I think Steve Buyer is coming off his spool...

[BiggJawn]

OK, so Buyer (R-IN) insists that he was called up to active duty before the Army reversed itself and told him to stand down (a story the Army is saying "WTF?" over)and that's why he was missing from Congress for a few weeks, needed to get it all in order B4 shipping out, but then the Army decided that it wasn't "safe" to send a sitting Congresscritter to war (and never mind questions about who'd be minding Indiana's store while he was gone)...

Anyway, only a lock-step ReTHUG beleives that shit, but "Baron Munchausen" is at it again.....

Heard on local radio this AM that Buyer is now saying that the Army was gonna put HIM in charge of that prison, and none of this would have happened if he had "been allowed" to deploy to Iraq....

I hope this "I was called up, really I was!" bullshit bites him and bites him HARD in November!

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

1. Sounds like...

Mr. Buyer done slipped the surly bonds of sanity.

Guys like that will always have a job.

[LittleApple81]

2. Where did you see the Army denial? This might be something

to save before it goes into the memory hole.

[salin]

3. I would love to read a news account of this

(his latest claims) and/or items from the he was called up he wasn't called up etc.

Guess it could be true... but he is starting to sound a little bit like Forest Gump.

[BiggJawn]

5. Here's some links...

But since "Baron Munchausen" is a ReTHUG in a district where Hitler could run as ReTHUG and get elected....

http://www.lafayettejc.com/news20030905/200309052local_news1062738248.shtml

and...

http://www.lafayettejc.com/news20030903/200309034local_news1062608875.shtml

<snip>

Hardy says he decided to run shortly after Buyer asked for a leave of absence from Congress because he had been called into active duty in the Army for the war in Iraq. At the time, Hardy worked in the Pentagon office in charge of mobilizing reservists. Hardy said that office had no knowledge of Buyer being mobilized.

"It soon became clear that Steve Buyer was showing a serious lack of integrity by lying to the Speaker of the House, members of Congress, constituents of the 4th District, and every soldier who was serving their country," Hardy said of Buyer's claim of being called to active duty. "This lack of integrity cannot be tolerated and is a disgrace to the office of congressman."

<snip>
(Buyer said)
"I suppose he wants to begin his campaign with a pretty vicious and outrageous attack. I suppose if somebody wants to criticize my willingness to serve the country, they can do that -- (it's a) free country.

"The need was identified. I said yes. The military side of the Pentagon supported my going, but the civilian leadership did not. I know what it was like when I drew all my combat gear, got the haircut, sat at home and waited for my mobilization orders."

<snip>

AND....From the March 21, 2003 "Evote-dot-com"

Congressman Called To Duty In Iraq

Rep. Steve Buyer (R-IN) announced this week he will be taking a leave of absence from Congress after being called to active duty from the Army reserve.

"Congressman Steve Buyer, a decorated Gulf War veteran, has, once again, been called to active duty in service of his country. Congressman Buyer, a Lt. Colonel in the Army Reserves, will act as an Operational Law Judge Advocate in a forward deployed unit in ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom," said a statement put out by Buyer's office.

<snip>

Copyright 2002 By evote.com, All rights reserved

And now he says if he HAD been "allowed" to go, he'd been able to have "advised" and could have prevented the abuse...

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2004/05/08/452195-ap.html

WASHINGTON (AP) - Pentagon officials rejected an army plan last year to send an experienced military lawyer, who is also a Republican member of Congress, to help oversee the unit blamed for prisoner abuse at the Abu Ghraib complex outside Baghdad.

That left the prison complex, which holds up to 7,000 Iraqis, without an onsite lawyer to guide interrogations and treatment of prisoners.

<snip>
The rejected lawyer, Rep. Steve Buyer, R-Ind., and other experts say having had a lawyer at the prison might have prevented or at least mitigated the beatings, sexual humiliation and other abuse detailed in photographs and the army probe.
<snip>

[salin]

6. this item

actually might be legit - per the following:

"I expressed the importance of having a (lawyer) at the camp," Buyer said. "You have to ask, when you had a qualified officer, and the civilian leaders, Dr. Chu and the secretary of the army, said no, who did you send in his place?"

