Rep. Bradley told the story of his visit to Iraq, berratign teh media for its bleak picture of the state of law there, but he failed to mention how the plane carring him, 4 other congressmen and a variety of military officials was shot at by a shoulder-launched missle.
For more see the The Feld-Blog or the Extended Diary.
In January, Rep. Jeb Bradley (R-NH) visited Iraq. Upon returning, he wrote
an article berrating the media saying,
"the media's predominant focus on suicide bombs and IED attacks will do precisely what the terrorists want: undermine our nation's confidence and resolve."
So Mr. Bradley, you beleive that the media is off base critisizing the state of rule-of-law in Iraq? You think their focus on the iolence is unwarrented?
Well... An article in the Boston Globe yesterday disagrees. In fact, it states that Mr. Bradley's plane had to dodge a shoulder launched missle immediatly upon entering Iraqi airspace. It also mentioned that
"Bradley told the New Hampshire Union Leader that shortly after takeoff from Baghdad, "the crew started taking evasive measures. They started swerving and diving the plane and sent off flares that distracted the missile."
The C-130 was carrying Bradley, five other congressmen and four military officials.
Bradley said he kept the incident quiet because he wanted any news from his visit to focus on the troops. "The story was about them, not us," he said."
Well the story may be about them and not about the congressmen and military officials involved in the visit, but the story cetainly was
not about the steady successes.
What confuses me, however, is this: How is Rep. Bradley capable of clinging to his Republican talking points while he's being shot at. I don't know about you, but if I was shot at by a shoulder-launched missle on my vacation, I think i would have included it when teling people what happened while I was gone. I suppose to some extent I am in awe. On the other hand I am appalled that Rep. Bradley's partisan loyalty extends so far as to comlpetely ignore being shot at in what otherwise is an incredibly reasonable article. In fact, when I read the article, i was heartened to see that there are some moderate Republicans who can be pro-troops-in-Iraq, but with a reasonable understanding of the difficulty of the situation there. After reading the Boston Globe article, however, it seems much less reasonable and my once heartened opinion of such moderate conservatives party has fallen back to merely hope.
For more see the The Feld-Blog.