Free Republic

John Murtha grudgingly admits the surge is working in an interview in Pittsburgh but misrepresents facts about the Iraqi war. What follows is what was left on the cutting room floor. (Video Included)

Jack Murtha (democrat-PA) was quick to lay blame on these Marines for the killing of these Iraqis. He should be approached at every availability and confronted about the Haditha boondoggle.

Italy's Finmeccanica to buy DRS Technologies for $5.2BBusiness Courier of Cincinnati DRS Technologies Inc., which has several Cincinnati-area operations, is being bought by Finmeccanica SpA, an Italian aerospace and defense supplier, for $5.2 billion. Finmeccanica said the deal, expected to close in the fourth quarter this year, allows the company to enter the U.S. market and enables DRS to better compete in the global military and security market. DRS (NYSE: DRS) will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary, maintaining its current management and headquarters. The company will lead Finmeccanica's defense electronics efforts in the United States and it is expected...

A shadow legal body was set up by the Defense Department to manipulate the prosecutions of U.S. Marines accused of massacring Iraqi civilians in Haditha in 2005. That’s the bombshell disclosure from the Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm that is representing one of the accused Marines, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani. And it could prove to be the most damning piece of evidence showing the political motivations behind the ongoing prosecutions of the Haditha Marines. “The hysteria and media firestorm over Abu Ghraib and the Pat Tillman investigations led to fear of a similar media reaction...

Democrats for Boeing The truth about the tanker deal. by Christian Lowe 03/24/2008, Volume 013, Issue 27 It was one of those insider deals that give the defense industry a bad name, conjuring up images of smoke-filled negotiations between the brass and corporate fat cats in plush leather chairs. By the time it was over, two fat cats were in jail, a top Pentagon official had been forced to resign, a corporate CEO had lost his job, and the reputation of an iconic company that had served American troops for decades had suffered irreparable damage. Then it turned out it...

Jack Murtha is invincible. He's survived ABSCAM [Hannity and Colmes vid] and waltzed through recklessly slandering our troops in Iraq. And he seeks to walk to his 18th term, with the help of two "Republicans." Bill Russell [campaign site] is a 44-year-old Army veteran who wanted to challenge Democrat Murtha as a Republican, but he might not be included on the Republican ballot in Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District because of two people referring to themselves as "Republicans": former Johnstown Mayor Don Zucco and Johnstown attorney Jeanne McKelvey. Those two have petitioned the Commonwealth Court to keep Russell's name off the...

WASHINGTON -- The National Defense Center for Environmental Excellence opened its doors in 1991 with a $5 million earmark from a powerful lawmaker. Operating in Johnstown, Cambria County, the privately run center has received at least $671 million worth of federal contracts and earmarks since then to research and develop pollution-abatement technology and other systems for the Defense Department. The center's researchers have examined scores of software systems and other gear, including groundwater monitoring equipment, gun cleaners and ultrasonic devices, according to its managers. They said the center had delivered nearly 500 technology products and tools to protect the environment,...

I had to look up the word "conniption." I wasn't sure how to spell it, but I'm sure that the likes of Code Pink, MoveOn, and other far left anti-war groups had a collective conniption fit last week. One of their poster boys, John Murtha, quit toeing their line. Surely what followed were the same fits of rage I've seen them have before. In September at a Washington D.C. rally as Senator Joe Lieberman began to address a group of pro-mission vets and Gold Star Families, several members of the anti-war groups charged toward the stage with seemingly unrestricted fury,...

In January 2005, Hillary Clinton's "goon squad" at Media Matters for America came after me because I pointed out on a national television broadcast that the New York Democrat was "divorced from reality"(TM) for her statements asserting that Social Security was solvent for the long term and the economy "was on the verge of collapse." In "The Question" posed to President Bush that fateful day, I also noted that Sen. Harry Reid suffered the same separation from logic and fact. On Monday, the Democratic Senate Majority Leader reconfirmed his disconnect from the world everyone else inhabits in making the statement:...

As we've discussed before, everything that happens, anywhere in the world is now being described a "a defeat for George Bush." Two such "defeats for George Bush" came to light this past week - and I'm not even counting West Virginia's loss to Pittsburgh which helped vault LSU and Ohio State into the BCS title game in January. First came the news that John Murtha (D-Pa) who has been mentor to, and ally of, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca) had changed his mind on Iraq. For years Murtha has been among the most outspoken critics of the war in Iraq. According...

