Obama Using the Troops

Original Link: http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2008/07/27/obama-using-the-troops/

By Larry Johnson

Boy the fur is flying over Obama’s first trip to Europe and his refusal to visit wounded warriors because he could not get a political payoff. John McCain, who has had his own troubles in the past of using U.S. troops as political props, wasted no time bashing Obama for refusing to visit hospitalized soldiers in Germany. According to the Associated Press:

Mr. Obama was flying from London to Chicago on Saturday when the McCain campaign issued a statement from Joe Repya, a retired Army colonel who said Mr. Obama had broken a commitment to visit the wounded Americans, “instead flitting from one European capital to the next.”

“Several explanations were offered, none was convincing and each was at odds with the statements of American military leaders in Germany and Washington,” Mr. Repya said. “For a young man so apt at playing president, Barack Obama badly misjudged the important demands of the office he seeks. Visits with world leaders and speeches to cheering Europeans shouldn’t be a substitute for comforting injured American heroes.”

In turn, Obama campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor said Mr. Obama and Mr. McCain both believed that troops should be honored and noted that the Illinois senator had visited troops in Iraq and Afghanistan last week and had made numerous trips to Washington’s Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Mr. Obama still didn’t want injured soldiers “pulled into the back-and-forth of a political campaign,” Mr. Vietor said in a statement.

Oh sure. Barack wasn’t using the troops as a political prop when he was shooting hoops. Right?

Which brings us to the letter from a young Captain apparently attached to the Utah National Guard. Jeffrey Porter, who authored the following letter, is in trouble. Officers are not supposed to take a political position. I believe he is telling the truth but his chain of command has stepped in and are denying his version. I believe Captain Porter was telling what he saw without intending it to become part of the political debate. I held off until now posting the letter because I wanted to be sure it was authentic. I have confirmation from friends in theater that it is legit. Here is Captain Porter giving his take on Barack’s visit:

Hello everyone,
As you know I am not a very political person. I just wanted to pass along that Senator Obama came to Bagram Afghanistan for about an hour on his visit to ‘The War Zone’. I wanted to share with you what happened.

He got off the plane and got into a bullet proof vehicle, got to the area to meet with the Major General (2 Star) who is the commander here at Bagram.

As the Soldiers were lined up to shake his hand he blew them off and didn’t say a word as he went into the conference room to meet the General. As he finished, the vehicles took him to the ClamShell (pretty much a big top tent that military personnel can play basketball or work out in with weights) so he could take his publicity pictures playing basketball. He again shunned the opportunity to talk to Soldiers to thank them for their service

So really he was just here to make a showing for the American’s back home that he is their candidate for President. I think that if you are going to make an effort to come all the way over here you would thank those that are providing the freedom that they are providing for you.

I swear we got more thanks from the NBA Basketball Players or the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders than from one of the Senators, who wants to be the President of the United States . I just don’t understand how anyone would want him to be our Commander-and- Chief. It was almost that he was scared to be around those that provide the freedom for him and our great country.

If this is blunt and to the point I am sorry but I wanted you all to know what caliber of person he really is. What you see in the news is all fake.

In service,
CPT Jeffrey S. Porter
Battle Captain
TF Wasatch
American Soldier

This soldier will pay a price for telling the truth. America will pay a price if it does not wake up and realize that Barack is the consummate opportunist and is a typical politician when it comes to using troops as part of his campaign.

His decision to blow off the troops recovering from their wounds will dog him the rest of this campaign. Well it should.

UPDATED: After the Obama campaign’s screaming snit with DOD officials, we are now informed that Captain Porter “RECANTED” his letter. JESUS CHRIST!!! We are acting like old style Stalinists or Maoists. Don’t remember? Back during the Cold War it was commonplace for “counter revolutionaries” to be paraded in public and recant/denounce things they had previously written or said. Here is poor Captain Porter, who by virtue of his place in the military, has no option but to follow orders (unless he wants to go to the stockade). Read the so-called “recant” very carefully:

But the Military Times newspaper reported on Friday that Porter is now asking those who received a copy of the e-mail to delete it and is asking bloggers who posted his letter to take it down from their sites.
“Some of the information that was put out in my e-mail was wrong,” Porter wrote, according to the Times, which is published by Gannett. “This e-mail was meant only for my family.”
The Obama campaign reacted quickly to the e-mail, posting on its Web site photos, videos and media accounts of Obama meeting with U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

As I noted above, Captain Porter had no idea that his letter would go viral. However, the only “error” in his letter is that it got wide circulation. Captain Porter is a solid young man who had the “audacity” to offer his view of what was really going on behind the carefully staged scenes to portray Obama as a guy loved by the troops. Leave it to the lefties in the Obama tent to press for a soldier to “recant.”