McHenry's tour of duty

U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry served briefly in Iraq yesterday.

For a few hours, the Washington Post incorrectly reported in a story on Gen. David Petraeus' Congressional testimony that the Cherryville Republican was "an Iraq war veteran."

Republicans, by contrast, seized on the plan as a political lifeboat after months of being forced to vote against measures repudiating Bush's policy. "Let the generals in the field dictate," said Rep. Patrick T. McHenry (N.C.), an Iraq war veteran.

The mistake was fixed by the time the final version of the story was put together, but in the meantime the Post's wire service had already sent it out to papers like the Arizona Republic, the Indianapolis Star and the Honolulu Advertiser.

Hmmm... maybe they were confusing McHenry with this guy?

Update: Barb Barrett suggests that the reporters were confusing him with U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy of Pennsylvania, who served out of the Fort Bragg Army base.

Hat Tip: Greg Flynn