Anti-Bush Burkett gets media scrutiny

The source for the CBS News report questioning U.S. President George Bush's military record came under media scrutiny Tuesday.

Bill Burkett, a former Texas Air National guard lieutenant colonel who provided the network with documents whose authenticity is under question has "a history of self-described mental problems," the Washington Post said.

The newspaper recounted how Burkett over the past three years "has given dozens of newspaper and television interviews accusing the president and his aides of destroying documents and stealing elections."

In interviews, Burkett accused the Guard of failing to provide him with proper medical treatment in 1998 while on tour in Panama where he became partly paralyzed and had a nervous breakdown. He said in desperation, he saved himself from death by taking a dose of cattle penicillin that turned out to be three times the correct dosage for his body weight.

Interviewed during the weekend by CBS, Burkett acknowledged he had "misled" the network by "throwing out a name" when asked to reveal the source of the documents on Bush's service record.

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