It's unclear how Obama could have made the visit at all, given the Pentagon's directives. No Senate staff was on the trip, and the Obama camp says they received the Pentagon's directives on Wednesday, after they were already abroad.

McCain's campaign, of course, comes off as ridiculous.

Bottom line: We're not seeing any issue here at all.

Greg - there is no issue here, there is no issue there, there hasn't been one damn issue raised by McLame yet.

They are making shit up as fast as they can and none of it means one damn thing.

This may be the weirdest campaign season evah.

It was all a trap and Mccain fell right into it. If Obama's campaign had said the visit wasn't allowable under DOD rules the story would've died there. Instead Mccain went on offense and tried to score some points and now Obama gets to counter with "Mccain turned our following of military rules into a political attack"

He still could've gone...just not made it a "campaign" event...no photo op...just a citizen of the world thanking other citizens of the world.

Exactly. The issue is that they didn't tell him until the last minute.

More information from Politico:

http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/0708/Obama_camp_says_Pentagon_nixed_troop_visit.html?showall

"My colleague Carrie Budoff Brown, traveling with Obama, sends over more information from a briefing ofered by Gibbs:

Senior strategist Robert Gibbs said the visit to the military hospital in Germany had been in the works for about three weeks, with Gration serving as the campaign's contact with the Pentagon.

The Pentagon cleared the Obama plan to land at the base on either July 15 or 16, Gibbs said. The plane needed the clearance because of restrictions on landing nonmilitary aircraft there, he said.

But then on Wednesday, Gration told Obama aides that the Pentagon had informed him that the visit could be viewed as a campaign stop.

"They cited a regulation," Gibbs said of their point of contact, described as legislative affairs in the office of the secretary.

"We believed that based on the information we received that any presence, even his own and only his own, would get into a back and forth on whether his own presence was a campaign event," Gibbs said.

Obama decided on the flight Wednesday from Tel Aviv to Berlin not to visit the hospital.

Asked why he believed the Pentagon would clear the visit, then raised questions about it, Gibbs declined to speculate: "I don't know what to make of it."

Asked whether he thought the Pentagon set up the campaign for a political embarrassment, Gibbs said no."

This is just like the state dept rulings...playing games and trying screw Obama. Not issuing this ruling in timely manner was on purpose!

damn..it would be so nice for our gov't to stop with this shit!

I smell Rovian tactics and some cooperation with Mccain. If this comes out no doubt the MSM will bury it and focus on the audacity of Obama munching on a crossaint with Sarkosy...just damn UnAmerican!

Obama cannot attack from abroad. McCain has had a free pass all week, while slinging mud across the Atlantic whenever he or his campaign felt like it.

Just how disconnected is this with to the State department prohibition of Berlin embassy staff attending his speech? There does appear to be a coordinated pettiness campaign going on by the Republican-controlled bureaucracy.

Such stringent rules seem to no longer matter when Lorita Doan shows up with her government politicizing agenda.

And the jerks at ABCNEWS.COM ran a top line story all afternoon and evening accusing Obama of "nixing" the troops. So much for "Love."

Well, whatever... Obama started this week with nothing but glowing reviews, and it was clear McCain was playing catch up. Now we're hearing about his arrogance, about how he's out of touch with the American people, and how he's ignoring the troops, and I haven't heard a sufficient comeback form the Obama campaign. I know it's early, I know a lot can happen, but I haven't seen that Obama has the stomach for the sort of fight the Republicans are going to wage. I'll happily say I'm wrong if Obama is sworn in next January. But yes, I am going to worry through the whole campaign. Ignore me at your pleasure.

I said nothing about a "ruling" or about Obama being overtly forbidden from actually visiting Landstuhl. However, from the article:

[blockquote]...the Obama campaign received official permission two weeks ago from the Pentagon to land a plane in Ramstein, Germany. But on Wednesday, he said, military officials advised the campaign of concerns about a political visit being a violation of government rules.[/blockquote]
This sure sounds like someone is referring to "rules". So, basically plans were made and confirmed through the Pentagon by the Obama campaign to visit US soldier serving overseas, and then after the first portion of the visit went so well, "concerns" were brought forward. This was also after visiting troops in Iraq and Jordan.

Very curious, to say the least. But I'm sure not political in the least.

