Posted on 07/25/2008 11:56:10 AM PDT by kristinn
Was the Pentagon's exclusion of Obama foreign policy advisor Maj. Gen. Scott Gration, USAF (Ret.) from Barack Obama's planned visit with wounded troops at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany the reason for Obama's cancellation of the visit?
Piecing together the information being reported in various news outlets points in that direction.
Der Spiegel first reported the story in a brief note on their live thread on Obama's visit to Berlin yesterday morning (EDT). Free Republic was the first to pick up the story. From there it was picked up by Hot Air, then spread through the blogosphere and into the the mainstream press.
Obama's campaign issued their first statement on the matter, saying Obama cancelled out of concerns the visit would be seen as political. That didn't wash when Obama opened his speech in Berlin saying he was not there as a candidate for president but as a 'proud citizen of the United States and a citizen of the world.'
The Obama campaign issued a second statement that blamed the Pentagon for the cancellation.
Today, Obama's staff held three briefings within forty-five minutes on O-Force One in an effort to get their story striaght. they added supposed Pentagon objections to the campaign plane and staff landing at Ramstein.
Last night NRO reported a confidential source informed them that an Obama staffer had a fit when told they couldn't participate in the visit to Landstuhl:
A very interesting email from a source I must protect suggests that Obama's visit to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center had the green light until a campaign staffer raised a stink about going with Obama. (There are rules meant to ensure candidates do not use soldiers or military bases for campaign purposes, and they state that personal and committee staff may accompany a sitting senator on a visit but campaign staff may not.) I am told that when one of Obama's campaign staff was told he or she would be denied access, the visit was canceled.
Today, responding to media queries, the Pentagon said they informed Obama that while he could bring a Senate staffer and a security team, he could not bring Gen. Gration and another campaign staffer named Jeff Kiernan.
Gen. Gration had served at Ramstein in the early 1990s.
The Pentagon informed the Obama campaign of the exclusions on Wednesday, even though the trip had been planned at least a week ahead of time. The Obama campaign says he decided to cancel the visit on the flight from Israel to Germany.
The Pentagon told the Los Angeles Times that Obama's campaign plane, dubbed O-Force One by his travelling press corps, was cleared to land at Ramstein AFB and that the press corps and Obama campaign staff would be accomodated in the passenger lounge while Obama visited the wounded at nearby Landstuhl.
This explanation by the Pentagon that Obama's plane would be allowed to land and his staff and press taken care of leaves a big question as to what was so objectionable that Obama cancelled.
It couldn't be the media restriction as some have speculated. Obama visited wounded troops at Walter Reed Army Medical Center last month without the press. He visited troops in Kuwait, Afghanistan and Iraq without the media. The military released official photos of the war zone visits, the only exception being of Obama's visit to a military hospital in the Green Zone in Baghdad.
So that still leaves the question, what brought on the cancellation. The only thing that sticks out is the Pentagon's informing Gen. Gration that he would have to stay in the passenger lounge wth the other Obama staffers and the press. Was that too much for that retired general's ego to accept? And did Obama cancel the trip in order to assuage Gration's ego?
And, even more important, is Obama lying to the American people about it?
I had to really hunt for him.
Reminds me of a Firesign Theater snippet:
“All for one, and all for one. LET ME HEAR IT FOR ME!”
What do you want to bet they toss Jeffy under the bus.
Can’t say for him ego, but it was definatley poor judgment
Bump!
Someone’s got to go. Maybe they’ll give Jeff one of those red Star Trek security shirts that always marked the one-show characters in the series.
Not so fast! Andrea Mitchell reported a "rumor" this morning that McCain was behind this! And that's been picked up, too.
They have no shame. As usual.
I’ll assume
they believe
was likely
he probably
Oye. Feeding the fires thru speculation
It’s already been exposed as dem spin.
LOL!
Yup. But unless the “exposure” gets some MSM play, people will continue to believe it. It’s still out there circling around and gaining some steam ...
Speaking for the wounded troops: I am glad that he did not see them for whatever reason. He has shown nothing but disrespect for the troops and contempt for their sacrifices. I would be surprised if any of them would have wanted him to visit. He could tell them a little story about how he’s sorry that they are wounded but he would have never allowed the troop surge, and if he had been at the helm... blah blah blah. Ask them if they could put his O logo on their uniforms instead of the flag of the United States of America. Accuse them of having false patriotism for actually volunteering to be in the military.
I would think that they would not deny a retired General Officer, or any retired military member, access to the post. Access to the hospital itself and the wounded troops is another matter.
Was Grafton let into the other bases? If so, was there a concern that without a military guy to help him, Obama could well do something really stupid while visiting?
Major Generals hear "NO" all the time, from O-9 and O-10s, as well as civilian political appointees.
But he had a cell phone with a camera.
Please don’t insult ferrets. They are good at “ferreting things out”, hence the phrase “ferret it out”.
I’m not even sure it’s fair to malign weasels.
You sound just like a Democrat. It would be different if you actually were quoting something other than your own prejudice. I am embarrassed.
Remember those people who were clinging to their guns and god?
Get a clue then post. Better yet, leave the racist statements out all together they rarely help and almost aways mislead and misinform.
This is a Democrat thing, the politics of identity and dismissing groups of Americans out of hand.
*snort*
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