Murtha Says Americans Back Iraq Pullout

Breitbart.com ^ | 11-21-2005 | DAN LOVERING

[Reagan Man]

U.S. Rep. John Murtha, a key Democrat on military issues, on Monday defended his call to pull U.S. troops from Iraq, saying he was reflecting Americans' sentiment.

"The public turned against this war before I said it," Murtha said. "The public is emotionally tied into finding a solution to this thing, and that's what I hope this administration is going to find out."

Murtha, 73, a decorated Vietnam veteran and the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, said he has received support from the public since calling for the troop pullout on Thursday. He said he has gotten e-mails from World War II veterans and parents of American soldiers in Iraq.

Murtha noted that his great-grandfather served in the Civil War, his father and three uncles in World War II, and that he and his brothers were Marines. Murtha said western Pennsylvania, where his district is located, is a "hotbed of patriotism and they've lost confidence in this effort."

He said Iraqis must take control of their own destiny.

"We cannot win this militarily. Our tactics themselves keep us from winning," Murtha said at a scheduled news conference after a speech to a civic group in his hometown of Johnstown, about 60 miles east of Pittsburgh.

House Republicans on Friday pushed for a vote on a nonbinding resolution to pull out the troops after Murtha's comments. It was rejected 403-3, but Democrats said the quick call for the vote was a political stunt designed to undermine Murtha's comments.

"The guys in Congress are scared to death to say anything because they might be vilified," Murtha said. "The soldiers can't speak for themselves. We sent them to war and, by God, we're the ones that have to speak out."

Murtha said he was unmoved by criticism he's received from President Bush, others in Congress and the public.

U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-Ohio, spoke on the House floor Friday about a phone call she got from a Marine colonel who said, "cowards cut and run, Marines never do." Asked about it, Murtha called the comment ridiculous.

"You can't spin this. You've got to have a real solution," Murtha said. "This is not a war of words, this is a war."

Aware that his comments last week would draw fire from conservatives, Murtha said he specifically asked more liberal members of his party not to step forward to support him.

"I didn't want (the public) to think this was a Democrat position plotted from the left wing," Murtha said.

Murtha expressed confidence that terrorist bombings in Iraq would cease once U.S. troops were gone and Iraqis became solely responsible for their destiny.

"Absolutely, we're the target. We're the enemy," Murtha said. "(The Iraqis) are a proud people, they've been around a lot longer than we have. They've going to win this themselves, they're going to settle this themselves. They have to, there's no alternative."

Murtha said he believes President Bush needs to realize how citizens feel about the war.

"All of us want to support the president when he's at war," Murtha said "But you can't support him when he won't change directions, won't listen."

[NCjim]

[Parmy]

Is he a leader or follower?

[absolootezer0]

he's got one part right.. "We cannot win this militarily. Our tactics themselves keep us from winning."
if we were to actually go out and truly be allowed to fight, we could make this end very quickly, but the pansies with "D"'s by their name bring us up short, as does the MSM. not to mention our devout adherance to military codes of conduct, that our enemies don't follow.

[b4its2late]

"The public turned against this war before I said it," Murtha said.

The DU public, perhaps.

[stuartcr]

You are correct, citizens never get to vote on wars. Neither the citizens of Britain or the Colonies, neither the citizens of Germany, Japan, or the Muslim countries, or any of the Allies.

The people that actually do the fighting, never get much of a sayso, when it comes to wars.

[clee1]

REAL Americans think Murtha is a drunken Rat pu$$y.

[sandbar]

>>>"We cannot win this militarily. Our tactics themselves keep us from winning,">>>

Way to keep up the moral COLONEL. Colonel Jerk more like it!

[Jrabbit]

I especially am offended that he called our military "the enemy".....doddering, senile old fool.

[You Dirty Rats]

"I didn't want (the public) to think this was a Democrat position plotted from the left wing," Murtha said.

Unfortunately for him and his Party, the 'Pubs figured out a way to expose the truth on Friday.

[A message]

Ok. fair enough.