It's swiftboating all over again. Except in this case, it's our own Army that's being complicit.
Who needs NPOs to do your dirty work with a seated CINC who is uninterested in regime change in his own country?

I don't suppose any of you sycophants will entertain the notion that Obama might have decided on his own that visiting wounded soldiers wasn't appropriate as a campaign event? Absent any rulings or chicanery, Obama would have been perfectly happy to exploit the visit for his campaign. But instead let's focus on how everyone's trying to undermine him and conspire against him. Because we know Obama's motives are always pure.

"So where does McCain stand on legislation supported by major veterans organizations?

On Webb's GI Bill, he expressed opposition, and he was AWOL when it was time to vote on May 22.

In September, he voted against another Webb bill that would have mandated adequate rest for troops between combat deployments.

On a badly needed $1.5-billion increase for veterans medical services for fiscal year 2007 — to be funded through closing corporate tax loopholes — he voted no. He also voted against establishing a trust fund to bolster under-budgeted veterans hospitals.

In May 2006, he voted against a $20-billion allotment for expanding swamped veterans medical facilities.

In April 2006, he was one of 13 Senate Republicans who voted against an amendment to provide $430 million for veterans outpatient care.

In March 2004, he voted against and helped defeat on a party-line vote a $1.8-billion reserve for veterans medical care, also funded by closing tax loopholes.

Before the Senate voted on Webb's GI legislation, McCain offered what he called a compromise bill, but it was rejected. Webb pointed out that there really was no compromise in McCain's proposal because it would have excluded most veterans by offering full education benefits only to those with multiple enlistments, even though 70 percent to 75 percent of enlistees leave after one tour.

Compare McCain's stingy standards with the original GI Bill: It paid for 12 months of college or vocational school if a veteran served 90 days, with additional benefits, up to 48 months of school, for each month of military service. It is Webb's bill that represents the reasonable compromise between the gold standard set for the "greatest generation's" original GI benefits and what is doable in today's economy: a GI Bill that will truly pay for a college education after three years of service, without the onerous payroll deduction.

So here is where the McCain image and reality part company. It is certainly true that his affectionate and respectful rhetoric for America's servicemen and women takes a back seat to no one. But when it comes to improving the health and education of our veterans, McCain's record leaves them stranded by the side of the road."

Edward Humes, author of "Over Here: How the GI Bill Transformed the American Dream"
http://www.statesman.com/opinion/content/editorial/stories/06/03/0604humes_edit.html

Sarkozy's cell phone goes off... Oh god, he's such a joke. I'm so glad I know French fluently. This is great.

Obama should run with this:

""Barack Obama is wrong," McCain spokesperson Brian Rogers said in a statement yesterday. "It is never 'inappropriate' to visit our men and women in the military.""

He should pounce, and use this statement to illuminate the fact that Republicans don't care about rules, and that they will politicize anything. It would be "inappropriate" and McCain's not knowing that, or not caring, is how we ended up with the DOJ crisis, and more.

Greg, I am going to sound stupid, but why couldn't Obama visit without campaign staff, just himself, Hagel, and Reed? I mean even after the Army said no dice to campaign staff. They could be visiting as a Congressmen, no?

Maybe its difficult to put this into a political message that resonnates but on all this surge stuff what was the evidence Mccain had this prescience when the admin was firing Generals for having the audacity to say we need more troops? If any of these Generals had been granted that request would General P now be the Pavlov word for all Republicans to enter the dry hump cycle? Is there any proof the "Maverick" stood alone on that rebel hill when this went down? I will give anyone a six of Hoegarden if you can find it because I cant find a shred of evidence Mccain stood up for these Generals or better tactics at the beginning of this mess when it may made a difference and saved thousands of our troops and Iraqi's lifes...

According to MSNBC First Read, Obama has phoned the wounded troops in Germany.

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/07/25/1222409.aspx

"From NBC's Jim Miklaszewski
Obama made phone calls to wounded soldiers at Landstuhl Germany this morning, in lieu of a personal visit to the forces that was canceled by the Obama campaign.

Obama was expected to speak to a number of soldiers individually."

