Tarnished soldier runs for Congress

Retired Army Lt. Col. Allen West is running for the Congress as a Republican from Florida. In 2003, West was reprimanded for firing his 9mm pistol next to the head of a Iraqi detainee he was questioning in order to get him to talk of a planned ambush on U.S. forces. The tactic worked, but West was relieved of his command.


Tarnished soldier runs for Congress
By Gina Cavallaro - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Jan 4, 2008 5:45:02 EST

Retired Lt. Col. Allen West thinks the good people of Florida respect a leader who takes bold action to get results. He’s confident they’ll vote for him in November because of — and in spite of — an incident in which he took the law into his own hands in Iraq to protect his troops.

“It’s about individual accountability and responsibility, and that’s what people want,” said West, 46, who is running on the Republican ticket in Florida’s 22nd Congressional District. The district stretches from northern Broward Country through to Palm Beach County and includes the areas of Boca Raton, Deerfield Beach and Coconut Creek.

In trying to reclaim a seat that had been held by a Republican for more than a quarter-century, West is running against Rep. Ron Klein, a first-term Democratic incumbent who defeated Rep. Clay Shaw in 2006.

A political novice with a campaign chest of about $50,000, West is taking on a much more politically connected and well-funded foe. Klein served in the Florida House of Representatives, then the Florida Senate, where he was minority leader. The 50-year-old lawyer and lobbyist has raised some $1.8 million in campaign funds.

But Klein has no military service and West considers his own character and track record as a military officer unassailable.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/01/army_westcongress_080103w/

taking hostages at gun point during a floor debate.