Obama Scraps Visit to Wounded U.S. Troops

[hrvestuff]

Obama Scraps Visit to Wounded U.S. Troops

Thursday, July 24, 2008 7:00 PM

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BERLIN -- Sen. Barack Obama scrapped plans to visit wounded members of the armed forces in Germany as part of his overseas trip, a decision his campaign said was made because the Democratic presidential candidate thought it would be inappropriate on a campaign-funded journey.


A campaign adviser said the U.S. military saw the visit as a campaign stop.


"We learned from the Pentagon last night that the visit would be viewed instead as a campaign event," the adviser, retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Scott Gration, said in a statement. "Senator Obama did not want to have a trip to see our wounded warriors perveived as a campaign event when his visit was to show his appreciation for our troops and decided instead not to go."


Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign immediately criticized the move.


"Barack Obama is wrong. It is never inappropriate to visit our men and women in the military," said Brian Rogers, a spokesman for the Republican contender.


Obama's decision raised a number of questions because the visit, which had been scheduled for Friday, never appeared on the schedule of events distributed to reporters who are accompanying him on his travels.


The first word from the campaign about its existence was a statement from Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs.


Obama had been planning to go to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany before a flight to Paris. Gibbs said the stop was canceled because Obama decided "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."

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This was not unexpected as Barack Hussein Obama's entire career and past statements have indicated that he has little appreciation for the role played by our servicemen. He never served and always seemed to associate himself with those that would rather see us lose at home and abroad. And if you can't name the terrorists and sympathizers of the Taliban, Al Queda and "hate America" cults that Barack Hussein Obama has been associated with over the years.................you know little about his background.

-more to come-

[Dan McKenzie]

June 28, 2008 (AP) Barack Obama stopped by Walter Reed Army Medical Center Saturday to visit wounded war veterans, a group that he has said endures substandard care under the Bush administration.

The presumed Democratic nominee, who was in Washington to speak to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, slipped into the facility shortly after 9 a.m. without stopping to speak to the small group of reporters who follow him. The visit wasn't on his public schedule.

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