerman]

1. Strawman, GOP release Bush*'s records and its all over

[PretzelWarrior]

2. he forgot faking injuries or blindness or being gay

there were all sorts of roads to staying out of Vietnam. The most politically acceptable for powerful family scions was being sent to a cushy Nat. Guard job. Everyone knows that.

F*ck Bush and his cronies. THey are the ones dissing guard members by treating them like crap right now.

[sallyseven]

3. Yes that is today.

In the 60's and 70"s that was a haven for the well connected. Not one congressman's or senators son or daughter served in the Vietnam war in combat. Gore was a correspondent and could have gotten killed. But not Georgie. He was too valuable.

[ThoughtCriminal]

4. Notice there is NO mention of what Guard units

Did during Vietnam War.

[grasswire]

5. I've been over on freepland...

...and they're in a real snit about the alleged dissing of the National Guard. They suck up the crap with nary a thought of examining the argument.

RNC is playing this very clever. I suspect they've had the tactic waiting for just this moment.

[lovedems]

6. I think they are walking a very fine line on this. Comparing a war

monger with a shaky military record at best to a decorated war veteran? Who is belittling the National Guard? Kerry with the vets surrounding him or bu$h who is cutting their benefits? I think the smart people will realize this. I guess it is the dumb ones the RNC goes after. After listening to Rush for an hour last week, he spends his day dumbing down his audience.

[Moderator]

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