Lets go win this thing.

The way to end this as soon as possible is to be united against the terrorists. Call them what they are, terrorists.
Kill them because of what they are, terrorists, murderers, evil.

Terrorism only works against the weak willed.

We must be strong, we can not afford to Murtha.

And then we can get our men and women home in VICTORY against terrorists, murderers, evil.

[Zacs Mom]

From the LA Times article "Democrats' War Opposition Not a United Front " (of all places):

"Many Democratic political strategists and foreign policy analysts have long believed the party can benefit more from criticizing Bush's handling of the war than from specifying an alternative."

[mlc9852]

"I didn't want (the public) to think this was a Democrat position plotted from the left wing," Murtha said."


Of course we don't think that.

[Ursus arctos horribilis]

Read the entire "The Hill" article, very interesting.

http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/101805/spending.html

"But Murtha also has raised some watchdogs’ concerns because his brother Robert “Kit” Murtha runs KSA Consulting, a lobbying group that represents some 10 smaller defense companies. In 2004, Murtha’s brother was able to secure $20 million in the defense-spending bill for his clients. Kit Murtha repeatedly has denied working directly with his brother’s office"

http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/11/19/095435.php

"Republican lawmakers say that ties between Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) and his brother's lobbying firm, KSA Consulting, may warrant investigation by the House ethics committee...
According to a June 13 article in the Los Angeles Times, the fiscal 2005 defense appropriations bill included more than $20 million in funding for at least 10 companies for whom KSA lobbied. Carmen Scialabba, a longtime Murtha aide, works at KSA as well.


KSA directly lobbied Murtha's office on behalf of seven companies, and a Murtha aide told a defense contractor that it should retain KSA to represent it, according to the LA Times.

In early 2004, Murtha reportedly leaned on U.S. Navy officials to sign a contract to transfer the Hunters Point Shipyard to the city of San Francisco, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. A company called Lennar Inc. had right to the land, and Laurence Pelosi, nephew to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), was an executive with the firm at that time.

Murtha also inserted earmarks in defense bills that steered millions of dollars in federal research funds toward companies owned by children of fellow Pennsylvania Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D). .."

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/GOP_calls_for_ethics_investigation_into_1118.html

http://dailydelay.blogspot.com/2005_06_01_dailydelay_archive.html

http://corner.nationalreview.com/05_11_13_corner-archive.asp

http://www.thepoliticalchase.com/


http://blogs.aol.fr/demorpion/R-Actions

"The chairman of the Defense Appropriations subcommittee at the time, Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), had been caught in the FBI's ABSCAM sting operation in which an agent disguised as a Saudi sheik offered members of Congress large cash bribes. O'Neill put Wilson on the Ethics Committee to save Murtha, which he did."

[mlc9852]

And on the talk shows he talks about how many calls and emails of support he's received. No mention of those not supporting him, though, and from these threads I imagine there have been quite a few. Maybe he's having an affair with Pelosi!

[stuartcr]

I honestly do not believe that we can wipe terrorism from the planet. I think there will always be those that commit random acts of violence.

[appleharvey]

time to retire and go fishin'...

He was once my congressman, and he should have done that about 25 years ago!

[cartoonistx]

[Republican Wildcat]

Good stuff. Thanks.

[Ciexyz]

put a sock in it, Mr. Murtha.

[RedEyeJack]

"You can't spin this. You've got to have a real solution," Murtha said. "This is not a war of words, this is a war." "

There is a kinetic war going on that we ARE winning. Militarily the terrorist are incapable of mounting attacks even at the platoon size level. The other war, the information war, is being fought every day in the press and now in congress. That war can be lost if the Democrats and their allies can convince enough people that we are losing the Kinetic war or, at least as Murtha says that we cannot win.

The game is on and the real analogy to Vietnamese is not the tactical quagmire but rather whether or not the political opportunist in the Democratic party can, once again, undermine the will of the American people and force a withdrawal, make it the fault of Bush as they did with Nixon and have a few more years of power. I hope the American people will not be fooled this time...