Air Force Says Case Closed Over Officer Who Criticized President

Air Force Says Case Closed Over Officer Who Criticized President

by Kevin Howe
Knight Ridder Newspapers
June 14, 2002

MONTEREY -- The investigation of Air Force Lt. Col. Stephen L. Butler is over, but military officials won't say what will happen to the officer whose denunciation of President Bush set off national debate over the limits of free speech in the military.

"The investigation is over and the matter has been resolved," Air Force spokeswoman Wendy Varhegyi said this week.

She said Butler, who was vice chancellor of the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, could face "nonjudicial" punishment, suggesting he's not facing court-martial for his critical letter to the editor. However, she added, "It would be inappropriate to speculate on what the outcome is.

"If the commander takes administrative or nonjudicial disciplinary action, such information is normally not releasable under the privacy act," Varhegyi said.

Butler's letter, published May 26 in The (Monterey County) Herald, accused Bush of allowing the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to occur for political reasons. It sparked a formal investigation because military law bars officers from making "contemptuous" statements about the president and other key officials.

The letter read in part: "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.

"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's letter called the president's course of action "sleazy and contemptible."

Butler was administratively suspended from his duties and investigation of the matter was turned over to Air Force Col. Jeff Johnson, deputy commandant of the language school and Butler's immediate superior officer.

Butler, who served as a B-52 bomber navigator during the Gulf War, remains assigned to the Presidio of Monterey and is reportedly planning to retire after 24 years of Air Force service. He hasn't commented publicly on the letter or the controversy.

Butler was never charged with an offense, but if he's offered non-judicial punishment and refuses it, he could face a court-martial, said retired Army Lt. Col. Robert Maginnis of the Defense Department's Family Research Council.

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