Posted on 02/11/2010 1:23:33 AM PST by Rummyfan
We are enjoined not to speak ill of the dead, but I think an exception should be permitted for an influential legislator trying to ensure defeat for his own nation in the middle of a war. In a way, "speaking ill of the dead" is what Congressman Jack Murtha did for the last six years of his life, dishonoring the sacrifice of his countrymen in the cause of tarnishing their mission. In 2005, he was one of the first to call for immediate US withdrawal from Iraq. But he was a Vietnam veteran, so naturally the media insisted that his views warrant special deference, military experience in a war America chose to lose being the only military experience the Democrats and the press value. Hence, the demand for Bush to come up with an exit strategy. In war, there are usually only two exit strategies: victory or defeat. The latter's easier. Just say, whoa, we're the world's pre-eminent power but we can't handle an historically low level of casualties, so if you don't mind we would just as soon get off at the next stop. Murtha behaved even more disgracefully over the Haditha incident, and a mere three years ago came very close to inflicting fatal damage on the Iraq campaign. This is from a February 2007 column in The Chicago Sun-Times:
The Middle East is a crazy place and a tough nut to crack, but the myth of the unbeatable Islamist insurgent is merely a lazy and more neurotic update of the myth of the unbeatable communist guerrilla, which delusion led to so much pre-emptive surrender in the '70s.
Nevertheless, in the capital city of the most powerful nation on the planet, the political class spent last week trying to craft a bipartisan defeat strategy, and they might yet pull it off. Consider this extraordinary report from the Washington Post:
"Democratic leaders have rallied around a strategy that would fully fund the president's $100 billion request for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but would limit his ability to use the money. . . . The plan is aimed at tamping down calls from the Democrats' liberal wing for Congress to simply end funding for the war.
"The Murtha plan, based on existing military guidelines, includes a stipulation that Army troops who have already served in Iraq must be granted two years at home before an additional deployment. . . . The idea is to slowly choke off the war by stopping the deployment of troops from units that have been badly degraded by four years of combat."
So "the Murtha plan" is to deny the president the possibility of victory while making sure Democrats don't have to share the blame for the defeat. But of course he's a great American! He's a patriot! He supports the troops! He doesn't support them in the mission, but he'd like them to continue failing at it for a couple more years. As John Kerry wondered during Vietnam, how do you ask a soldier to be the last man to die for a mistake? By nominally "fully funding" a war you don't believe in but "limiting his ability to use the money." Or as the endearingly honest anti-war group MoveCongress.org put it, in an e-mail preview of an exclusive interview with the wise old Murtha:
"Chairman Murtha will describe his strategy for not only limiting the deployment of troops to Iraq but undermining other aspects of the president's foreign and national security policy."
"Undermining"? Why not? To the Slow-Bleed Democrats, it's the Republicans' war. To an increasing number of what my radio pal Hugh Hewitt calls the White-Flag Republicans, it's Bush's war. To everyone else on the planet, it's America's war. And it will be America's defeat.
Murtha ping.
I’m glad he’s dead. John Murtha, free at last.
I thought he was senile and should have retired years ago. Now he has.
I would much rather he be defeated at the ballot box. Prayers for his family.
Kennedy was a raving nutter, Murtha was insanely anti American victory ....
They go nuts, then they die of some natural ailment.
Go to church Nancy and confess your sins ..... quick.
Prayers for his family? How about prayers that the Lord will have mercy on their sorry butts for not speaking out when Daddy Dearest pulled his krap:
Chaplain and Congregation:
Oh Lord, please don’t burn us,
Don’t grill or toast your flock,
Don’t put us on the barbecue,
Or simmer us in stock,
Don’t braise or bake or boil us,
Or stir-fry us in a wok...
Oh please don’t lightly poach us,
Or baste us with hot fat,
Don’t fricassee or roast us,
Or boil us in a vat,
And please don’t stick thy servants Lord,
In a Rotissomat...
[from Monty Python’s Meaning of Life]
Will his wife take his seat????
I didn’t attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it. — Mark Twain
I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure. — Clarence Darrow
Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go. — Oscar Wilde
Murtha remembered that this was how Congress delivered victory to North Vietnam on a silver platter. We promised the South Vietnamese continued financial and materiel support when we withdrew in 1973. The Congress withheld all funding for that support so that when the North Vietnamese attacked in 1975 with multiple armored and infantry divisions supported by both air and massive artillery, the South Vietnamese Army could not defend itself.
The Democrat Party has proven itself to be a reliable supporter of the nation’s enemies for many years. If you wish to defeat America, you can count on them.
Thanks for the ping, Gene.
Well stated by Jeff Emanuel.
Gen. Petraeus was 100% right and Murtha was 100% wrong.
Murtha showed up at the Pearly gates and they were closed.
His cries to “Open up” went unheeded. Finally St Peter came up and politely told him. “sorry but you are not welcome”
Without missing beat Murtha asked “ Do you need any street work? Is your Gold paving adequate? Do you need the golden streets widened? “
St Peter politely shook his head and then said “ You must go to hell. Ask ol Devil if he needs any new furnace blower motors or sulphur stench enhancers”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.