Who is the flip flopper?

“(CNN) -- President Bush told veterans during a campaign stump speech Tuesday that the United States will win the war against terror, in contrast to a statement he made a day earlier .

"We meet today at a time of war for our country. A war we did not start, yet one that we will win," the president told members of the American Legion at their annual convention.

"In this different kind of war, we may never sit down at a peace table, but make no mistake about it, we are winning and we will win.

"We will win by staying on the offensive. We will win by spreading liberty," Bush said.

Monday, Bush said it may not be possible to win the war on terrorism. That comment strayed from previous remarks by the president in which he has said the United States will win the war on terror. (Bush talks potential of terror war)

Asked whether the United States can win the war, Bush told NBC's "Today" show, "I don't think you can win it. But I think you can create conditions so that those who use terror as a tool are less acceptable in parts of the world. Let's put it that way."

Soon afterward, White House spokesman Scott McClellan and other top officials sought to clarify the president's remarks, saying he meant an all-out victory against terrorists may not be possible in the "conventional sense."

"I don't think you can expect that there will ever be a formal surrender or a treaty signed, like we have in wars past. That's what he was talking about," McClellan said.

But Democrats pounced on Bush's comments.

Bush's rival Sen. John Kerry, during a break from wind surfing off the Nantucket coast, was asked by reporters if the war on terror could be won.

"Absolutely," he responded.

The Massachusetts senator is scheduled to address the American Legion on Wednesday.

And Sen. John Edwards, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, said in a written statement, "After months of listening to the Republicans base their campaign on their singular ability to win the war on terror, the president now says we can't win the war on terrorism.

"This is no time to declare defeat. It won't be easy and it won't be quick, but we have a comprehensive long-term plan to make America safer. And that's a difference."

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/08/31/bush.terror/index.html”

“GWB neve flip-flops.

I'm tellin' y'all, Mr. Rove isn't very smart. He just looks at his boss's actions, and then tries to pin the inadequecies on Kerry. It's a brilliant manuver when you take into consideration that the majority of Bush supporters are morons, and have no idea what to think.”

“Questions About Bush's Guard Service Unanswered




By Dave Moniz and Jim Drinkard / USA TODAY

WASHINGTON - At a time when Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry has come under fire from a group of retired naval officers who say he lied about his combat record in Vietnam, questions about President Bush's 1968-73 stint in the Texas Air National Guard remain unresolved: (Related item: Bush urges end to TV attack ads by outside groups)

Some of the documents about President Bush's military service documents still have not been made public.

• Why did Bush, described by some of his fellow officers as a talented and enthusiastic pilot, stop flying fighter jets in the spring of 1972 and fail to take an annual physical exam required of all pilots?

• What explains the apparent gap in the president's Guard service in 1972-73, a period when commanders in Texas and Alabama say they never saw him report for duty and records show no pay to Bush when he was supposed to be on duty in Alabama?

• Did Bush receive preferential treatment in getting into the Guard and securing a coveted pilot slot despite poor qualifying scores and arrests, but no convictions, for stealing a Christmas wreath and rowdiness at a football game during his college years?

The White House has released hundreds of pages of records, but the files released so far haven't answered those questions. Since the documents were released in February, at least a half-dozen news organizations, including USA TODAY, have filed new requests for Bush's military records under the Freedom of Information Act.

In an e-mail to USA TODAY last week, presidential spokesman Dan Bartlett said: "The president has authorized the release of his records and we are complying with all requests. Some are taking longer than others, but all will be addressed."

Past military service and qualifications to be commander in chief have become a central theme in the 2004 presidential campaign.

Questions about Bush's record predate the current campaign. The apparent gap in his Guard service first surfaced before the 2000 election, when The Boston Globe reported that Texas Guard commanders were unable to account for Bush's whereabouts from May 1972 to April 1973.

Bush has not said what he did in the Guard during that period. Aside from a statement by a former Alabama Air Guard officer who said he saw Bush report for duty there in the fall of 1972, the only evidence he was at Dannelly Air National Guard Base in Alabama was a record of a dental exam on Jan. 6, 1973, at the base.

Bush said in a TV interview in February that he would make all his military records available. That month, the White House released more than 400 pages of Bush military records, including some duplicates, and said the documents were a complete catalog of his personnel files.

But some documents still have not been made public. The White House did not release Bush's medical records from his Guard files but allowed a group of reporters who cover the White House to review them for 20 minutes. They found nothing unusual. Kerry released some of his military records earlier this year. He has also declined to release his complete medical records but showed them to reporters as Bush did.

Since February, the White House has banned all Guard and military commanders outside the Pentagon from commenting on Bush's records or service. Requests for information must go to the Pentagon's Freedom of Information Act office.

The Pentagon last week responded to a 4-month-old request from USA TODAY for additional records from Bush's files by sending another copy of documents that were released by the White House in February. The documents do not address the unexplained year in Bush's Guard service or his decision to stop flying.

The Associated Press filed a lawsuit this summer requesting copies of Bush's military records stored in a Texas archive on microfilm. It sought information that might explain why Bush did not take his flight physical and whether he showed up for duty in Alabama in the fall of 1972, AP spokesman John Stokes said.”