Obama DID get a bounce from trip:

Gallup: Obama 47 McCain 41

Rasmussen: Obama 49 McCain 44

I dont doubt for a minute this is a deliberate cooeprative effort by the admin and Mccain to play politics with the troops. Absolutely shameless, they just do not care one iota for what the troops want. Remember this is the same Pentagon that tried to twist Maliki's Iraq concurrence. If anyone wanted yet another reason to donate to Obama and work as hard as we can to get him elected you can toss this on the pile. Using the military as a political tool to shape message and play set up man to allow the oxygen thief outrage machine to spew out BS to low info voters and yet again make this an election based on superfluous sewage when this country desperately needs a leader not another dyed in the wool sell out that blows air into his Rove inflatable doll nightly.

When you hear Republicans screech and whine loudly over something, realize that that's all they have.

Is it over an item that must be spun, must have the actual details obfuscated? Realize that that's all they have to use.

Obama was presidential as hell on this trip. The Republicans got nothing of substance from it to use against him.

Just can't let it go, eh mertmag? Obama has said many, many times that the soldiers have done an excellent job. You're either lying or ignorant, not a good choice. And as The Daily Show observed this week, "there are a lot of brothers in the military." Sen. Obama isn't afraid of them...but maybe you're afraid of the truth.
Also, be careful what you wish for. The debates will be here soon enough. I never thought McCain was all that solid in a debate; I think Bush whipped his ass in 2000.

The Pentagon did Obama a favor. What if this had been caught after the visit. I think that in turn, the Obama campaign gave a vague reason for skipping the visit. It was inappropriate. When you think about it, Obama is a senator, a government official. He has a valid reason to visit, but not his campaign staff. Hospitals are private, and when Bush does a photo op, they usually arrange for a meeting with staff and a few patients.

They necessarily come off as stage managed because they need to be, you can't just wander around a hospital.

Everybody...

Let's not get ourselves convinced that this is not an issue...Houston, we have a problem.

The rules at Landstuhl were exactly the same as those in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan.

The media was not allowed on that trip and his Senate staffers attended those meetings and are indeed still on the trip. This is important because otherwise Merkel and Sarkozy could not meet with him, as it would violate protocol to meet with a Presidential Candidate directly, so as long as he is there as Senator Obama, it is ok.

The media has already figured this out...and they are increasingly leery of the Obama staffers and their explanations.

I am slightly angry because this has the potential to create a cloud over the whole trip. Let's be honest...the optics are absolutely terrible. His rock star appearance in front of a foreign audience was great, but if it appears this was at the expense of visiting wounded soldiers, just because it would not be the greatest photo op of all time...well that just looks awful!

David Axelrod is hired to prevent things like this, and it seems as if every week Obama suffers from some self-inflicted mini-scandal as a result of incompetent staffers and advisors.

I am really getting tired of this...this story now has legs because of the bickering, and the Pentagon has the upper hand. The rules were exactly the same as always...you cannot change that fact.

It will now look like a lame excuse for not going is being blamed on the Pentagon, with flimsy evidence and we all know it.

This does not make Obama look like the Commander-In-Chief that we know he can be.

I hate to bring everyone back to reality, but if we keep paving these things over, the campaign will not get the message that they are shooting themselves in the foot.

Let's do Obama a favor and show some genuine concern for the lack of competence in some quarters...so that he can fix it and WIN THIS THING!

The issue is it reinforces both ways barack and the dishonesty of what he says:

1) The campaign said the berlin speech was not obama campaigning but him as a citizen. on the other hand, a visit to the military would be campaigning, not as a citizen or senator.

2) The campaign statement misrepresents what the DoD told them. It is a major misrepresentation because it tries to make it out that they had no choice, but they did.

3) if obama really wanted to visit, he could have.

people who think this is "no issue" have to be a little more honest with themselves.

Jonze-

I hate this. You have the rose-colored goggles on. This trip was planned long ago and scheduled many days in advance, his plane was cleared to land. It was all set.

Obama was not showing up out of the blue as Joe Citizen. There was no issue with who paid his airfare to Berlin. I have not read this and nobody has said this.

Can we please stop making things up to cover up what is sheer incompetence on the part of Obama's advisors, please. PLEASE!

Would McCain have attacked him for visiting the troops? Of course not. McCain is not that stupid. How would that look? Insensitive. Obama's counterattack would be severe. It would only keep the visit in the news cycle a day longer, which would have been great.

