Posted on 11/27/2005 3:13:44 PM PST by leadpenny
BAGHDAD, Iraq - A military vehicle carrying three congressmen overturned on the way to the Baghdad airport, injuring two of them, the U.S. Embassy said Sunday.
Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., was airlifted to a military hospital in Germany for an MRI on his neck, and Rep. Ike Skelton (news, bio, voting record), D-Mo., was sent to a Baghdad hospital for evaluation, said Rep. Jim Marshall (news, bio, voting record), D-Ga., who was also in the vehicle but was not hurt.
Calls to Skelton and Murphy on Sunday were not immediately returned, but Marshall's spokesman Doug Moore said both suffered minor injuries.
The politicians were riding in a convoy that was driving in the middle of the road, a common practice used by the military in Iraq to deter oncoming motorists. Shortly after dark, an oncoming tanker truck refused to yield, the embassy said in a statement.
"Then all of a sudden brakes get slammed on. Then we hit something and go off the side of the road and tip over," Marshall told The Macon (Ga.) Telegraph by phone from Baghdad.
Marshall said that as the vehicle toppled over, he held onto Skelton, who has limited use of his arms due to childhood polio. The embassy said the driver's quick reaction "probably averted disaster."
The delegation had traveled to Afghanistan for Thanksgiving with the troops and then on to Baghdad to meet with troops there.
Not Dodd? Not LIEberman? Not Shays? Not DeLauro?
CRAP.
I don't think Pelosi has the balls to go to Iraq.
Watch, the Republican will praise the fast response of the troops, and the Democrat will state that its further evidence that we have lost control and are losing the war when a simple ride from the airport ends in disaster.
Why are our troops wasting their time driving meddlesome congressmen around any way?
I thought it interesting AP left out the "(news, bio, voting record)" link for the lone Republican.
The Rino Murphy is still alive??
Just DAMN!!!
(KDKA/AP) BAGHDAD A military vehicle carrying U.S. politicians overturned on the way to the Baghdad airport on Saturday and injured two members of Congress, including one from Pennsylvania.So, is the "ice cream truck" what they call the Stryker vehicles? IIRC the early reports were that the Strykers were prone to flipping over.
Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., was airlifted to a military hospital in Germany for an MRI on his neck, said Rep. Jim Marshall, who was also in the vehicle. Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., was sent to a Baghdad hospital, Marshall told the Macon Telegraph.
Marshall, a Georgia Democrat, said he was not hurt.
Murphy represents parts of Allegheny, Westmoreland and Washington counties in western Pennsylvania.
Calls to Skelton and Murphy on Sunday morning were not immediately returned.
The congressional delegation was riding in a box-like vehicle that troops called the "ice cream truck" that streaked through the middle of the road to deter oncoming motorists, Marshall said.
But shortly after dark, an oncoming truck refused to yield.
"Then, all of a sudden, brakes get slammed on. Then we hit something and go off the side of the road and tip over," Marshall said.
Marshall said as the vehicle toppled over, he held onto Skelton, who has limited use of his arms due to a bout with childhood polio.
"Everybody sort of fell over to the side. There's no cushion to it. It's all solid metal with bolts sticking out," Marshall told
the newspaper. "I feel like a fool. I didn't put my seat belt on."
The accident reminded Marshall of his first trip to Iraq with Skelton, when Marshall voiced concerns on the dangers of the high-speed driving strategy aimed at getting dignitaries safely through treacherous territory.
"It's so odd to me that I said, 'Shoot, this is more dangerous than the terrorists,' and dang if we don't flip over," Marshall
said.
The delegation had traveled to Afghanistan for Thanksgiving with the troops and then on to Baghdad to meet with troops.
I'm impressed with Rep. Marshall's honesty here. He does not claim he was hurt and he admits he was foolish not to wear his seat belt. Additionally he helped his fellow Rep. Skelton who was disabled.
I wonder what kind of vehicle it was too.
no, no, she has balls. remember the coach in scary movie(2?) uh huh. that was her!
Of course the article fails to mention the condition of any soldiers in the vehicle.
Good point.
is ike skelton related to RED skelton?
I thought he was related to Ike Eisenhower.
Ike is one of the good guys. He is from a conservative congressional district in NW Missouri and well thought of by most folks here in Missouri. My hope is that all is well for them. Let us all lay aside the politics here for a moment.
Two (US) Lawmakers Injured in Iraq Vehicle Flip
Posted by leadpenny
On News/Activism 11/27/2005 3:13:44 PM PST · 16 replies · 451+ views
AP via Yahoo! ^ | 27 Nov
Two Congressmen injured after vehicle flips in Iraq
Posted by johnmecainrino
On News/Activism 11/27/2005 7:54:28 AM PST · 31 replies · 1,001+ views
AP ^ | November 27, 2005
Bingo!
It's around 1AM in Pittsburgh and I'm at work listening to a refeed of the late news on the NBC affiliate. This is there lead story and they are milking it good.
They're airing grim faced reporters tersely commenting on the dangerous situation in Iraq...interviews with Murphy's friends, neighbors along with man in the street sound bites...ALL that I have seen have been infering - or that's my take - the war in Iraq is going badly, we shouldn't have been there, should get out now.
And of course it's George W Bush's fault.
Admittedly I didn't have time to listen to the complete segment, but it wasn't until I looked the story up on the net that I found the congresscritters were injured in traffic accident. From the reporting on the TV I thought they had hit a landmine or come under terrorist attack.
FEH! MSM Sux.
prisoner6
My bad. I was around in the morning yesterday and did not see the story on Yahoo or anywhere else. It showed up yesterday as a new headline (something like 30 minutes ago) in the afternoon. Obviously, I didn't do a search.
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