During a public appearance on Saturday, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) belittled a U.S. soldier in Iraq who was following orders and wouldn’t let McHenry go to the gym without the proper credentials. McHenry referred to the guard as a “two-bit security guard“:
We spent the night in the Green Zone, in the poolhouse of one of Saddam’s palaces. A little weird, I got to be honest with you. But I felt safe. And so in the morning, I got up early — not that I make this a great habit — but I went to the gym because I just couldn’t sleep and everything else. Well, sure enough, the guard wouldn’t let me in. Said I didn’t have the correct credentials.
It’s 5:00 in the morning. I haven’t had sleep. I was not very happy with this two-bit security guard. So you know, I said, “I want to see your supervisor.” Thirty minutes later, the supervisor wasn’t happy with me, they escort me back to my room. It happens. I guess I didn’t need to work out anyway.
Watch it:
McHenry also claimed that a person died from rocket attacks during his stay in the Green Zone. A U.S. embassy official, however, said “that there were no fatalities from that rocket attack.”
Update
Michael Goldfarb reports that the “two-bit security guard” was a foreign contractor, not a member of the military, as both Carolina Politics and Lance Sigmon originally reported. As Ed Morrissey states, “Does this really make it any better? After all, the contractors risk their lives as well, albeit for better compensation.”
Update
,The Army Times reports that McHenry has apologized for his remarks: “It was a poor choice of words to describe a foreign contractor.” (HT: TP reader Steve)
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