Retired Lt. Col. Allen West, the Republican candidate for FL-22, released a video this morning as a preemptive defense of his military record against future attack from opponent Rep. Ron Klein.
As our campaign continues to address the issues affecting South Florida, Klein and his political cronies have all but announced that they will distort my proven record of honorable service in the name of retaining power. During the next 3 months, this dishonorable opponent is going to try to distort and falsify my service in Iraq as a combat Battalion Commander in 2003. […]
While my service in Iraq has been well documented, I wanted to share this short video with you that further explains what I did, why I did it, and what happened as a result. You will clearly come to know who I am.
West’s campaign manager, Josh Grodin, said in an phone interview that the video is intended to clear up misconceptions, such as the erroneous idea that West was court-martialed, and is meant to put West on the offense with respect to his military career.
“This isn’t something that we need to be defending, this is something we need to be promoting,” Grodin said. “It’s something he’s proud of.”
In addition to West’s account of the interrogation that ended his military career, the video includes interviews of several men with whom West served.
“The best way that I can describe Colonel Allen West is sacrifice,” says Sergeant Robert Delgado in the video. “Colonel West gave me his body armor two weeks into being in Iraq — he didn’t have to do that. I wouldn’t know it, but a month later I would get shot and wounded … if it hadn’t been for him sacrificing his body armor to give to me, when he didn’t have to do that, I probably wouldn’t be here now.”
Here’s the video: