Letters to the editor

Why the smear campaign?

Dear editor:

As a Vietnam veteran I am appalled at the smear campaign tactics by Bush against his opponents. It happened to John McCain in 2000 and now Kerry. If you want to really be upset, see John McCain asking George Bush to apologize for attacking McCain's record:http://www.john-kerry.com/oldtricks.

Any veteran who runs down another veteran who served in a war for this country, is dragging down our whole "band of brothers" by raising doubts about our commitment to this country. This group continues to smear Kerry's military actions even though they are contradicted by Navy records, the New York Times, Washington Post and almost every man who served directly under Kerry.

In silence, the Bush campaign is approving this smear and is even funding and promoting it. For the record, Kerry's commanders reported that "In a combat environment often requiring independent, decisive action, LTJG Kerry was unsurpassed."

When is this going to stop?

It is fact -- to avoid service in Vietnam and with powerful family connections, Bush "leap frogged" over nearly 500 other applicants to get into a stateside Air Force National Guard unit -- a unit flying jets that Bush knew could not be used in Vietnam.

It is no wonder he does not want to compare, head to head, his military record to Kerry's.

After 20 years of my own apathy in politics, I was moved to write Bush in Februrary 2003 opposing his unprecedented, "pre-emptive" war in Iraq.

The main reason I was opposed to Iraq was that I had personally experienced fighting in a country that did not want us there.

Let's challenge our President to get into the really important issues for the United States, like slowing off-shore labor loss, elderly health care, sluggish economy, high oil prices, saving our environment and most importantly, halting the needless bloodshed in Iraq.

Jim Adams

Capt., platoon leader,

helicopter pilot

U.S. Army, 71 AHC

RVN 12/68-69

Nevada