West Demands Apology from Reid for ‘Politicizing’ Marine Deaths

Former Rep. Allen West of Florida demanded on Tuesday that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid apologize for “politicizing” the deaths of seven Marines from a mortar shell explosion in his home state of Nevada.

“The most important thing that Sen. Harry Reid must do is to go over to the Marine barracks [in Washington], stand there with the commandant of the Marine Corps, before a formation of Marines and truly give an apology for what he said on the Senate floor,” West told Fox’s Greta Van Susteren. “For him to try to draw a connection between sequestration budget cuts and what happened, we don’t need anyone politicizing this event.”

The mortar-shell explosion killed seven Marines and injured seven on Monday night during mountain-warfare training in Nevada's high desert.

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The blast occurred at the Hawthorne Army Depot, a huge facility used by troops heading overseas, during an exercise involving the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force from Camp Lejeune, N.C.

The mortar round exploded in its firing tube during the exercise, Marine officials said. Investigators were trying to determine the cause of the malfunction.

The blast prompted the Pentagon to immediately halt the use of the weapons until an investigation can determine their safety, officials said Tuesday.

Meanwhile, on the Senate floor on Tuesday, Reid tied the accidents to the sequester budget cuts that took effect on March 1.
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