Sigmon calls for Investigation, cont.d

After returning from his taxpayer-funded Easter weekend trip to Iraq, Mr. McHenry showed his disrespect for the military by belittling a security guard in front of a group of local Republicans by calling him a "two-bit security guard". A few days after this incident was made public, in an attempt to curb the public outrage over his statements and to bolster his own image, Mr. McHenry referred to a video which had been shot within minutes of an Easter morning rocket attack in the Green Zone which was posted on his congressional website and on the website YouTube. Mr. McHenry personally narrated the video and pointed out the successes of the insurgents' rocket attack.

This video provided valuable intelligence to our enemy, such as location of the strikes, effectiveness of the weapons, and the type of military assets that were hit.

I am a 21-year military veteran. I retired in 2005 at the rank of Lt. Col. For seventeen years of my service I was a member of the AF Judge Advocate Generals Corp. For many of those years, I acted as a prosecutor at numerous locations around the world, and I retired as a military judge. In addition, I served as a special assistant US Attorney in Florida and Alaska. I have personally trained over 1000 members of the AF in the laws of armed conflict.

Mr. McHenry, through his video, endangered the lives of our troops and other Americans serving in the Green Zone. The filming and posting of the video clearly violated military Operational Security (OPSEC) requirements. In my opinion, his actions may also have violated the Federal Espionage Statute which is codified at 18 U.S.C. 793(d).

Less than 48 hours after posting his video on the internet, the insurgents in Iraq launched another attack upon the Green Zone - but this time with deadly accuracy. Two Americans, Col. Stephan Scott and Major Stuart Wolfer, died in that attack. Seventeen more Americans were wounded. I offer my heartfelt condolences to the families of both of these fallen heroes.

Mr. McHenry has stated that he voluntarily removed this video from his congressional website. However, only the link to the video was actually removed. The video itself, in fact, is still available online and is still being hosted on the House of Representatives server. Therefore, despite Mr. McHenry's claims and the Pentagon specific instructions for him to remove the offending video, it still remains available for the world to see.

Politicians who go to Iraq must be held to the same high standards that our men and women in uniform, military contractors, and other American citizens are held to while they are in that country. He cannot and must not be allowed to reveal sensitive information to the enemy - and when he does he must be held accountable for his actions.

As a former prosecutor, I feel it is imperative that there be a full investigation into the breach of security made by Mr. McHenry and the extent to which his actions may have led to the subsequent, deadly attack. We must preserve the dignity of our laws, no matter who violates them, and we must honor the memories of the two brave men who lost their lives.

I am planning to formally file a complaint with federal and Congressional authorities. I am also respectfully requesting Senators Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr to look into this situation due to their respective seats on the Armed Services committees and Veteran's Affairs committee.