"George Z. Bush" wrote

I could provide a list of people who fit that bill who come from both
sides of
the aisle and, I, like you, have a problem with them. BTW, as a
sub-category, I
gather that you don't have a problem with military people who one way or
the
other avoided the possibility of serving in a combat theater? Mr.
Rumsfeld
might find his name on my list there, not because he never got there, but
rather
because he didn't try when he could have as opposed to how hawkish and
war-like
he became subsequently when he was quite safely entrenched behind a desk
in
Washington, D. C. or a Naval Reserve outfit in the Washington suburbs.

There is a whole group of then-active duty fighter pilots who did not
participate in Desert Storm.

Let us look at one of those pilots.
This person is running for Congressman in 2004. It is public knowledge that
candidate Joe Cool served in the Air Force from 1986-1992 as an F-16 pilot.
Indeed, he served with distinction, often earning top scores in competition.
He left the Air Force in 1992 to pursue a political career, rising from city
council to being the leading Republican candidate in his state. On leaving
active duty, he was transferred to the Inactive Reserves.

He is strong on defense issues, and it will be a tight race.

The subject of his 'combat record' comes up. It is leaked by the opposition
party that candidate Joe Cool, while having served honorably, failed to
actually fly any missions during the biggest military action of his time,
Desert Storm. This was a was in which most of the Air Force participated,
indeed 8 out of 10 pilots in the theater to which he was assigned (USAFE),
went and fought. After the war, after the shooting stopped, he flew a few
'support missions' over northern Iraq before leaving active duty.

Why did Joe Cool not fly alongside his brothers? After all, he was a fully
qualified F-16 pilot, a senior O-3. Flight lead, squadron safety officer.
Why was he not flying missions over Iraq when there were other pilots being
targeted with SAM's and AAA, some of them even being shot down?

How can he be so hawkish now, when previously he avoided combat? Why was he
performing such safe, mundane desk duties as squadron safety officer when
other pilots were being shot down?

Was there some influence by a family benefactor to keep him out of combat?
Or maybe something more sinister? He *is* a stockholder in Exxon and
Halliburton, after all.

Or maybe, the reason he didn't fly combat in Desert Storm was because no one
else from his base did either. He was stationed at Ramstein AB, Germany at
the time, and the 86FW (F-16 C/D), unique among USAFE fighter Wings, sent
zero aircraft and pilots to fly in Desert Storm. The pilots were *****ed*.
But somebody had to stay behind and 'guard Europe'.

You don't always get to choose/volunteer, and the needs of the military
outweigh...

Pete
Capt. Joe Cool is obviously a fictional character. Ramstein is not.