Obama drops visit to wounded U.S. troops in Germany

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BERLIN (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama dropped a plan to visit wounded U.S. troops in Germany on Friday after the Pentagon said such venues should not be used for political campaigns.

The Pentagon in a statement cited longstanding Defence Department policy that prohibits military personnel or facilities from association with partisan political campaigns and elections.

"We told him he could visit Landstuhl (Regional Medical Centre in western Germany) with his Senate staff, but not with his campaign staff," said Army Lt. Col. Elizabeth Hibner.

Retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Scott Gration, an adviser to Obama, said Obama had opted against the visit.

"Senator Obama had hoped to and had every intention of visiting our troops to express his appreciation and gratitude for their service to our country," Gration said, but added: "Sen. Obama did not want to have a trip to see our wounded warriors perceived as a campaign event."

The visit to Landstuhl had not been officially announced but Obama’s campaign acknowledged it had been planned after Republicans criticised Obama for cancelling the visit.

The Landstuhl Regional Medical Center near the city of Kaiserslautern is the largest American hospital outside the United States. It provides treatments to casualties injured during operations .....continued below

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Senior Obama aide Robert Gibbs said the Illinois senator had visited troops during the earlier part of his foreign tour in Iraq and Afghanistan, including a stop at a combat support hospital in the Green Zone in Baghdad.

"The senator decided out of respect for these servicemen and women that it would be inappropriate to make a stop to visit troops at a U.S. military facility as part of a trip funded by the campaign," Gibbs said.

Tucker Bounds, a spokesman for the campaign of Republican John McCain, Obama’s rival in the November election, said: "It is never inappropriate to visit and comfort our brave men and women who have served in combat."

Obama visited Germany as part of a seven-nation tour this week. In an open air speech to more than 200,000 people in the centre of Berlin, Obama urged Germany on Thursday to stand by the United States in stabilising Afghanistan.

Obama left Germany for Paris on Friday and will later travel to London.