Was George W. Bush AWOL?

If the polls are correct, there’s a good chance that George W. Bush will be our armed forces’ next commander-in-chief. Curious about Gov. Bush’s own history with the Texas Air National Guard, an Iowa farmer named Martin Heldt petitioned the government for Bush’s service records, using the Freedom of Information Act. Then he posted them on a Web site, and online political junkies who have seen them are starting to ask a few serious questions: Did Bush blow off the final two years of a six-year hitch with the Guard, making him AWOL, or a deserter? And, within the past two years, did a Bush crony have a falsified document—which the GOP and George magazine are using to refute Heldt’s evidence—inserted into Bush’s official record? And, if so, and if Bush is lying about his service history now, is he fit to hold office? Click on the links provided here, examine the evidence and judge for yourself.