Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama scrubbed a visit to see wounded U.S. servicemen and -women in Germany because of concerns raised by the Pentagon that the stop at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center could be seen as a political event, according to Obama’s campaign.
The Pentagon said on Friday that it did not prevent an Obama visit.
“Nobody denied Senator Obama the opportunity to visit our wounded being cared for at Landstuhl. Obviously, as a sitting senator, he has an interest in that and can certainly visit in an official capacity,” said Bryan Whitman, a spokesman for the Pentagon, who added that there are “restrictions on what you can do as a candidate for political office, that stems from trying to maintain political neutrality and not have the military involved in politics.”
“The senator’s staff was informed of the limits on what the military can do with respect to a political campaign and how we could support a senator’s visit to Landstuhl and, quite frankly, I expected them to have the visit,” Whitman said.