Bush, Kerry both face attacks on Vietnam records

As US President George W. Bush struggles to answer questions about his military service during the Vietnam War era, a conservative counterattack has begun to try to impugn Democratic presidential contender John Kerry's war record.

A photograph showing Mr Kerry and actress and anti-war activist Jane Fonda taken at a 1970 anti-war rally in Pennsylvania surfaced on a conservative Web site on Monday.

It spread across the Internet and showed up on the front page of the Washington Times on Wednesday. TV networks quickly picked up the story.

The newspaper quoted two Republican congressmen, Randy Cunningham of California and Texas' Sam Johnson, both of whom served in the war, as saying the image would diminish Mr Kerry's appeal to Vietnam veterans. Mr Johnson said it made him sick.

The picture shows Fonda listening intently at the rally. Three rows behind her is a fuzzy but recognisable image of Mr Kerry, who also spoke at the demonstration.

Mr Kerry, a Massachusetts senator and probable presidential challenger to Mr Bush in November, became a leader of the anti-war movement after returning from Vietnam where he was decorated with a Silver Star, a Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts.

He constantly brings up his heroic war service at campaign rallies. Vietnam War veterans who served with him, and one of whose life Mr Kerry saved, have frequently appeared by his side and in his TV ads.

Fonda earned the enduring disgust of many veterans, who called her "Hanoi Jane" after she travelled to North Vietnam in 1972 where she met with communist officials and criticised the US government over government radio.

The flap over Kerry came as the White House struggled to bury old charges that Bush was AWOL during part of his own service in the United States in the Air National Guard.

Many Americans of Bush's generation were anxious to avoid service in Vietnam. Joining the National Guard was seen as way of fulfilling their service requirements at home without being thrust into the middle of the war.

Bush said on Sunday he would provide records on his service with the National Guard but on Wednesday the White House ruled out the blanket release of medical or disciplinary records.