Right after Senator Obama returned from his trip to Afghanistan, a lie written by a soldier in Afghanistan was circulating around the blogs. The soldier, CPT Jeffrey S. Porter, Battle Captain, TF Wasatch, claimed that Senator Obama “got off the plane and got into a bullet proof vehicle…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….”

Snopes.com dug into the story and proved that it was FALSE.

(They also said that because this has been such a common strategy used by Republicans that they started investigating it as soon as they started hearing that it was hitting blogs around the country.)

http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/afghanistan.asp

This is just one of the latest chain email smears that are being used against Senator Obama.

According to an Army Spokesperson quoted in the New York Daily News:

“These comments are inappropriate and factually incorrect,” said Bagram spokeswoman Army Lt. Col. Rumi Nielson-Green, who added that such political commentary is barred for uniformed personnel.

In a follow-up Blog entry, the Daily News reported that the e-mail’s author has recanted his original message:

Now he is asking that everyone delete the email and not forward it on, claiming that after checking his sources, he found that the information that he put in his email was wrong.

Unfortunately, anyone not reading the retraction will still have the same negative perception of him.

In addition to the official military denials, a Department of Defense video shows Senator Obama meeting, talking, and eating breakfast with U.S. troops in Afghanistan (and includes a brief interview with a soldier who noted that Obama “took time out of his schedule to come over and visit with us, not just at this camp but at other surrounding camps in Afghanistan.”)

Snopes also received a flood of messages from U.S. troops who met Senator Obama in his Middle East trip in Afghanistan and elsewhere, who reported quite different experiences than CPT Jeffery Porter, including a letter from another soldier who says that CPT Porter wasn’t even there.

Another wrote: “I don’t know who this captain saw, but it wasn’t the Barack Obama I just saw in Afghanistan. Unlike most of the pols who breeze on through for nothing more than brief photo ops before leaving he was warm, friendly & engaging (as much as security would allow) with the troops he met and he was genuinely interested in us and our mission and how we could best serve our country. When Obama went to Jordan a few days ago they said “The guy gets it. Sharp, aware and a very good listener. He doesn’t seem stuck in any preconceived positions.” Those are the qualities I’d like to see in my Commander in Chief. While Obama was out visiting the troops, what was John McCain doing…?, playing golf with his rich cronies (Bush Sr.) in Kennebunkport and whining about how much press coverage Obama was getting. Definitely “not” the qualities I want to see in my Commander in Chief.”

The Salt Lake Tribune reported that it was unlikely that the e-mail’s author would face any disciplinary measures.

Can you imagine what would have happened if an Obama supporter had done something like this to McCain?

You may also recall, that while security was supposed to be tight, and the location and itinerary for Senator Obama was supposed to be kept secret until after he left, Senator McCain was blabbing to reporters about where Senator Obama was going to be and when!!!

I guess security for another American means nothing to Senator McCain if he can provide intelligence to our enemies, so that he can get them to do his dirty work for him, and get himself into the White House.

Or will Senator McCain claim that he didn’t know what he was doing when he was divulging sensitive information to the whole world?

How secure does that make you to trust McCain with the safety of the United States, or Democrats in general if he gains the White House?

How secure does it make you to consider that he has been a member of Congress for the last 26 years?

Maybe that explains the mess we are in.