‘The president didn’t care about it enough to make a simple phone call’
Kellan Howell
The Washington Times
11/1/2014
A group of politicians’ efforts to secure the release of Marine Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi from a Mexican jail paid off Friday night. California Rep. Dana Rohrabacher says President Obama was “AWOL” throughout the process.
The Republican Congressman told The Washington Times on Saturday that he and California Republican Rep. Ed Royce, former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, and Arizona Republican Rep. Matt Salmon took it upon themselves to fight for Mr. Tahmooressi when President Obama did not.
“The president, who is also the commander in chief, didn’t do his job,” Mr. Rohrabacher said. “There is a lack of concern for this man, for this American hero who served our country. As commander in chief he showed a total disdain and non-interest in an American hero who served us in Afghanistan and a total disregard for the fact that he was suffering.”…
Mr. Royce did say that the president did not seem to put as much effort into securing Mr. Tahmooressi’s release as he had for the exchange of five Taliban prisoners for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.
The complete article is at The Washington Times.
Update: Rep. Matt Salmon: Obama ‘Didn’t Lift a Finger’ to Help Free Marine in Mexican Prison
…Noting Tahmooressi’s PTSD, Salmon said that “my fear is that the last seven months-plus of incarceration in Mexico have probably not done wonders for that situation. Our top priority is to get him into treatment as quickly as possible.”
He said that both he and Royce pledged to work closely with Tahmooressi’s family to see that he gets the quality treatment that he deserves.
“We’re doing this for Andrew, but this should be done for every service member,” Salmon said. “But the fact is that this man has been through seven-plus months of hell, and we owe him a great deal of gratitude…
