Minnesota lawmaker cuts short Iraq trip, military says (Rep. John Lesch)

[Barrett808]

ST. PAUL - A Minnesota state legislator who traveled to Iraq on his own has apparently left the country after criticism from U.S. and Iraqi officials, according to a military spokesman quoted in a St. Paul Pioneer Press story Tuesday.

But the whereabouts of Rep. John Lesch were not clear Tuesday afternoon, and a new posting on the St. Paul DFLer's blog failed to clarify his location.

Lesch's legislative assistant, Elizabeth Emerson, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that she had spoken to her boss a day earlier and that he was still in Baghdad, with no indication he was planning to leave. Lesch's brother, Jim Lesch, told the newspaper on Monday he didn't know his brother's whereabouts.

A message left Tuesday by The Associated Press for a Jim Lesch in St. Paul was not immediately returned.

According to the Pioneer Press report, a U.S. military spokesman said Monday that Lesch had left the country but offered no further information.

The military spokesman, Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, said he was relieved the 33-year-old lawmaker left the country.
"This grandstanding has no place here," Johnson said. "Stay home."

(more)

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/13812514.htm

[ECH1969]

1. Grandstanding has no place here

[Journeyman]

2. Thanks, ECH1969. . .

that made my evening. . .


On edit: As I read the OP my browser window was open just enough so all I could see was your subject line. I got quite a kick when I scrolled to the picture.

[Barrett808]

3. Nice. n/t

[Inland]

9. Nice. nt

[daleo]

10. The woman on the right looks a lot like Karpinski.

I suppose that has been commented upon before.

[Tight_rope]

4. What was he doing there? Sealing oil deals for Minn.

[Wilms]

5. Maybe he was going there to see for himself.

http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/members/members.asp?district=66A

[rodeodance]

6. here is his log.

On the Web: John Lesch Iraq blog: http://johnlesch.blogspot.com

[Barrett808]

11. No posts since yesterday. n/t

[rodeodance]

7. yes, that is what the article says.

The two-term lawmaker flew to Iraq on Jan. 29, saying he wanted to see for himself the conditions facing Iraqi citizens in the wake of the U.S. invasion of the country in 2003. State Department officials and his own friends tried to discourage Lesch, who speaks no Arabic and knew no one in the region, from making the trip.

In a blog dedicated to the trip, Lesch recounted a number of missteps upon his arrival in Iraq. He haggled with U.S. Embassy officials over attempts to get a visa, and had trouble getting around the city as British contractors warned him that foreigners who ride in Iraqi taxis often get kidnapped. The contractors ultimately paid for a taxi driven by a sympathetic Iraqi because Lesch had no cash.

[Wilms]

8. I'll bet his buddies tried talking him out of it.

And I hope they supported his ultimate decision.
He'd need that. :scared: