14 JUNE 2003, Page 39

Guardsman Bush

From Mr John Wilcock

Sir: Taki's wearisome repetition of 'draft dodger' to preface our last president's name is more than a little tired. Why does he not apply the same epithet to our current president, George W. Bush, who not only pulled strings to jump the queue into the Texas National Guard, rather than enlist in the armed forces but, according to the authors of Bush's Brain, also went aw-ol for the last two years of his guard stint?

John Wilcock Ojai, California