Obama To Visit Landstuhl

President Obama will visit the military hospital at Landstuhl, Germany on June 5, the White House announced today. Landstuhl became the center of a campaign controversy last summer when Obama canceled a stop there to visit wounded soldiers (Landstuhl receives wounded U.S. troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan). A military official at the hospital said he "didn't know why" the stop had been canceled, and John McCain aired a TV ad alleging Obama was more concerned with publicity than U.S. soldiers and canceled the stop because the Pentagon wouldn't let him bring cameras. Some critics questioned Obama's patriotism.

The Obama campaign later said the visit would have violated Pentagon rules against campaigning at military facilities, given the presence of Obama's campaign staff and the use of his campaign plane.

The June 5 trip will be Obama's first visit to the facility.