From the Congressman's site:
Congressman Kirk is a Naval Reserve intelligence officer who served during conflicts with Iraq, Haiti, and Bosnia. He served four tours at sea and three in Panama. The U.S. Navy named Kirk 'Intelligence Officer of the Year' in 1999 for his combat service in Kosovo. Kirk flew on missions over Iraq and continues to serve one weekend a month in the Pentagon. He is the only member of Congress to serve in Operation Iraqi Freedom and was an air crewman over Iraq during Operation Northern Watch.My initial reaction was to dismiss, as Josh Nelson of CincinnatiNews does, the claim as Kirk spending his one weekend a month at the Pentagon as his service in OIF (Operation Iraqi Freedom), but I have received word from a military source that I trust that that may not actually be what the Congressman is referring to in that sentence. Others seem to think Kirk is referring to his service in Northern Watch, but that isn't what his statement is referring to, he clearly states that he served in OIF too.
All that is required for qualification as a veteran of OIF is for the Congressman to have been in the theatre of operations or having directly supported OIF. OIF veterans are not all stationed in Iraq. As Eric Minamyer points out in the comments of Josh's post:
One can fly from Missouri in a B-2 bomber, bomb Baghdad and return to Missouri and that counts.Minamyer goes on to address Kirk's service specifically:
Intelligence officers fly (as a passenger)over areas to gather data. He could have flown from almost anywhere to get over Iraq. He could have done it for his two weeks annual duty without being called up. He could have done it on a drill weekend. There are no details.Unfortunately, the Congressman does not take emails from non-constituents, so we can't ask him directly.
Question for the gallery: Is Josh "swiftboating" Congressman Kirk? Personally, I don't think so. Josh's post was not any more improper than my post or Eric's post asking questions about Hackett's service. The irony of the situation is simply stunning. (As a side issue, the "swiftboating" as a verb thing is rather funny too...I mean, 250 VETERANS asked those questions and we're supposed to believe that it is the Democrats who are pro-military?)
Eric Kephas at ProjectLogic broke the story and deserves the credit for bringing it to our attention.
I'm hoping to do a follow-up on Congressman Kirk as soon as I get something I can verify.
11:40AM Update
Our source has taken a look at Kirk's extended bio and has come to the conclusion that Kirk is NOT an OIF veteran. Jean Schmidt should recall her campaign's press release and issue a statement asking Congressman Kirk to explain the discrepancy.This, my friends, is why you ask questions.
