A SOLDIER'S PERSPECTIVE
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I got this from a friend in Afghanistan. He’s an active duty Army Captain who was present when Presidential candidate Barack Obama visited Iraq during his “I’m A Foreign Policy Genius” world tour.
As you know I am not a very political person. I just wanted to pass along that Senator Obama came to Bagram, Afghanistan for about an hour on his visit to “The War Zone”. I wanted to share with you what happened. He got off the plane and got into a bullet proof vehicle, got to the area to meet with the Major General (2 Star) who is the commander here at Bagram. As the Soldiers where lined up to shake his hand he blew them off and didn’t say a word as he went into the conference room to meet the General. As he finished, the vehicles took him to the ClamShell (pretty much a big top tent that military personnel can play basketball or work out in with weights) so he could take his publicity pictures playing basketball. He again shunned the opportunity to talk to Soldiers to thank them for their service. So really he was just here to make a showing for the American’s back home that he is their candidate for President. I think that if you are going to make an effort to come all the way over here you would thank those that are providing the freedom that they are providing for you. I swear we got more thanks from the NBA Basketball Players or the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders than from one of the Senators, who wants to be the President of the United States. I just don’t understand how anyone would want him to be our Commander-and-Chief. It was almost that he was scared to be around those that provide the freedom for him and our great country.
If this is blunt and to the point I am sorry but I wanted you all to know what kind of caliber of person he really is. What you see in the news is all fake.
In service,
CPT P
Battle Captain
Is this how Obama is going to “prove himself” to members of the military who distrust him?
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Critical Facts
Like, ahh, whatever, Army Captain dude ….
The success of Obama’s trips to Europe and the Middle East this week has been astounding and has produced many surprises, including, significantly, the exposing of Senator John McSurge as an incredible gaffe machine, even when it comes to the Surge ™. The McCain campaign has bungled and tripped and fallen over itself in so many ways this past week, I almost feel sorry for the candidate.
The Army Captain is entitled to share his views of what he saw (or thinks he saw), but the cameras don’t lie, and there was a lot of video taken during the week by a lot of organizations, not all necessarily aligned with Obama, and the video all shows the same thing – Obama is “The One.”
CJ
CF,
I just did a search of all news of his visits to Afghanistan. Can you please show me what I can’t seem to find anywhere – a video or photo of Obama actually shaking hands with Soldiers that don’t have stars on their collars? I found one of him shaking hands with an off-camera Soldier in KUWAIT, but nothing of him with combat troops.
Haole Wahine
I was forwarded the letter, but the person forwarding it put “Obama’s trip to Iraq”.
Could you hear me screaming — Bagram is in Afghanistan?
All the footage I’ve seen from both campaigns, and the DOD only shows Obama inside some building shaking hands at what appears to be a reception set up, or from some state, removed from the troops.
Tim
Not to defend, in any way, not at least shaking the soldiers’ hands; but it seems like he’s been doing a ton of travel in a short amount of time. I know if it were me I’d be pretty jet lagged and forgetful.
The same leniency should be given to McCain for the Iraq/Pakistan border comment.
Maybe we could cut these guys some slack and not flip out about every mistake? They’re going through the longest job interview ever. If they didn’t slip up, they wouldn’t be human.
Maybe if the press eased up a little, they’d relax and we could get some real answers.
Drew
Critical Facts,
You know, when you start off a comment in reply to a Captain in the U.S. Army by saying, “Like, ahh, whatever, Army Captain dude,” you really lose any hope of having nay credibility whatsoever.
Just thought I’d let ya know…dude.
MissBirdlegs in AL
CF, I’m an old woman & I’ve never seen an American Presidential candidate campaign in Europe and the Middle East. The Europeans don’t have a vote here, so I think this is just more of Obama’s arrogance in thinking he’s King of the World. I don’t care whether Europe likes our politicians or not, nor whether they like Americans in general. We don’t answer to them – they don’t answer to us – except when they’re wanting something from us.
Obama seems to be afraid of Our Troops, whether they’re healthy, sick or injured. He’s made clear in his Senate actions what he thinks of them. He can’t fool many of them at this late date. Neither they nor a lot of us at home with any common sense adore him as he’d like.
Harvey O stowe LTC. USA ret.
Critical facts said, “cameras don’t lie,”. Of course they can give a distorted picture! I will take the word of a United States Army Officer over the word of any news media. When Obama was in Germany and the military told him he was welcome to visit the wounded but he could not bring his staff or the media he wimped out blaming it on the military. This is some one that wants to be Commander in Chief? Your are right on one point “Obama is the one”, he is disgraceful!!
