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An e-mail attacking Barack Obama and widely spread by Republican bloggers and activists has been revealed to be a fraud. These false e-mails are all too common--the Republican Party seems to be relying on these false stories and rumors to defeat Barack Obama. What is uncommon is that this time the perpetrator was caught and exposed: Army Captain Jeffrey S. Porter of the Utah National Guard was behind the following false e-mail:

HUSSEIN'S VISIT TO AFGHANISTAN

As you know I am not a very political person. I just wanted to pass along that Senator Obama came to Bagram Afghanistan for about an hour on his visit to 'The War Zone'. I wanted to share with you what happened. He got off the plane and got into a bullet proof vehicle, got to the area to meet with the Major General (2 Star)who is the commander here at Bagram.

As the Soldiers where lined up to shake his hand he blew them off and didn't say a word as he went into the conference room to meet the General. As he finished, the vehicles took him to the ClamShell (pretty much a big top tent that military personnel can play basketball or work out in with weights) so he could take his publicity pictures playing basketball. He again shunned the opportunity to talk to Soldiers to thank them for their service.

So really he was just here to make a showing for the American's back home that he is their candidate for President. I think that if you are going to make an effort to come all the way over here you would thank those that are providing the freedom that they are providing for you.

I swear we got more thanks from the NBA Basketball Players or the Dallas Cowboy Cheer leaders than from one of the Senators, who wants to be the President of the United States . I just don't understand how anyone would want him to be our Commander-and-Chief. It was almost that he was scared to be around those that provide the freedom for him and our great country.

If this is blunt and to the point I am sorry but I wanted you all to know what kind of caliber of person he really is. What you see in the news is all fake.

In service,
CPT Jeffrey S. Porter
Battle Captain
TF Wasatch
American Soldier

This entire e-mail is a fake, an infamous libel against Barack Obama's good name. You see, Jeffrey S. Porter--a man who is obviously unfit to carry a commission in the armed forces of the United States, intended this false e-mail to be mass e-mailed anonymously so that Barack Obama would never get the opportunity to confront his false accuser. But Porter's wife made the mistake of forwarding the e-mail under his real name to friends and family, who soon forwarded it on to complete strangers. In only a few days, the e-mail was tracked back to Porter. When confronted by his superior officers, Porter admitted that the allegations he made in the e-mail were false. The Army Times has also refuted the story and Snopes has refuted it online.

Here's the story from The New York Daily News:

The original poster attributed the message to an anonymous Air Force officer in the hope it would give the author, a Utah Army National Guard intelligence officer, some cover. But the Army captain's wife had already forwarded it to others who posted the e-mail in full with the couple's names.

In his e-mail (read the full text after the jump), the Task Force Wasatch "battle captain" beefed about the Illinois senator supposedly breezing into Bagram Airfield this week and blowing off G.I.s on his way to a staged photo-op to play basketball.

"I swear we got more thanks from the NBA Basketball Players or the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders than from one of the Senators, who wants to be the President of the United States. I just don't understand how anyone would want him to be our Commander-and-Chief. It was almost that he was scared to be around those that provide the freedom for him and our great country," the captain wrote.

Now the Bagram captain is dialing back, having signed the viral e-mail with his name, rank and unit - a possible violation of military regulations barring political statements. This morning, he sent The Mouth a new statement (punctuation corrected):

"I am writing this to ask that you delete my email and not forward it. After checking my sources, information that was put out in my email was wrong. This email was meant only for my family. Please respect my wishes and delete the email and if there are any blogs you have my email portrayed on I would ask if you would take it down too. Thanks for your understanding."

Progressive and Democratic bloggers should not honor Jeffrey S. Porter's request: the story of Porter's slimy attempt to smear Obama should be spread far and wide so that people know the truth about what Republicans are up to.

Update: Factcheck.org has also weighed in and confirms that Jeffrey S. Porter has confessed that his e-mail was false. Click here to read Factcheck.org's report on this incident.

John McCain must immediately make it clear that he does not want his supporters engaging in these tactics.

As for Jeffrey S. Porter: he should immediately be court martialed for conduct unbecoming an officer and dismissed from the service in disgrace.

http://richmonddemocrat.blogspot.com/2008/07/conduct-unbecoming-officer.html