Marine Corps officials reacted strongly to the suggestion made by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid that the deaths of seven Marines Wednesday during a training exercise were linked to sequestration, according to NBC News:
JIM MIKLASZEWSKI: You opened that segment with a soundbyte from Senate Majority Leader Democrat Harry Reid expressing his condolences, but also during that statement, there was an implication there that under sequestration, when budgets are cut, we may see more of these that it may put the Marines and others--and soldiers under risk because of the budget cuts. Now, I can tell you, Marine Corps officials this afternoon are taking a strong exception to what Harry Reid implied, saying that this exercise for example was planned well in advance, had nothing to do with the budget cuts, there were no corners cut, and if they couldn't afford to have all the safety precautions into place, they wouldn't do the exercise. In fact, one Marine Corps official told us a short time ago that he considers this nothing but pure political posturing on the backs of those dead Marines.
Video via NRO.