Donna
I agree with you MissBirdlegs…I have never seen an American presidential candidate campaign in Europe and the Middle East before. You would think he is running for president of the world indeed.
I would have hoped he would have at least met with the troops in Afghanistan and elsewhere. After all, it is the troops who are fighting for his and our freedoms everyday!
Critical Facts
Ladies:
With all due respect, GWB has isolated the world from the US, so the fact that someone – even a presidential candidate – can bridge that gap, I think, is a great thing.
At any rate, while you may prefer to go on living in an isolated world and adoring GWB and his sidekick, McSurge, the rest of the world is ready to move on. I hope that you will join us!
PS Just what did Obama say during his tour of the world that troubles you so?
Isaac
CF,
Excuse me, Singapore calling. Isolated from the world my arse. The WOT protects our countries all the way here, and in the past, the Vietnam war prevented me from going all commie.
JD
Obama is OK by this Marine. I won’t vote for him, but he certainly is better than McSame.
Ooh-rah!
Critical Facts
Isaac:
If we “lost” the Vietnam War, as many suggest, then how did it prevent you “from going all commie”?
JD:
Thank you, Sir, for your service and for your honesty!!
Shannon
I’m an Army wife of 16 years…
It’s a shame when our troops don’t get enough election coverage to see that Obama has too many issues to be an effective POTUS. His friendships with Ayers, Wright, Khalidi, Auchi, Rezko, are all damaging. Add to that his major flip flops in policy since he got the democratic nod, and you have a really bad combination. I’m surprised more military members aren’t incensed at his saying the surge in Iraq didn’t help. He is effectively taking the blood, sweat and tears of this fight away from you. Wake up military members…Obama will take your weapons away, he will not develop new missiles, will stop testing as yet unproven missile defense systems, and he will leave this war in Iraq unfinished…so that you all will have to go back in, at a later date, and face a more damaging foe.
Isaac
CF,
If you realize, the TROOPS held back the hordes of communisim and were winning until the were pulled out by cowards. If you know where my country is (I assume you do), you would understand that the communist trying to take over needed reinforcements from Vietnam.
They were however, stopped by the US troops, preventing the rest of South East Asia from falling.
Steve
It’s a no win situation for him. If he did shake hands with soldiers you would accuse him of using soldiers as nothing more than campaign fodder.
I remember when Hillary Clinton met with soldiers, shook hands and thanked them for their service. That one guy had his picture taken, shaking her hand while he surreptitiously giving her the middle finger.
Critical Facts
Shannon:
Are you suggesting the GWB has no friends that are damaging? Or that GWB has never flip-flopped on any thing (no nation-building comes to mind)? Get a grip, woman!
Further, Obama has never said the Surge ™ didn’t help; rather, he has consistently questioned its effectiveness when viewed in the big picture. Get your facts straight.
And finally, just where do you come up with the notion that Obama will take weapons from the military and not support development of new weapons? Geesh, not even Hannity and Limbaugh are that stupid.
Bottom line, there are big changes coming our way – for the better – and those changes will be affected first by dumping much of the Republican machine that has brought us the current mess known as the Iraq war and second by growing up as a nation and recognizing that we are not policeman to the world.
Relax, it’ll be ok!!
Sgt. Rodriguez
This guy needs to be reported to his chain of command. Strict violation of code for officers to solicit such attention and make comments as this. I am going to email his command, and find out just how he can get away with this. I am in Afghanistan, and shook his hand, after he addressed for about five minutes. I won’t write letters of endorsement for any candidate, because we are strictly forbidden.
richard broderick
Now that the email referenced has been shown to be factually incorrect and more a bias than any show of evidence it’s intriguing how difficult it is to accept this by those who will believe anything they want to. Oh, it was nothing anyway, they say. How is it that these continuous malicious emails are by far and away from the right? How does one feel comfortable with this kind of support for one’s position?
Shannon
Critical Facts,
Not suggesting that Bush is perfect at all, just that Obama is a dangerous choice for POTUS. Not only has he flip flopped on all of the issues he backed durng his campaign for the dem nod, but he is also doubting the effectiveness of the surge, and therefore not giving the military the credit they so richly deserve.
Changes for the better with Obama? You need to do more research on him, and use more than one, two, or three sources for your info.
As for your statement that “And finally, just where do you come up with the notion that Obama will take weapons from the military and not support development of new weapons? Geesh, not even Hannity and Limbaugh are that stupid.”
Here’s a link to Obama, in his own words. If it doesn’t give a link, cut and paste the url into your browser and watch the video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl32Y7wDVDs
If you don’t believe the policies he intends to implement will have a negative impact on the military, you are comepltely out of touch. I support the military being as safe as possible while serving their country, do you? Or do you just intend on falling into lock step with a Presidential candidate who has as much experience as we do to run this country of ours?
