To Obama's Campaign- I Want To See The Pentagon Memo Re: Not Visiting Troops In Germany

[KittyWampus]

Since the Pentagon reneged on their initial approval of Obama's visit by, I'd like to see the memo they sent. Or know who it was that contacted Obama's campaign.

McCain now has an ad attacking Obama for not visiting the troops. A factsheet issued from Obama's campaign isn't worth a bucket of warm spit as far as public relations go.

And apparently McCain is now pounding his chest saying HE'D never allow the Pentagon to tell him not to visit the troops.

If McCain wants to politicize our troops and then accuse Obama of doing so, Obama's team better get ready to cram that accusation down McCain's throat.

[cliffordu]

1. Lessee -

Kind of over the top aggressive towards the Democratic Party Candidate, aren't ya??

Just sayin'

:shrug:

[wellstone dem]

3. my thoughts exactly. nt

[Barack_America]

2. I don't need to see it.

That the McCain camp. has already turned this into an attack ad shows how desperate they really are. They'd like Obama to focus on this and take the focus off of McCain's HORRIBLE week.

One of Obama's great appeals is that he rarely postures.

[KittyWampus]

4. There has been no focus on McCain's horrible week.

[droidamus2]

5. If reports here are right

McCain is taking a big chance essentially he is putting his whole campaign on the line. If it can be proven, as it has been rumored here, that someone in his campaign influenced the pentagon to nix his visit with the troops McCain's chances are over! On a lesser note if this allegation is proved and somebody in the pentagon is claiming it didn't happen their ass is dust as well. The fact that Obama, at least as reported here, visited with wounded troops in Iraq could be used to blunt this ridiculous criticism. It is easy for McCain to say 'I would never let the pentagon...' since he has never been and will now never be in the situation to have to live up to that vow. I WILL HERE AND NOW LET IT BE KNOWN THAT I WILL NEVER LET THE PENTAGON INTIMIDATE ME INTO NOT VISITING OUR BRAVE WOUND SOLDIERS IN GERMANY!!!!! That vow means as much as McCain's vow. This smells strongly of a setup. McCain and his people were getting killed by this trip. It was weakening their argument about Obama not having been overseas and not being able to handle the global responsibilities of the presidency and making Obama look very good. They had to stop this somehow. This reeks of desperation and weakness in the McCain campaign. I for one hope that the Obama people or the Democrats have strong evidence to prove that this is all a farce and that McCain is just another of a long line of lying Republicans.

[KittyWampus]

7. it sure does seem like a set-up. It needs to be exposed. And there should be a memo somewhere

or some record of who told O's campaign the Pentagon changed its position.

[Ian David]

6. HERE: Pentagon Confirms That It Told Obama He Couldn't Visit Army Base With Campaign Staff

Pentagon Confirms That It Told Obama He Couldn't Visit Army Base With Campaign Staff
By Greg Sargent - July 25, 2008, 11:13AM

I've just gotten clarification from the Pentagon on what really happened with regard to Barack Obama's canceled visit to an Army base in Germany, something the McCain campaign has been using to hit Obama since yesterday. A Pentagon spokesperson confirms to me that because of longstanding Department of Defense regulations, Pentagon officials told Obama aides that he couldn't visit the base with campaign staff. This left Obama with little choice but to cancel the trip, since the plan to visit with campaign aides had been in the works for weeks.

The Obama campaign yesterday announced that it had decided to cancel the visit to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, saying that it would be "inappropriate" to make such a visit as part of a campaign trip.

The McCain camp has nonetheless been using Obama's canceled trip to insinuate that he's anti-troops. "Barack Obama is wrong," McCain spokesperson Brian Rogers said in a statement yesterday. "It is never 'inappropriate' to visit our men and women in the military." But it turns out that the Pentagon did in fact tell Obama that in this case, it was not only "inappropriate," but against DOD rules, for him to conduct the visit with campaign staff.

"We have longstanding Department of Defense policy in regards to political campaigns and elections," Pentagon spokesperson Elizabeth Hibner told me. "We informed the Obama staff that he was more than welcome to visit as Senator Obama, with Senate staff. However, he could not conduct the visit with campaign staff."



More:
http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/07/pentagon_confirms_that_it_told.php

[KittyWampus]

8. Thanks, but then why was the visit approved initially. Why was it allowed to go on the schedule?

WHO changed the Pentagon's decision?

[Kittycat]

9. The Pentagon, Bush, Condi - does it really matter? They're all republican partisans

It was a lose-lose situation either way. This way I believe was the best way for Obama to handle it. And I'm sure Obama will have a counter ad out soon. Afterall - the idiot used a picture of Obama visiting the troops/shooting a basketball in his own ad.

[KittyWampus]

10. Hope you're right. It's hard witnessing this crap.

[jenmito]

11. The way McCain (and many in the media) are portraying this, he canceled because he couldn't bring

his video cameras (part of his campaign staff), which of course feeds into McCain's "country first" for HIM but "self first" for Obama (even though Obama said he wasn't going to bring cameras in anyway). :eyes:

[Diamonique]

12. This whole thing looks like a Rethug setup to me...

... especially with Condi telling our embassies in those countries not to give Obama any assistance while he was there.

But I do have a question.. something I've been puzzled about. Why couldn't Obama just go and visit the troops by himself? Was it required that he take aides with him? I don't understand that part of it.

[windbreeze]

13. Do we want him running around, unescorted??

just curious...The Senators Reed/Hagel had left already....so it couldn't be a Senatorial trip....all he had with him were campaign people, and they weren't allowed to be on base....Look McCain challenged him to take the trip, he took it...how many different tactics did they try, in order to cause him trouble while he was there?...this is another one of those tactics...the Pentagon has admitted they caused the problem, AFTER, they had initially approved the visit...from the way I understood it, they didn't let him know in time to arrange anything else...wb