You know, for the life of me I cannot understand why he canceled the trip. I cannot pretend to know. All I do know was that it was stupid to cancel, the excuse given was even more hollow. Then to blame it on the Pentagon...that was just downright insane. Even if the Pentagon were being jerks and whining YOU GO ANYWAY! F-em! You go and you hug the troops...they deserve it, regardless of what some bureaucrat might think. That is what a leader does...

People, let's get our act together. I have already fired off my angry letter to the campaign. One will not make a dent. A hundred? A thousand? Now you are talking...

They need to get this staff under control and focused on the game. They are starting to believe their own BS too much and they don't seem to notice that the press stopped buying it about 2 weeks ago.

Obama is being killed with "good" advice. He just needs to go out and be Obama...

The DoD policies have been in place for decades. If the Senate staff doesn't do the coordination, how would ANY agency, including DoD, know to preemptively contact them. Further -- its the base commander who enforces the rules. Rarely does the Pentagon reach down and handle things if there are rules in place.

It was up to the Senate staff to coordinate. If coordination wasn't done, then its his staff's failure. As it was already posted, as a Senator he can go in any time he wants. No issue. It was making it a campaign stop that was the issue. If he wanted to visit troops, he could. Apparently he only wants to visit troops if he can make it work for the campaign.

And incidelty, Cindy McCain was denied a similar campaign stop on the USS Comfort. Before assuming the side are "unfair", simple fact checking does wonders--that is, unless one wishes to keep all assumptions comfortably in place. Personally, I don't believe in "faith based" politics.

Liam -

With friends like you, who apparently make up much of his staff, Obama is going to lose.

I personally am not interested in that.

I choose to think like an independent voter when necessary, so as to understand how this might look.

The spokesperson at Landstuhl said they had no idea why he was not coming. Is she a liar too? Is she a McCain plant? Come on...

I am so sick and tired of people paving over obvious mistakes. I am not loyal to the Obama staff...I am loyal to Obama the candidate.

If his staff are making silly errors, we ought to have the courage to ask that it get fixed.

Are we not critical of the right wingers for not doing this? Apparently a lot of them got the message and are as annoyed with Bush's minions as I am with David Axelrod at the moment.

Obama deserves better. This did not have to be a story, and now it is BIG one. Drudge has it in bold red font. It will be in every newspaper tomorrow. It will be on every newscast tonight. FOX and hate radio will be talking this up for the whole weekend...

...and you think this is good? This did not have to happen. He pays people to avoid messes like this...and guess what? As donors WE PAY his advisors to avoid messes like this.

Get the picture? Somebody needs to....

Want to know what Axelrod should have said?

Due to the sheer exhaustion and intensity of this trip, Senatory Obama we will be postponing the visit to Landstuhl until later. Win or lose in November, the Senator will pay these brave men a deserved visit. While we regret the need to do this, these men deserve the full attention of the Senator, and quite honestly he just needs some rest.

That said, we will be cancelling a campaign event in early August so that Senator Obama can visit Walter Reed Army Hospital.

And if Obama left his staff and reporters behind for 5-6 hours it surely would have got out that he went to visit the hospital and thus it would have become a campaign issue.

He was told that he couldn't bring press or staff because that would make it a campaign stop - thus any visit was already colored as such. Even if he went by himself it would have been publicized, thus making a campaign "stop" of visiting the troops. Just because there wasn't a photo-op, Obama would have still been getting press from his clansdestine solo visit and thus could have been framed as pimping out the injured troops for the positive press/political gain.

IIRC this stop at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center wasn't even on the officially released itinerary, it wasn't supposed to be news - however once the cat was out of the bag going or not going was a damned if he did, damned if he didn't scenario.

You want to think the worst of Barack, go ahead.

Cute, I like TPM's little update--kind'of no story, move along folks.

Problem is that Obama has told so many stories that he can't get his story straight--fact-finding trip or campaign trip. Now, as excuse for him not visiting wounded Americans in Germany, it's a campaign trip. Fine, but isn't he running for U.S. president?! Why campaign in Germany and France? Does he think they'll come over in the fall and vote for him? Else, that they'll urge American's to vote for him? Maybe they'll want him for "citizen of the world". Good, we need a president that thinks of American's first and foremost.

And anyway, cancelling a visit to wounded American soldiers because he couldn't bring campaign staff and cameras should his shallowness and highlights the fact that he doesn't care about them. No pictures, no publicity, no visit.