Soldiers from the 800th MP Brigade have been accused not only of abusing prisoners in Abu Ghraib but also detainees at the Camp Bucca PoW facility near Basra in southern Iraq. The military also is investigating a dozen prisoner deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq, some of them in facilities run by the 800th Brigade.

Buyer served as a lawyer at a prisoner of war camp run by the 800th Brigade during the first Persian Gulf War. His duties, Buyer said, included helping the International Committee of the Red Cross monitor conditions and ensuring guards followed international law such as the Geneva Conventions. He said he also questioned some Iraqis suspected of war crimes.

"The 800th MP Brigade performed exemplary service in the Gulf War," Buyer said. "There was no hint of any mistreatment or maltreatment of prisoners. It never happened. They had excellent leadership."

Agree that the I was activated... no he wasn't ... story is ... well... interesting... but this part of the story might actually be legit.

[SpaceCatMeetsMars]

7. This letter to Buzzflash says

he wears a combat patch when he shouldn't be wearing one because being a lawyer in Gulf War I wasn't combat. Sounds like he is a dishonest person.

"Dear BuzzFlash,

The picture of Buyer and Graham standing on the whitehouse lawn in their uniform caught my attention. If someone did a little research, I'd bet there's a story here. What caught my eye was the 'combat' patch on Rep Buyer's right shoulder. For those that never served in the Army (I retired from the Army in 1994, served in Iraq during the 1st Gulf War, and I'm 100% service connected disabled), a soldier may where a unit patch on his right shoulder only if he personally served with that unit in combat.

I was curious when Rep Buyer served in combat since his bio on the AP news story showed he served in the Army Reserve from 1980 to 1984, active duty from 1984 to 1987, and Army Reserve again from 1987 to present. The bio also shows that he was IN Deputy Attorney General from 1987 to 1988, and White county republican vice chair from 1988 to 1990, and was elected to congress in 1992. The combat duty was not apparent so I went to Rep Buyer's web site in Congress. What a biography there! It appears that Steve Buyers must be the most decorated JAG Officer (lawyer) in US military history. They must have been inspired by him to make that TV show.

It seems they needed another lawyer over there during the Gulf War, so they called up old Steve with just 3 days notice to go over there. I don't see how we could have won the war without him.

Here's what I think may have happened. At one point after achieving victory in Iraq in 1991, they (the brass or whoever) were flying in officers by the plane load for two or three days into Saudi Arabia (most never actually went into Iraq or Kuwait) so that they could spend the time 'in theater' to get their 'combat patch'. They took their 25 cents tour, and went back home.

With all the recent talk about whether someone threw away his 'medals' or his 'ribbons' more than thirty years ago, I think there may be something to look into here. And by the way, people in the military make no distinction between ribbons and medals. The ribbons are the far more common devices worn.

A BuzzFlash Reader"

[salin]

8. good catch

it would be interesting to learn how long he was there during the gulf war and in what actual capacity. He does appear to have a tendency to self-aggrandize...

[BiggJawn]

9. There is no question of Buyers service during Oil War One.

That is a fact and matter of record. It's the rest of this "I was called up, Really I was!" bullshit that ought to retire him to a divorce law practice in Monticello, Indiana...

[histohoney]

4. Dear Teacher

Steve was on his way to school today, really, and like just before he could get on the bus, somebody I don't remember their name or what they looked like, but really somebody from the school told Steve not to get on the bus he was to early. Really, it's all true.
Thanks,
Steve's Mom

The early years.

[BigMcLargehuge]

10. P.S.

Steve would have also aced that math test had he been there too.

Also Steve's Mom.

[salin]

11. P.P.S.

He also would have prevented the playground fight that resulted in the Hardy kid losing his front teetch if Steve had been at school.

Again Steve's Mom.