An In-Depth Look At US Congressman Allen West, (R- FL)

Lieutenant Colonel Allen West (US Army, Retired) represents one of the most intelligent, reasoned, thoughtful members of the new congressional class.  His insight into education, military operations and the threat of Islam will serve the U.S. well.

Look for his star to continually ascend as he works from his new position as a public servant to make America once again a safer, fiscally sound, honorably led government and one respected by the entire world.

Colonel West was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia and is the third of four generations of military servicemen in his family.

His parents instilled in him a very basic principle-- love of God and Country.

According to a sworn statement West gave to military investigators, his unit received a tip on August 8, 2003, that insurgents were plotting to assassinate him.

On August 21, 2003, based on West's order, soldiers snatched Hamoodi from the police station, hauling him to a military detention center.

His ever-so-politically-correct detractors point to the incident below in an attempt to cast a negative cloud over a brilliant  and distinguished career.

Hamoodi claimed that his first interrogator, an Egyptian woman, told him that she'd kill him if he didn't talk, then kicked him in the leg. West says that when he arrived at the facility, his interrogators told him that Hamoodi "was not divulging any information. I was concerned for the impending safety of my soldiers and myself."

Arriving at the interrogation room, West approached Hamoodi, took out his gun, and chambered a round. He placed it in his lap with the gun barrel facing Hamoodi. "I had drawn out my pistol as a means of conveying a threat to him for the seriousness of wanting the information," West told investigators.

Hamoodi still didn't give West or the soldiers the information they wanted, either because he wasn't part of the assassination plot or because he was being an uncooperative witness.

When that didn't work, West admitted to pushing Hamoodi's head into a clearing barrel full of sand, which is typically used for clearing weapons.

West then put his gun into the same barrel, near Hamoodi's head and fired. 

Lt. Col. West immediately put himself on report.  Legal proceedings were brought against him-- West's lawyer, Neal Puckett, recommended that the charges against his client be dismissed.

West claimed that the tactic worked. "Mr. Hamoodi came forth with names, location, and method of attack." The attack was to occur near the Saba al Boor police station with rooftop snipers from Fallujah, after Hamoodi signaled to them which Humvee contained West.

Soldiers set up surveillance in hopes of catching those involved in the ambush, which was supposedly scheduled for the next day; the assassination attempt was subsequently aborted.

In 2004, when it was time to retire from more than twenty years of service in the US Army, he brought his wife and two young daughters to Broward County, Florida, where he taught high school for one year.

Still wanting to serve his country, he returned to Afghanistan as an advisor to the Afghan army, an assignment he finished in November 2007.

Allen West received his Bachelors degree from University of Tennessee and Masters degree from Kansas State University, both in political science.

He also holds a Master of Military Arts and Sciences from the US Army Command and General Staff Officer College in political theory and military operations.

"Education is the great equalizer," he says. "With a good education, any child in America can live his dream."

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