WH releases Bush military records
WASHINGTON, Feb. 10 (UPI) -- The White House released documents Tuesday showing President George W. Bush fulfilled his duty while serving in the Air National Guard during the Vietnam War.
The documents -- payroll records and duty-day certifications -- were found at a military personnel center in Colorado Monday, but were unlikely to put to rest the issue of whether Bush shirked his obligations as alleged by Democratic presidential candidates and their supporters.
The records show Bush served six duty days in at least part of the fall of 1972, a period it had been alleged for which there was no evidence he had done so.
But base commanders at that time reportedly don't personally remember Bush, spurring suspicions current documents don't tell the whole truth.
"I think the facts are clear," spokesman Scott McClellan said Tuesday. "It's clear that some are not interested in the facts. It's clear that some may be more interested in using this for partisan political advantage."
U.S. governors visit Baghdad
ST. PAUL, Minn., Feb. 10 (UPI) -- Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and the governors of Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, New York and Oregon are visiting U.S. forces in Baghdad.
The surprise trip was at the invitation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who hand-picked the bi-partisan delegation. Pawlenty, Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle, Idaho's Dick Kempthrone and New York Gov. George Pataki are Republicans. Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski are Democrats.
The governors were briefed at the Pentagon Sunday and will spend two days in Iraq, the Minnesota governor's office said in a statement Tuesday.
The mission toured Baghdad visiting U.S. troops and was briefed at a former palace of Saddam Hussein. The delegation also was to discuss reconstruction efforts with Ambassador Paul Bremer and leaders of Iraq's emerging government.
Jesse Jackson seeks U.S. execution halt
SACRAMENTO, Feb. 10 (UPI) -- The 11th-hour halt of Kevin Cooper's execution in California was followed Tuesday by a call for a nationwide moratorium on the death penalty.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson said California's capital punishment system is flawed, and executions should be halted at the state and national levels so reforms can be devised.
Cooper had been scheduled to die at San Quentin shortly after midnight Tuesday, but the U.S. Supreme Court Monday night refused to lift a stay ordered by the lower Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Jackson has been in California since last week, seeking to block Cooper's execution so new witnesses statements can be explored and physical evidence can be tested with methods unavailable after the 1983 quadruple-murder in Chino Hills.
Documents challenge NASA's Hubble decision
WASHINGTON, Feb. 10 (UPI) -- Documents making the rounds at the U.S. Capitol question NASA's decision to cancel a space shuttle mission to repair the aging Hubble Space Telescope.
Last month Sean O'Keefe, NASA's administrator, said safety -- not budget -- was the prime factor in his decision not to send a shuttle mission to the Hubble in 2006 to replace gyroscopes, batteries and instruments. Without that equipment, the telescope would slowly lose function.
United Press International obtained copies of the so-far anonymous documents, one of which said: "The final planned (Hubble) Servicing Mission, SM4, will be at least as safe as shuttle flights to the International Space Station."
After the Columbia tragedy last year NASA decided that to assure the safety of a crew flying to service Hubble, another shuttle would have to be fueled and ready to go in case the first orbiter was damaged and unable to return to Earth.
If a rescue mission became necessary to assist the crew of a Hubble servicing mission, the rescue crew would have to attempt the very risky and never-before-staged transfer of crewmembers from one space shuttle to another.
One document said if NASA is comfortable with not having a rescue shuttle on standby for space station missions, it should be comfortable flying a mission to service Hubble -- because the risk is the same.
