Editorial: GOP stuck in political quagmire

Friday, April 30, 2004 | 5:09 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION: May 2, 2004

In the past couple of weeks, Republicans have increased their attacks on Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry for his opposition to the Vietnam War after he returned from combat there. A number of House Republicans, who also are Vietnam veterans, have condemned Kerry's action. Last Sunday one of President Bush's closest advisers, Karen Hughes, said Kerry was being duplicitous for suggesting in the past that he had thrown away his medals in protest over the Vietnam War. Then on Monday Vice President Dick Cheney, while not directly mentioning Kerry's antiwar protests, said Kerry has "given us ample grounds to doubt the judgment and attitude he brings to bear on vital issues of national security."

Last week Kerry let loose on the White House-orchestrated attacks that questioned his patriotism. "This comes from a president who can't even show or prove that he showed up for duty in the National Guard," Kerry said. "And I'm not going to stand for it." It's easy to see why he would be angry. Kerry volunteered for the Navy and went to Vietnam. He received three Purple Hearts for injuries he sustained in combat. He also earned a Bronze Star and a Silver Star for heroism during his time as a swiftboat commander in the Mekong Delta.

In contrast, President Bush didn't want to go overseas and instead enlisted in the National Guard. Although Bush completed combat training at Ellington Air Force Base in Texas, he eventually was assigned to National Guard units in Alabama that allowed him to work on a U.S. Senate campaign. Bush says he went to Alabama, but there aren't any records of him reporting for duty. Also, after he missed a physical exam, he lost his flight credentials. It also is worth noting that Vice President Dick Cheney, who has questioned Kerry's fitness to be commander in chief, never served in the military. Cheney escaped going to Vietnam because he sought and received four student deferments and got a fifth deferment as an expectant father. Cheney, in a revealing interview with The Washington Post in 1989, made this observation: "I had other priorities in the '60s than mili tary service. ... I don't regret the decisions I made."

Right-wing broadsides disparaging American politicians who have made personal sacrifices for their country aren't limited to Democrats such as Kerry. Last week the Las Vegas Review-Journal ripped Sen. Chuck Hagel because the Nebraska Republican suggested we should consider bringing back the draft. Hagel wonders if the lower-middle class and the middle class should have to shoulder what likely will be a lengthy war on terrorism. It was fascinating then to see the Review-Journal, a newspaper that never met a capitalist it didn't like, use class warfare in its Tuesday editorial deriding Hagel. "If he's really that dedicated to seeing more millionaires in uniform, Sen. Hagel is, of course, free to volunteer," the Review-Journal sneered. Most readers probably inferred that Hagel was the wealthy scion of a political dynasty -- oops, that actually would be George Bush. What the editorial conveniently omitted was that Hagel is a U.S. Army infantry combat veteran of the Vietnam War who! received two Purple Hearts for wounds.

Meanwhile, the attacks made by Bush surrogates against Kerry are an attempt to divert attention from the administration's increasingly failed policies in Iraq and an effort to heighten the concerns of some voters that the Democrats aren't strong on national security. On the latter point, Kerry is fully committed to carrying out our mission in Iraq. Kerry has simply said that we need to get more help from our allies militarily and for Iraq's reconstruction. The Bush campaign thinks dredging up the Vietnam War will help, but instead it highlights that George Bush and Dick Cheney have a lot of explaining to do about what they were up to when war hero John Kerry was getting shot at halfway around the world. Indeed, instead of rehashing a war from 30 years ago that bitterly divided the country, you'd think the White House would be spending more time on how to p revent Iraq from turning into the quagmire that was Vietnam.