Internal Poll Gives Ron Klein an Eight-Point Lead in Race Against Allen West

• @ Bandit Zero 3: Sir, please don't accuse me of having my hands on a penis because I have never even met you. P.S. You must be confusing me with someone who gives a crap about either of these two candidates. I will likely vote for Klein, only because West irritates the crap out of me with his maniacal rants and gobbledygook. I would have voted for the other Republican in the race (Brady) for sure. But in today's Repukelican party, there is no room for a normal coherent candidate.

• Yes, Lynn. We all know that our 13 trillion dollar national debt is the fault of Nancy Pelosi and Ron Klein. It has nothing to do with George Bush and a Reoublican controlled congress for 6 of his 8 years increasing the debt from 5.2 to over 11 trillion dollars. It is nice to see that you have the attention span and memory of a knat.

• Ron Klein, who is a big part of the problem in Congress and in the $13 TRILLION DOLLAR debt, who voted with Pelosi 98% of the time, did an INTERNAL poll? Big whoope! Folks, I am going to conduct a poll of my friends on how much they like me. WOW! Even his Jewish constituents should be pretty pi**ed off. Voters are fed up with the status quo. I'm a Democrat who is voting for West.

• Seth & Virgil: If you two would release each other's pen*isis for just a moment, stop your rapid, shallow breathing and focus....eyes on me gentlemen. I am told that the West campaign will release it's poll results today. From what I hear, the information is current versus kleins poll which is already a week or so old and the information will be much more thorough and complete. I asure you both; you will be dissapointed. Carry on gentlemen. b3 Out

• West is nothing but a stooge for the neo-cons. If you make extremist and hateful comments about muslims and Islam, there will always be "monied interests" to support you. The neo-cons are enemies of America. In fact, they are our mortal enemies. If people only knew the truth about what has happened to this nation the last 9+ years, they would realize that the mortal enemies of America are not located across the globe in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. They are right here in America.

• If you would like to read the actual military investigative report of West's Interrogation/Torture incident you may find it here BETH: http://www.aclu.org/torturefoia/released/105_167.pdf

• BEEEEEETH- You leave out so many important facts: What did West say to his troops after the Torture incident in Iraq?: �This Night Stays Within 2-20 And 2-20 Only� An American officer has been stripped of his command after pleading guilty to assaulting an Iraqi detainee during interrogation Army Lieutenant Colonel Allen B. West, who brandished a pistol and threatened to shoot an Iraqi police officer while interrogating him in 2003. Before that August night he had never conducted or witnessed an interrogation. He was a commander, overseeing an artillery battalion of some 650 soldiers and officers. Many months before the Abu Ghraib prison scandal raised questions about whether the military was permitting or tolerating the mistreatment of detainees, the Army pointedly rejected Colonel West's aggressive tactics during that single interrogation. West fired his pistol near the head of the prisoner, threatened to kill him, and allowed his troops to beat the man. Said West: "Yes, there had been sporadic body punches and shoving to the individual, which I witnessed but did not allow to get too brutal." "In my anger I do not know if I fired two shots in to the barrel or one into the air and another into the barrel," said West in his sworn statement. West admitted to pushing Hamoodi's head into a clearing barrel full of sand, which is typically used for clearing weapons. West then put his gun into the same barrel, near Hamoodi's head and fired. Q: When you heard the first shot did you think the LTC had shot the detainee? A: Yes. Q: Why did you think he shot the detainee? A: He seemed very frustrated he wasn't getting the right answers. He was getting more and more upset. It was like it was the last straw. A: How many times did LTC fire his weapon near the detainee's head? A: 3 Q: After the incident, did LTC tell you not to talk about the incident? A: Yes. No plans for attacks on Americans or weapons were found. Colonel West testified that he did not know whether "any corroboration" of a plot was ever found, adding: "At the time I had to base my decision on the intelligence I received. It's possible that I was wrong about Mr. Hamoodi." Soldiers set up surveillance in hopes of catching those involved in the ambush, which was supposedly scheduled for the next day. But the attack didn't occur. A search of Hamoodi's home reportedly turned up no evidence of the plot. Hamoodi, who was interviewed by the New York Times nine months after the interrogation, said that he was never involved in any assassination plot and that the information he gave was induced by fear of death. Hamoodi was detained for 45 days, then released without having been charged. West told the Times, "It's possible that I was wrong about Mr. Hamoodi." During a closed-door tribunal Friday in the town of Tikrit, West was found guilty of three counts of aggravated assault and a single count of communicating a threat. The ruling was issued after West pleaded guilty to misconduct. When disciplinary proceedings were commenced against West, senior congressional Republicans, including Senator John Warner and Congressman Duncan Hunter -- who as chairs, respectively, of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, had their hands on the Pentagon's pursestrings -- intervened aggressively to protect him. The result: instead of facing punishment that could have included prison time, West got off with a fine, a reprimand and early departure from the service. If he were to be found guilty at a court martial of the two articles against him, West could have faced 11 years in prison, a military prosecutor told CNN. The investigation found probable cause that West violated two statutes of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which forbade threatening a prisoner and assaulting him. The army initially moved forward with a criminal prosecution of West, until a hearing officer dismissed the case, fining West $5,000. The military decided against court-martialing Colonel West. He was fined $5,000, and he submitted his resignation, which becomes effective this summer, when he will retire with full benefits. Army to instead relieve West of his command, fine him $5,000, and order him back to the United States, where he will be allowed to retire. The Army filed criminal charges against him, an article 32 hearing was conducted at which West admitted wrongdoing, and ultimately he was fined $5,000 for misconduct and assault and then allowed to resign from the military. The Army concluded that his actions were criminal and that "his crimes merit a court-martial." Had West been prosecuted and convicted, he could have faced as much as 11 years in prison, a dishonorable discharge and forfeiture of pension and benefits. His case not only began as a criminal proceeding, as Pincus notes; it ended with a finding that his actions were criminal. He avoided prison only because powerful members of Congress intervened. West received a nonjudicial punishment -- the path that accounts for 90 percent of infractions of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The military said that through his actions against the detainee, West "disobeyed laws, ignored orders . . . and mortgaged future discipline in his unit. Without discipline, there is no trust, no cohesion, and no higher purpose for which we fight." relieved of his command Lieutenant Colonel West's actions compromised his ability to command and maintain good order and discipline within his unit," the Army official said. "Every soldier under his command now believes it is OK to abuse detainees for information." And what became of Allen B. West? He was lionized by right-wing talk radio and named the "Man of the Year" by FrontPage Magazine, a vehicle of radio talk jock David Horowitz.

