McCain Camp Rips Obama for Cancelling Troop Visit (Wounded Warriors in the Hospital)

So Obama thinks campaigning is more important than thanking our wounded troops for their sacrifice.....

The German magazine Der Spiegel is reporting online that Obama has “cancelled a planned short visit to the Rammstein and Landstuhl U.S. military bases in the southwest German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The visits were planned for Friday.”

“Barack Obama will not be coming to us,” a spokesperson for the U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl told Der Spiegel. “I don't know why.”

Obama senior adviser Robert Gibbs told ABC News in a statement, “During his trip as part of the CODEL to Afghanistan and Iraq, Sen. Obama visited the combat support hospital in the Green Zone in Baghdad and had a number of other visits with the troops. For the second part of his trip, the senator wanted to visit the men and women at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center to express his gratitude for their service and sacrifice. The senator decided out of respect for these servicemen and women that it would be inappropriate to make a stop to visit troops at a U.S. military facility as part of a trip funded by the campaign.”

www.freerepublic.com...

Emphasis added.

Another example of why this fool will not make a good CiC. Certainly he has lost all respect of the troops. Perhaps he didn't want to be asked why he wasn't wearing a lapel pin?

Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't he denied the opportunity because he was no longer traveling with his congressional staff but rather his campaign staff? That is what I just heard on TV at least. That it wasn't him deciding not to visit them but rather they wouldn't let him visit them.

reply to post by beaverg


Campaign staff? What the hell is he doing campaigning in Europe??

reply to post by jsobecky


The report from Andrea Mitchell said 'they' were considering Jim Webb and the other senator part of Obamas campaign. But since my post the democrats left hand (msnbc) has retracted that statement and said he did in fact cancel the visit.
*I think it was a mistake to schedule it at all.

[edit on 25-7-2008 by beaverg]

This is just McCain trying to get a jab in at Obama.

McCain Camp Rips Obama for Cancelling Troop Visit

The McCain campaign is slamming Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., over a decision to cancel a visit with U.S. troops in Germany.

But, as always happens with McCain,

McCain's Double Standard on Campaign Visits to Military Bases - Vet Voice.com

The problem here is that the McCain campaign was denied a visit to a military base under the same policy back in April. Of course, there was no outcry or false outrage from Brian Rogers at that time.

From CNN:

With Department of Defense rules prohibiting political campaigning on military bases, it was determined that in some cases McCain could visit the installations as a senator but could not engage in any political activity or have news media present.

McCain campaign officials said Thursday they intentionally did not campaign on military property.

"We follow the rules," said senior McCain adviser Steve Schmidt.
*****SKIP*****
But the Navy declined a McCain campaign request to speak at the Naval Aviation Museum at the naval base in Pensacola, Florida, because it is a military owned installation and is located on the base, the official said.

Obama had his whole campaign entourage and the news media with him, so, he did just what McCain did, he "followed the rules" just like McCain and didn't stop at the military base.

Obama Defends Scrubbing Visit to Wounded Troops

(Reuters) - U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama on Saturday defended his decision to cancel a visit with U.S. troops at a military hospital in Germany because of concerns it would be viewed as a political event.

Obama had intended to stop at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center on Friday morning, the day after delivering a speech on transatlantic relations in Berlin as part of his trip to the Middle East and Europe.

But the campaign issued a statement saying the Illinois senator decided to drop the visit from his schedule after an adviser was told it would be perceived as political.

At a news conference in London as he wrapped up his trip, Obama said the Pentagon notified the campaign that the visit would have been viewed as political because he was bringing along a campaign adviser, retired Maj. Gen. Scott Gration. Gration advises the campaign on an unpaid basis.

"That triggered then a concern that maybe our visit was going to be perceived as political," Obama said. "And the last thing that I want to do is have injured soldiers and the staff at these institutions having to sort through whether this is political or not and get caught in the cross-fire between campaigns."

[edit on 7/26/2008 by Keyhole]

reply to post by beaverg


The senator decided out of respect for these servicemen and women that it would be inappropriate to make a stop to visit troops at a U.S. military facility as part of a trip funded by the campaign.”

Obama was told he could visit the troops but his staff and the reporters were not allowed inside the hospital. When he found out he couldn't use this as a photo opportunity he chose not to visit our wounded troops.