WASHINGTON, April 27: The campaign of Democratic presidential contender John Kerry on Tuesday demanded that President George Bush release details about his military record as the two jousted over their activities during the Vietnam war.
Mr Kerry has hit back after Republicans raised questions about his Vietnam service and his anti-war campaigning after leaving the US military. The US media has also delved into whether Mr Kerry threw his medals or ribbons over one of the Capitol building's fences during a 1971 protest.
"If George Bush wants to ask me questions about that through his surrogates, he owes America an explanation about whether or not he showed up for duty in the National Guard," Mr Kerry stormed in a television interview on Monday. "Prove it. That's what we ought to have. I'm not going to stand around and let them play games," Mr Kerry declared.
The Democratic campaign followed up with a series of questions about Mr Bush's record in the Air National Guard in Texas from the late 1960s to 1973. Mr Kerry served two tours of duty between 1966 and 1970, and was awarded a Silver Star, Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts. Mr Bush served in the Air National Guard but stayed in the United States, and his record has been repeatedly questioned.
The Kerry campaign demanded that Mr Bush explain how he jumped ahead of other candidates for the national guard who were reportedly better qualified to become pilots. It also sought answers to questions about gaps in Mr Bush's service record and said the Defence Department is under orders not to discuss Mr Bush's service record.
In February, the White House released military records on Mr Bush's Vietnam-era service. But this did little to quell Democrats' charges that he shirked his duties from May 1972 to May 1973.
The records showed Mr Bush joined the Texas Air National Guard in 1968 and received high marks as a fighter pilot until he was suspended in August 1972 after failing to take a required annual physical examination. During his last two years of service, he managed an unsuccessful US Senate campaign and received an early release to attend Harvard Business School.
CHENEY: The campaigns of President George Bush and Democratic challenger John Kerry traded charges on national security on Monday as Vice President Dick Cheney questioned Kerry's judgment and faced a wave of Democratic counterattacks.
Mr Bush launched a new television advertisement accusing Kerry of a weak record on defense, and Cheney said the Massachusetts senator had given voters "ample grounds" to doubt his judgment on security issues.
But a host of prominent Democrats and Democratic-supporting groups turned the tables on Cheney, assaulting his own opposition to some Pentagon weapons programs and his failure to serve in the military.
Mr Bush and Mr Kerry themselves stayed out of the fight, focusing on jobs and Internet access during visits to the battleground states of Minnesota, West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
The election battle between Mr Kerry, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, and President Bush, who served in the Texas Air National Guard, has focused heavily on defense issues and Iraq as the fighting intensifies there. The new Bush campaign ad said Mr Kerry had repeatedly opposed weapons vital to winning the "war on terror" and called his record on national security "troubling." -Reuters
