Missile Fired at McCain Helicopter During Georgia Visit?
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James Joyner | Tuesday, September 5, 2006 |
The Arizona Republic reports that a missile was fired at a helicopter escorting Senator John McCain last week.
A missile was fired at a helicopter escorting Sen. John McCain during a visit to the Republic of Georgia last week. A statement from that nation’s interior ministry says the surface-to-air missile was aimed at a chopper involved in a visit of a U.S. Senate delegation to the former Soviet republic. McCain was mentioned as the leader of the group.
The ministry statement claims American officials were notified of the incident. State Dept. spokeswoman Joanne Moore told the Associated Press she had no information about the reported attack.
The president of Georgia, Mikhail Saakashvili, is a strong ally of the U.S. He is also trying to re-establish control over two regions of the country trying to break away from the central government.
Word of this missile launch was made as part of a statement about a Sunday attack on a helicopter carrying Georgia’s defense minister. His aircraft was damaged by large-caliber machine gun fire and forced to make an emergency landing. No one was injured.
The Concord (NH) Monitor adds,
The Georgian Interior Ministry said a helicopter accompanying a delegation of U.S. senators, including New Hampshire’s John Sununu, was fired on last month with a surface-to-air missile from the separatist territory of South Ossetia. A ministry statement said the shooting took place Aug. 28 and that the helicopter was not damaged.
The helicopter was accompanying Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili and a U.S. delegation led by Sen. John McCain, the statement said. In addition to Sununu, the delegation included Sens. Saxby Chambliss, a Georgia Republican, Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, Mel Martinez, a Florida Republican, and Richard Burr, a North Carolina Republican.
I suspect local papers in each state headlined the local celebrity. Otherwise, the story is getting very little play.
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and infant daughter.
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Oh, THAT Georgia. The headline is definately an attention-grabber.
The Georgian Interior Ministry said a helicopter accompanying a delegation of U.S. senators, including New Hampshire’s John Sununu, was fired on last month with a surface-to-air missile from the separatist territory of South Ossetia.
That's it, WAR between New Hampshire and Ossetia!
Imagine if he had been killed by the missile. How much would the 2006 and 2008 election landscape been changed? Not to mention being a personal bummer for McCain.
First Amendment absolutists, no doubt.
Dave,
What did Sununu ever do to the First Amendment Absolutists? I'll give you McCain and probably even Georgia' defense minister, but Sununu?
Oh, THAT Georgia. The headline is definately an attention-grabber.
Heh. My first thought was, "And he thought he was unpopular in South Carolina!"
What did Sununu ever do to the First Amendment Absolutists? I’ll give you McCain and probably even Georgia’ defense minister, but Sununu?
I was referring to John McCain. With the wailing and gnashing of teeth that's been going on about him today it doesn't sound completely out of the question.
Shame they missed...it would of been a more peaceful and honest world if that plane load of scum went down in flames....and before you castigate my sentiment keep inmind soem comments from the right when the wellstone plane went down.
….and before you castigate my sentiment keep inmind soem comments from the right when the wellstone plane went down.
Show us.
Just as McCain-Feingold "reform" goes into effect to close down that pesky 1st Amendment thing: coincidence?
According to the US embassy in Tbilisi, it was another helicopter, not McCain's. False alarm.
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