Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Arizona Republic (Phoenix)
April 19, 2008 By Jim Morrill, McClatchy Newspapers
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The battle over a video of a Baghdad rocket attack escalated Friday when U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry's GOP opponent called for a federal investigation of the congressman's posting of it on the Web.
Republican Lance Sigmon's call for a probe came a week after the Pentagon told McHenry, R-N.C., not to re-air the video, which he shot in Baghdad during a March trip. It showed McHenry standing in the fortified Green Zone gesturing to a building behind him and saying that one of 11 rockets "hit just over my head."
McHenry took the video off his Web site two weeks ago, but it was still accessible elsewhere on the Internet on Friday.
"It is imperative for the people of this nation to know if a U.S. congressman exploited an attack on our military to impress voters back home," Sigmon said in a statement. He added that an investigation would determine whether the posting "endangered American lives."
Sigmon went on to say that 48 hours after the video posting, two U.S. soldiers were killed in another rocket attack on the Green Zone.
"This is yet another absurd political gimmick from a man who is desperate for attention. It is disgusting that he would exploit the loss of two American heroes to advance his political smear campaign," said McHenry spokesman Wes Climer.
Sigmon said the video could still be seen through other Web sites' links. Viewers could link to it Friday morning. But after a reporter called McHenry's office, Climer called the congressman's Web host.
"Make it gone," he said. Soon afterward, the links no longer worked.
Told the video was no longer viewable, Sigmon said, "If that's the case, that's good."
It's not the first time Sigmon, a retired Air Force officer and lawyer, has criticized McHenry over the Iraq trip. Earlier, he chided McHenry for saying he'd been barred by a "two-bit security guard" from getting into a gym in the Green Zone.
A Pentagon spokesman Friday declined to say whether the video violated security protocols.
"We do not as a matter of policy discuss attacks in a way that would provide the enemy with any better understanding of their effectiveness," said Lt. Col. Mark Ballesteros.
April 19, 2008 By Jim Morrill, McClatchy Newspapers
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The battle over a video of a Baghdad rocket attack escalated Friday when U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry's GOP opponent called for a federal investigation of the congressman's posting of it on the Web.
Republican Lance Sigmon's call for a probe came a week after the Pentagon told McHenry, R-N.C., not to re-air the video, which he shot in Baghdad during a March trip. It showed McHenry standing in the fortified Green Zone gesturing to a building behind him and saying that one of 11 rockets "hit just over my head."
McHenry took the video off his Web site two weeks ago, but it was still accessible elsewhere on the Internet on Friday.
"It is imperative for the people of this nation to know if a U.S. congressman exploited an attack on our military to impress voters back home," Sigmon said in a statement. He added that an investigation would determine whether the posting "endangered American lives."
Sigmon went on to say that 48 hours after the video posting, two U.S. soldiers were killed in another rocket attack on the Green Zone.
"This is yet another absurd political gimmick from a man who is desperate for attention. It is disgusting that he would exploit the loss of two American heroes to advance his political smear campaign," said McHenry spokesman Wes Climer.
Sigmon said the video could still be seen through other Web sites' links. Viewers could link to it Friday morning. But after a reporter called McHenry's office, Climer called the congressman's Web host.
"Make it gone," he said. Soon afterward, the links no longer worked.
Told the video was no longer viewable, Sigmon said, "If that's the case, that's good."
It's not the first time Sigmon, a retired Air Force officer and lawyer, has criticized McHenry over the Iraq trip. Earlier, he chided McHenry for saying he'd been barred by a "two-bit security guard" from getting into a gym in the Green Zone.
A Pentagon spokesman Friday declined to say whether the video violated security protocols.
"We do not as a matter of policy discuss attacks in a way that would provide the enemy with any better understanding of their effectiveness," said Lt. Col. Mark Ballesteros.