Senators shot at - but not MY fault

I spent Wednesday through Friday as the Department of State buddy for three Senators and a representative who were in Amman coming and going from Baghdad. I did NOT accompany them to Baghdad. On their return flight, they were shot at (see below). Fortunately, they were all safe and the incident was not my fault. I was successful in my role of making sure they got safely from the airport to the hotel and that there were snacks at the hotel.

I recuperated from my time with the Senators by going with Dan to the Dead Sea - we'll post pictures this evening.


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A U.S. military plane with three U.S. senators and a U.S. House member onboard came under rocket fire while leaving Baghdad, Iraq, for Amman, Jordan, Thursday night and had to take evasive maneuvers.

"I was looking out the window, a little small window, and I saw a shell or something," said Republican Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama in a phone interview from Amman, where the plane landed safely. "And then I see a flare. Our plane started maneuvering and changing directions and shaking all around."

The rockets were "near misses," he told CNN affiliate WVTM in Birmingham, Alabama.
The flares were part of the missile avoidance system onboard the C-130 aircraft carrying the Congress members. The flares' heat are used as a countermeasure to attract rockets that have heat-seeking guidance systems.

Onboard with Shelby were Rep. Bud Cramer, an Alabama Democrat; Sens. Mel Martinez, a Florida Republican; and James Inhofe, a Republican from Oklahoma.