Kerry to release all his military records

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Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry promised to post all of his military records online by today, although his campaign is withholding some relevant documentation.

"They will be posted on the Web site beginning later this evening as the campaign completes the process of scanning them in," the campaign said in a terse statement issued late yesterday after two days of criticism over retreating from an earlier promise to release the records.

In an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday, Mr. Kerry was asked whether he would release all of his military records as President Bush did earlier this year.

"I have," Mr. Kerry responded. "I've shown them -- they're available for you to come and look at."

He then invited people to his campaign headquarters to review them.

However, when a Boston Globe reporter showed up Monday, Kerry campaign officials refused to release any records that the Globe had not already reviewed during its research into Mr. Kerry's military history. Specifically, the campaign wouldn't release evaluations by his Navy commanding officers and some medical records.

That decision drew derision from Republicans, in particular the Bush re-election campaign.

"Senator Kerry's record of nondisclosure and his flip-flop on this important issue should concern voters," Bush campaign manager Ken Mehlman said yesterday.

"The Kerry campaign has waffled on the release and claim the need for what they now say is due diligence," Mr. Mehlman said. "Well, due diligence is different than the standard he set on Sunday, different than the standard he set in 1996, and we believe that Senator Kerry should make the records available ... and they should include military and medical records as well."

Added Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie: "Guess it depends on what your definition of the word 'all' is. Voters aren't stupid, and [John Kerry] shoudn't treat us as if we are."