Thats some good spinnin Greg ... hell of a way to turn a sows ear into a silk purse.

Lets be honest, Barack Hussein Obama couldn’t turn it into a carefully managed photo op, so he decided not to go. End of story.

uh, why do u guys bait the trolls? not like they want to "debate" any issues, and some of em actually get paid for their nonsense. given current public enthusiasm for our next presdident, it's not like what they say matters -- and you can get any of the crap they're pushin str8 from FOX, just like they do. so please don't feed them.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAAA

It's nice to see the trolls squirm and rinse and repeat.... kinda like but slamming into a light bulb.
ANd we get to clarify the facts and the truth regardless if trolls and shills rant and rave.
so...
1.
The DOD said Obama could not see the troops there with his campaign staff.
2.
Obama did not have his Senate staff with him.
3.
THis was planned weeks ago and the DOD just decided to drop it on Obama last minute....
very shitty of them.
4.
Obama's schedule with World leaders isn't up for the sudden whims of the DOD who decide to "play politics" with a planned, and CONFIRMED trip by a sitting Senator. THis hardnose enforcement of "policy" is an attempt to trip up Obama in front of World leaders. Nice try.... suckas!

THis was deliberate interference in Obama's campaign by the DOD even if Obama does not pursue it.

5. Who the hell would trust the DOD after pulling this shit?

This was a "campaign leg of the trip". Apparently there are rules to distinguish between campaign funds and regular Senator duty funds and who can ride on what plane.
Therefore, there was no senate staff on board. Regardless, Obama did not plan on making it a "photo op", since it was not to be a campaign stop.... that just happened to be who was funding that leg of the trip. But the Pentagon said they would consider it a Campaign stop.
How convenient that they should discover this at the last minute!

"“The senator decided out of respect for these servicemen and women that 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,” Mr. Gibbs said.

Info is from link in article above.

Also all the hyperventilating that McCain is doing is bullshit because he had to do the same thing:
From CNN:

With Department of Defense rules prohibiting political campaigning on military bases, it was determined that in some cases McCain could visit the installations as a senator but could not engage in any political activity or have news media present. McCain campaign officials said Thursday they intentionally did not campaign on military property.

“We follow the rules,” said senior McCain adviser Steve Schmidt.

It's just McCain flailing and trying to get attention and not remembering what the hell he himself has had to do..

Hey netboyrick,

Apparently you didn't read the post directly above your "mentally twisted" post.

This was a set up by the Pentagon to embarrass Obama by dropping some rules they "neglected to mention" three weeks ago when they scheduled it.

They didn't seem to have that problem with McSame when he did his little out of country romp.

Hey Fireshadow,

Not only did I read the post I understood it. It doesn't matter if that in fact did occur. They did NOT bar him from seeing the troops. Apparently, it was so unimportant to him that he decided not to go because of a rule change. Do you get that? If you really want something you don't allow something so minor to stop you from doing it. That is the point. Period. He did not care enough to go. He did not care enough to go. Good God some people are thick.

Double standard see below:
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/25/state-obama-speech/

You want proof Robert Gibbs is a Senate Staffer?

http://www.legistorm.com/person/Robert_L_Gibbs/6166.html

latest available data is FY2007...

Smells of Republican interference. Did anyone hear Andrea Mitchell's ist response on "Morning Joe"? She said Obama was all set to go until the pentagon said they couldn't. The pentagon waited until Wednesday to tell Obama's campaign that they would be barred. They waited until the senators had gone to inform the campaign. Perhaps this is why the Obama campaign was angry as Andrea had stated. Keith Olbermann confirmed that the pentagon barred Obama from visiting the injured troops and was playing Politics. This is the mess that needs to be changed: same ol' Republican tactics. Obama is taking the high road and not hollering conspiracy. The Republicans tried so hard to demean Obama's trip to no avail. Enough is enough!

jb207 -

In case you are unaware of the fact, one CAN be a Senate staffer and a campaign staffer at the same time.

