----- Original Message ----- From: "Lysander Zimmerman" <LAMZ at sympatico.ca> To: <defeat_bill_36 at hotmail.com> Sent: Wednesday, June 05, 2002 12:14 AM Subject: Air Force Officer Suspended for Saying "Bush let 911 happen"
> Air Force officer suspended criticizing Bush (english)
>
> Reuters. 4 June 2002. Air Force Officer Suspended Criticizing Bush.
>
> MONTEREY, Calif. -- A U.S. Air Force officer has been suspended from duty
> after he wrote a letter to a California newspaper accusing President Bush of
> allowing the Sept. 11 attacks to happen "because he needed this war on
> terrorism," a military official said on Tuesday.
>
> Lt. Colonel Steve Butler was relieved of his duties as vice chancellor for
> student affairs at the Defense Language Institute pending an investigation
> into his letter, which was published in the Monterey County Herald on May
> 26, a military spokesman said.
>
> Butler's letter accused Bush of allowing the Sept. 11 attacks to occur for
> his own political ends.
>
> "Of course Bush knew about the impending attacks on America. He did nothing
> to warn the American people because he needed this war on terrorism. His
> daddy had Saddam and he needed Osama," Butler's letter said.
> "His presidency was going nowhere. He wasn't elected by the American people,
> but placed into the Oval Office by the conservative Supreme Court... the
> economy was sliding into the usual Republican pits and he needed something
> to hang his presidency on."
>
> Butler, a 24-year Air Force veteran who served as a combat pilot during the
> 1990 Gulf War, was not immediately available for comment.
>
> His wife, Shelly Butler, told the Herald on Tuesday that the military had
> given her husband "a lot of grief" over the letter and reassigned him to
> temporary duty at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, California.
>
> She said he planned to retire in several weeks.
>
> Butler's suspension was apparently based on Article 88 of the Uniform Code
> of Military Justice, which says that any commissioned officer who uses
> "contemptuous words" against the president or other senior officials may be
> punished by a court-martial.
>
> The Monterey Herald said that the last Article 88 court-martial came in 1965
> when an Army second lieutenant was prosecuted for taking part in an anti-war
> protest in Texas.
>
> http://indymedia.org:8081/front.php3?article_id=184360&group=webcast
>
>
> Related Links
>
> Presidio officer relieved of his duties after letter about attacks
> http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/3396664.htm
>
> Air force colonel suspended after bad-mouthing Bush in letter to California
> newspaper
> http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020604/ap_to_po/colonel_
> suspended_1
>
> Indymedia posting with further sublinks (NYT article, etc.)
> http://www.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=184297&group=webcast
>
>
> ____________________________________________________________
> 'Naturally the common people don't want war: Neither in Russia, nor in
> England, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all,
> IT IS THE LEADERS of the country who determine the policy and it is always a
> simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a
> fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or
> no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders.
> That is easy. All you have to do is TELL THEM THEY ARE BEING ATTACKED, and
> denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to
> danger. IT WORKS THE SAME IN ANY COUNTRY.' -Goering at the Nuremberg Trials
>
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