Critical Facts
Shannon:
Ok. Your points are well taken.
Focusing, however, on your question whether I support the military being as safe as possible while serving their country, the answer is a whole hearted, YES; good gosh, I may be liberal, but I am not a complete idiot!
Following on, moreover, I don’t see how supporting Obama constitutes me as supporting someone with no experience running the country; indeed, let’s just focus for a moment on GWB and his experience running the country.
Or, maybe, are you ready to admit that we, as a country, made a horrible mistake electing a man – GWB – with no experience with national and international affairs?
PS Even Jimmy Carter would have had the good sense to avoid an unneeded war with Iraq!
bruce
bongo is a commie his wife is a commie and all liberal democrats are commie traitors you are after all the party of alger hiss.the big problem with the viet nam war against the commies was lyndon johson who thought he was a general when he was only a texas bag man.same thing with jimmy carter he though he was a man turned out he was a scared school girl.jimmy is a traitor as he takes the saudi money and shilles. disgusting little creep.
Linda S
Can you believe it that they are calling Obama ‘The Modern Messiah”.
Shannon
Critical Facts,
While I am in no way “in love” with GWB, and I have been able to see his flaws, most notably his not sending enough troops in to Iraq from the beginning, I do have a respect for him for keeping his word on keeping further attacks off of our soil. I don’t think this country made a mistake in electing him, especially if Gore was our only other option. Now had McCain won that nomination I believe he would have probably made some better choices for us, and we would be in a much better situation now.
Another good website to peruse would be http://www.husseinandterror.com This link provides the backdrop for the war in Iraq. It shows precisely the type of things that Saddam was noted to be involved in. It woke me up a bit about things I had no clue he was involved in.
I still believe that McCain is the best option for POTUS. He has the 26 years background in the senate, he has military experience, foreign relations experience, and he really respects the military and was right all along in putting more troops in Iraq. Add to that he is against the governments pork barrel spending, and he has proven himself to be a much different republican than the norm. He’s head and shoulders above Obama. With Obama we will end up in a world of hurt on taxes, on weapons, and the universal health care system will hurt us as bad as it’s hurt Canada. Add to that the fact that Obama is against drilling for oil in the USA, against building new refineries, against building more nuclear power plants, against windmills, and against coal, and we will remain dependent on the Middle East for oil for another 30 years.
Look where that has us now…
Steve
Wow! Looks as if the Battle Captain is a liar….
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/07/Military_blog.Obama_072508w/
%u201CI am writing this to ask that you delete my e-mail and not forward it, after checking my sources some of the information that was put out in my e-mail was wrong. This e-mail was meant only for my family. Please respect my wishes and delete the e-mail and if there are any blogs you have my e-mail portrayed on I would ask if you would take it down too.%u201D
Damn liberal media.
What’s he mean by his sources? He wrote this without first hand knowledge? I don’t believe it was meant only for his family.
CJ, thanks for spreading the smear! You’ve served your masters well.
CJ
Steve, you are wrong. Porter is an Army Officer and did not play the political game that officers are required to play. Good thing that the Army’s public affairs office got into it quick. But, I’m confused. Why is it that when the PAO says something to discredit THIS it’s the all powerful truth, but when the PAO speaks of successes in Iraq it’s “propaganda”? Perhaps you could elaborate…
“Sgt. Rodriguez”, CPT Porter did nothing wrong. Read my latest post if you have the guts. After our little email exchange, I doubt you have the gonads.
Becky
Unfortunately, it won’t matter who is elected President of our United States. This country is controlled by Congress, who in turn is controlled by the lobbyists, who are controlled by big business. Nothing will change.
m.j.s80734
Shannon- Loved the video on youtube. That just gave me a whole new DISrespect for obama.
Steve
Sure I will elaborate. I don’t need the PAO to discredit this. It’s been discredited by both Porter’s wife and the Obama campaign.
Now it’s your turn to elaborate. IS Porter really a friend of yours or did you get the email as a forward of a forward. Was he really present for the events he described? Why did he have to check with “his sources” if he was there? Why aren’t you removing it as requested?
Ryan
Hi CJ.
Shouldn’t you, for the sake of your credibility, state (in the very first paragraph) that the e-mail has been debunked?