• Is Beth citing "Wikipedia"? Beth: I would bet that you are completely unaware that West has since admitted that there was no evidence that he obtained accurate and actionable intelligence from his stupid actions. In fact, the man he harassed, or as some would say, "tortured", admitted that he just made up stories to placate the maniacal West, just to get him to stop. And therein lies the reason why torture of any kind does not produce actionable intelligence. The FBI has a long term policy denouncing torture for that very reason. So your perception of West as a hero is not only childish, but inaccurate. This is what happens when citizens get their information from the TV show, 24. Trust me. It doesn't work that way in real life darling. We have actually gotten more actionable intelligence from bonding with the witnesses and offering them sweets and cookies, than with stupid pranks like the kind West tried.

• Patriot Says: September 22nd, 2010 at 1:21 pm While serving in Taji, Iraq, on August 20, 2003, as commander of the 2d Battalion, 20th Field Artillery Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel West was in charge of an interrogation of a civilian Iraqi police officer who was suspected of having pertinent information regarding attacks on American soldiers in the area. Interrogators had learned that the detainee had information about a planned ambush. When the interrogators were unable to extract the needed important information for some time, LTC West was asked to come try to obtain the important information. As the detainee continued to hold back the information, LTC West fired his pistol past the detainee�s head into a clearing barrel, frightening (but not physically harming) the detainee and getting him to finally give the information. LTC West and his men were able to use the information and thwart several planned attacks on his men. LTC West, who at the time was just short of having 20 years of service, was charged with violating articles 128 (assault) and 134 (general article) of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. West was processed through an Article 32 hearing in November 2003, where he admitted wrongdoing, was fined $5,000 over two months for misconduct and assault. He then submitted his resignation, and was allowed to retire with full benefits in the summer of 2004.[3] At a hearing, West was asked by his defense attorney if he would do it again. �If it�s about the lives of my men and their safety, I�d go through hell with a gasoline can,� he said.[3] Apparently not knowing West�s gun was aimed into a barrel, �Hamoodi cracked and gave information about the planned ambush on West�s convoy, thwarting the attack.� West said there were no further ambushes on U.S. forces in Taji until he was relieved of his leadership post on October 4.� [4] �After West�s resignation was brought to public attention the next fall, he received over two thousand letters and e-mails from the American public offering him moral support. In addition, a letter was drafted to the Secretary of the Army, its signatories being ninety-five members of Congress in West�s support.

• Obviously, the voters in District 22 are pleased with Ronnie Klein's record since being in the Congressional Majority since 2006. Of course, Kline has yet to mention his voting record which appear to be 100% with the Unions, 98% with the Democrat majority, and 100% against the interest of the people of District 22. No wonder all he and his Leftist Progressive friends can do is bad mouth a War hero and pretend they never served in Congress!

• Allen West for Congress.

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