This episode shows that McCain is willing to do anything to win this election...he learned the wrong things from his own '00 experience... http://www.enewsreference.com

I live in Colorado and just McCain's new attack ad in Colorado and it is really disgusting. I will be donating to Obama because of the ad. I want to enable him to combat that crap. He says he canceled his trip to see the troops because he wouldn't leave behind the media and tha the would rather shoot hoops than visit the troops. Please join me in donating to Senator Obama this week in response to McCain's lies. I definitely want to see Senator Obama win Colorado.

so obama cancels visiting the troops because his campaign staff could not attend? why didn't he just visit them on his own and not take them? does he feel they are not worth visiting unless you can get additional press or media benefit from it? no matter how you folks try to paint this it looks bad to me.

AJM -

The Senate Staff was already there. Greg was unfortunately making up his own facts, without sourcing them appropriately.

They accompanied Obama the whole way...as there has been no evidence presented by anyone here that the Senate Staff did not make the Berlin, Paris, London leg of the trip.

I am still waiting for that evidence, the silence is indeed deafening...Greg!

Robert Gibbs still is on Obama's Senate Staff according to official records...and nobody has shown any evidence that the has RESIGNED from his Senate Staff...surely that would have generated a press release!

Feel free to post that, I would love to see it!

So to answer the question...of course he could have visited. Some genius on his staff decided it would not be worth the effort...a boneheaded move.

Then, once they realized it might look bad for cancelling, they just blamed the Pentagon. Very mature! Obama will lose with idiots like this...

We all know he loves the troops and has been to Walter Reed many times. But as a result of the incompetence of some on his staff, McSame gets to paint Obama as a media-happy opportunist who could care less unless a camera is there to record the event...

Nothing could be farther from the truth! This is what happens when you place incompetence above criticism...it breeds more incompetence.

We saw this behavior from Bush, and I did not like it then either...

For those of you who really want to know what happened, I think Jim Miklaszewski over at NBC probably is closest to the answer.

Retired General Scott Gration has arranged the whole thing well in advance. It was not until Wednesday that the Pentagon go the list of people who would attended, and their role on the visit.

The list included General Scott Gration who was listed as a campaign advisor. This was raised as an issue by the Pentagon because he did not have an "official capacity" on the visit. The General would not be allowed to visit...

You can imagine that Generals, retired or not, do not appreciate being told "No". He went ballistic and as a sign of solidarity with the Retired General, the campaign backed out of the visit.

Now, who was wrong and who was right? Technically, the General had no role inside Landstuhl without official business. His role on the campaign does not entitle him to that.

Were the Pentagon being jerks? YES, they were. His role as a General would have allowed them to make an exception, if they really wanted to. They did not want to, that probably has more to do with Scott Gration and less to do with Obama.

But was the campaign right in pulling out? Well, you watch that McSame ad and you tell me...do you think that is a good ad for Obama?

You already know what I think...make up your own mind...

They will not let a little thing like the truth get in the way. I wish the first debate was tomorrow? But it's not and in the meantime, they will do all they can do, at Karl Rove's suggestions, to keep Barack Obama on the defensive.

I hate to say but I think it is time for Obama to take the gloves off. It's time to hit back with some hard facts on Mr McCain.

First of all, it is despicable that he would question the patriotism of another candidate of the opposite Party by saying that he would rather win the election than win the war. It does seem that Senator McCain is becoming rather vile in his desperation?

And to suggest that the entire war is centered around the strategy of the surge is false. The surge was started to create room for a dialogue between the warring Parties, because when it started, the situation had deteriorated in almost complete chaos and anarchy. The "surge" was an act of desperation. It took months before the surge was completed and the Sunnis had already defeated the al Qaeda whom were assisting them and decided to talk with the Americans to get some of the same financial assistance they were giving the Shia. We sat down and talked with the same enemies that were killing us before, much to the chagrin of Shia government. We decided to pay them a lot of money to stop the violence. Nobody knows how much was paid to al Sadr to stop his killing??

The candidate who failed to go to see the wounded soldiers in the military hospital is also the one who brushed off the journalist in the car factory to look at the shiny red sports car instead of answering the question of what he might do to help factory workers.

The issue is: "If the camera's aren't there I (Obama) am not going! What's the point!" He had the option of going (without staff) or not going at all. He chose not to go, since it would mean he would not get any publicity out of it in the media, which was the whole purpose of the trip to begin with! He could care less about the troops..or he would care for the troops if he could benefit with some media exposure! Ironic... we could care less where in Europe he goes.. and quite frankly if he stayed over there.. would suit a lot of us fine!