Your taunting of Sgt Rodriquez is sad and would be akin to what your “friend” would like us to believe Sen. Obama is qguilty of (rudeness to our troops)…
Shannon
Ryan,
Obama is rude to our troops. Not only does he want to disarm the USA, and the military by proxy, but he couldn’t be bothered to visit the wounded at Landstuhl (LARMC). He doesn’t want to give the credit to the military for their work in the surge, and he stated his foreign policy before he even left on his trip, therefore showing he wasn’t making this trip to get the facts, only that it was just a publicity tour. Most government officials meet with the Commanders on the ground, get their information, and then will state what their policies are in accordance with what they were told. Not Obama! He is the height of arrogance, he thinks he knows better than the Commanders in theater, and he cares NOT what his policies might mess up in regards to the military’s progress.
CJ
Steve, I know Porter through email communication and some of his Soldiers. I have spoken with them as well and CPT P spoke correctly when he said that Obama wouldn’t give Soldiers the time of day. The only parts of Porter’s email that are incorrect deal with what he did once he was out of Porter’s direct line of sight. Naturally, he was misinformed about what Obama did once he got out of his armored escort vehicle. Since no Soldiers were allowed in, they were forced to guess and some probably took those guesses as fact.
Now, the email wasn’t debunked. LTC Neilson-Green only said the email was “inappropriate and factually incorrect”. In his own admission, Porter says that only PARTS were incorrect, most likely under intense pressure from his bosses. If the CPT didn’t discredit his own email even a little, he wouldn’t be a CPT very long. Officers work under an entirely different – and more political – set of rules. These superiors realize that Obama is about to become their superior and if they didn’t do something, Obama would surely remember them by name.
I’ve spoken to a Specialist, two Sergeant, and a First Sergeant about this incident and the fact that Obama blew off the Soldiers is just that…a FACT.
Besides the media, Porter’s wife and the Obama campaign, Steve and Ryan, who have YOU talked in Afghanistan to DEBUNK the good Captain’s email?
Additionally, the DOD released a video of Obama meeting/eating with troops (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smXwiGOCDXg). What the video doesn’t tell you, but that a trained Soldier with contacts can, is that the video is of his meeting with senior officials on the camp and Obama’s own constituents Illinois constituents – which proves CPT Porter’s observations.
Steve
The reason he met with soldiers from Illinois is because parts of his trip were as part of a Congressional delegation. Meeting with only your constituents is par for the course. If he had met with non-constituent soldiers while on a Congressional delegation it would have been an ethical violation.
Having been an officer I am well aware of the rules under which officers operate. Unless he personally captures bin Laden his career is pretty much done. Even if McCain wins.
Snopes does a pretty good job of debunking the lies of the married father of six. Because he is a liar, either in his first email or in the retraction.
CJ
“The reason he met with soldiers from Illinois is because parts of his trip were as part of a Congressional delegation.”
That’s convenient for a Presidential candidate – when you botch things up, just say you were only there as part of a Congressional delegation, like he did in Germany.
Snopes gets its information in this case from the same place you do – the PAO. Read the entry. This is a classic case of CYA, which I’ll cover in my next post.
Steve
http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/afghanistan.asp
“Snopes gets its information in this case from the same place you do – the PAO.”
Partially true, Snopes has their own sources. They have posted excerpts from emails they have received from soldiers who were there.
Speaking of CYA. Shouldn’t you be helping the Battle Captain cover his by yanking his email?
CJ
“Shouldn’t you be helping the Battle Captain cover his by yanking his email?”
No, that won’t help him. He’s screwed. And since the stories I’m getting from the field support his opinion, I’m leaving it up. You’ll notice that unlike everyone else I never used his name in my post. I protected where he was located and his name.
“Snopes has their own sources. They have posted excerpts from emails they have received from soldiers who were there.”
My new post will be up today.
Andrew
Hello CJ,
It is clear that this email is a completely biased distortion of the facts, no matter how you try to spin it. But thanks to sites like yours people continue to buy the bunk, hook line and sinker. My grandma is sending this email to all her mass mail friends now, which leaves me in an awkward position. I feel obligated to present a dissenting opinion (or in this case some real facts) to all of her email contacts, but I have no interest in showing up my grandma. What’s a loyal grandson to do? Thanks for complicating things.
CJ
Andrew, it’s simple. You provide the additional email I have gotten (read the other post I wrote) and send her the WHOLE truth about it. Tell her that the good CPT was wrong about the basketball aspect, but right about everything else. No need to compromise your integrity over this.
JB
Don’t believe everything you read.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/afghanistan.asp
http://www.snopes.com/politics/graphics/afghanistan1_small.jpg
http://www.snopes.com/politics/graphics/afghanistan2_small.jpg
Pete
here he is shaking hands…
he never shook my hand but I don’t care…
he can’t shake everyone’s hand.
http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/print_did_obama_snub_us_troops_in_afghanistan.html
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