[url]http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020605/ts_nm/attack_letter_dc_1[/url]

Air Force Officer Suspended Criticizing Bush
Tue Jun 4, 9:04 PM ET

MONTEREY, Calif. (Reuters) - 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 -- the commander in chief of the U.S. armed forces -- 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, although the Pentagon had "quietly issued" memos reminding officers of the Article 88 provisions after President Clinton became embroiled in the Monica Lewinsky scandal, prompting a number of articles and letters to the editor from military officers.

i wonder how long before the ACLU chimes in?

What a fvcknut. Serves him right. It's like a middle-manager bad mouthing the CEO in the press. What do you think would be the outcome then? A bloody pink slip for sure!

The guy's the vice chancellor for student affairs in Monterey of all places (talk about cush) and gets transferred to Travis? HA HA HA!

I'll bet his wife misses 4:00 PM tea time at Pacific Grove and walks along the beach. What an idiot!

Not to mention, he was just flat-out wrong about everything he said.

I guess when you are past 20 years and commisioned you can bad mouth whoever you want and then retire. They need to courtmartial his ass and make an example out of him. If you make this typ of an statement in the civilian world you would find yourself getting sued for everything you are worth.

He's just an [b]idiot[/b], that's all!

Court martial his a** outta there.

Eric The(Pizzed)Hun[>]:)]

I doubt they will.  After all this is a mere military person and therefore probably not worthy.

Who said he was military? [;D]

sorry - couldn't help it [:I]

Seems to me that anyone dumb enough to do what this clown did deserves to lose his commission and lose any and all benefits.  As a Storm & Somalia vet, I had ALL KINDS of things to comment about, but kept myself in check simply because it was PART OF THE RULES... HELLO!

It's not what he did....

....it's that he's stupid enough to do it!

Thank god Air Force Lieutenant Colonels aren't really given the responsibility of leading men.[;)]

Do we have an Air Force base in the Norht Pole?
Alaska is too good for him.

Same thing happened during the Clinton administration. They know the rules.

No, but he could be posted at McMurdo (Antartica).

Although I am diametrically opposed to Col. Butler's political slant on the world, and I think he may in fact have a screw loose, I'm not going to debate that here.

My ax to grind is quite simple really:  The man deserves to have charges brought against him and tried by General Court Martial.

This must be presented as simply following the law and not retribution.  It isn't personal.  I isn't over his political views.  He broke the law and incriminated himself in so doing.

The UCMJ is absolutely clear on this offense.  It states:

ART. 88. CONTEMPT TOWARD OFFICIALS
Any commissioned officer who uses contemptuous words against the President, the Vice President, Congress, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of a military department, the Secretary of Transportation, or the Governor or legislature of any State, Territory, Commonwealth, or possession in which he is on duty or present shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.

The fact that Colonel Butler may think he is exercising his First Amendment rights in writing that scathing letter to the press doesn't matter in this case.  It is to be assumed that as a serving officer of the United States military, he is fully cognizant of the UCMJ and the Manual of Courts Martial...required reading for all commissioned officers.  Further, as an officer (And field grade at that!), he sets the worst possible type of example for his subordinates to follow.

Officers, just like all members of the armed services, have the right to bitch about our leaders...who among us hasn't complained about one of our leaders over a beer or cup of coffee?  The difference is, we didn't write a damning letter like Butler did to the print media, 90% of whom are Bush-Haters anyway!

Oh...and just because he says he's now going to retire soon...too bad.  He is still on active duty and still subject to the UCMJ.  I say Court martial him.  Do it correctly and make him pay.  Pay NO attention to the media and the ACLU.

[spank]

If i were Bush... I'd have him executed[kill]

IT'S NOT HIS FAULT!!!!

I figured it out:  he's in California!  

He caught the [b]SCSV[/b] (So. Calif. Stupid Virus).  Some people are more susceptible than others so not everyone comes down with it.  It causes the thinking part of the brain to wither and die.

If the military is going to station people in California, they're going to have to come up with a vaccine for this!

Try a [b]CSV[/b] (California Stupid Virus).  I'm thinking that 99.99% of politicians in California and Cook County, Illinois have this very same Virus.   In fact, One of the Cook County sufferers is running for Governor in Illinois!  ILLINOIS FOLKS, GET YOUR VOTES READY! Rod Blagojevich is coming to take your guns like the sheeple in Chicago!

didn't General MacArthur get 'fired' for that?
(after he was promoted for assaulting vets in the Bonus Army)

He should get a General Court Martial , Busted down to nothing and Dishonorably discharged.