While watching 300, the thought occurred to me that it could be considered a morality play – a metaphor for the War on Terror now ongoing. There was the intrepid king, Leonidas, who moved the 300 Spartan soldiers to the narrow pass to cut off the massive army of invading Persians. Leonidas, who was opposed by the liberals in the Council, could be compared to President Bush, who, like Leonidas, saw the danger and the need for action. As usual, the liberals wanted to do nothing and hope that the danger would pass. They were led by the treacherous Theron,...

Those with long memories remember that American forces were winning the Tet offensive in Vietnam while the CBS leftist commentator, Walter Cronkite, was lying to us and telling us that we were losing. This gave the Democrat-controlled Congress the impetus and the backing to throw away the honorable peace accords negotiated by the Nixon Administration, pull the rug out from under our troops and from the government of South Vietnam, and turn a phased withdrawal leaving in place some hard-won arrangements into a shameful rout. I thought I would never again see the day when history would repeat itself

This particular AP report is an interesting study in how the AP subtly backs the Democrats in their efforts to undermine the war effort and how they present the GOP as somehow lacking all support or being merely a blocking force in Congress instead of actually representing their constituent's wishes. In the AP's stylebook, Republican = bad and Democrat = good. In this case, funding for the troops is presented like an average fight over tax money and only the Demos side is discussed with no GOP views offered in the story. Let's start with the very first paragraph of...

Seeing as how Congress, led by the corruption kingpin himself, Jack Murtha, is jones'n on earmarks and other freewheeling spending with other people's money (ours); perhaps it is time for a bit of exploration as to the root causes of our congresscritters' poor behavior. After all, it is feasible that the poor congresscritters, once elected, and once presented with the aphrodisiac that is big time power and money, simply cannot help themselves. Perhaps it is a disease that has taken over, and they simply are powerless in acting in any other manner than as profligate buffoons who couldn't run a...

WASHINGTON -- Republicans returning to the House floor on Friday morning Aug. 3 after their walkout the night before were surprised to find as presiding officer the Democrat they call "King Corruption": Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, master of earmarks and backroom deals. Rep. Ed Pastor, a 64-year-old eight-term Democrat from Phoenix, Ariz., who is affable and well-liked by Republicans, had been scheduled to preside. But Speaker Nancy Pelosi, fearing parliamentary tricks by Republicans, put her muscleman Murtha in the chair. Murtha's performance as non-partisan presiding officer ran true to form. On a voice vote, Murtha ruled for Democrats when...

Murder charges against a US Marine accused of killing three Iraqi civilians during an alleged massacre in Haditha two years ago have been dropped, the military said on Thursday. A statement released by the Marines at their Camp Pendleton base in southern California revealed that three charges of unpremeditated murder against Lance Corporal Justin Sharratt had been withdrawn. The decision was announced in a written ruling from the commander Lieutenant General James Mattis and followed a recommendation from an investigator last month that the charges should be dropped. "An independent Article 32 investigating officer has considered all the facts and...

Murtha nabs $150M pork By Roxana Tiron August 03, 2007 Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), chairman of the House Appropriations defense panel, has secured the most earmarked dollars in the 2008 military spending bill, followed closely by the panel’s ranking member Rep. Bill Young (R-Fla.). Even though Young secured 52 earmarks, worth $117.2 million — and co-sponsored at least $27 million worth of others — Murtha’s 48 earmarks amount to a total of $150.5 million, according to a database compiled by the watchdog organization Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS). The House is expected to take up the $459.6 billion defense appropriations...

Haditha Marine Dad speaks to John Murtha Throughout this Haditha investigation our family has believed in the innocence of our son L/Cpl Justin Sharratt- we knew he was innocent. There are things I do not understand and I would like to find the answers. We do not seek revenge, but we would like to see justice. In a conversation with Congressman John Murtha, my questions still remain unanswered. With the help of the American people, I hope to find justice. On Wednesday morning, July 17th I spoke with Congressman John Murtha via telephone from his Washington, DC office. We had...

Congressman John Murtha, who announced our surrender in Iraq long before Senator Reid did, embarrassed even Speaker Pelosi with his off-the-wall statements smearing our military and smearing President Bush. Long before anyone had really looked into the Haditha incident, a place in Iraq where U.S. Marines were engaged in a firefight, and where various Iraqis told tales of deliberate murders carried out by our Marines, Congressman Murtha passed judgment, and said that they were guilty. It now appears that he will owe them an apology. To the rest of us, and to his constituents in Pennsylvania, he owes us his...

John Murtha: How a lifelong hawk became a dove, too Veteran Congressman still champions military even though he opposes Iraq war Sunday, June 24, 2007 By Jerome L. Sherman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette His conversion on Iraq disgusts some former comrades. "He's lost his nerve," said John Lockie, 73, who also served as a major with the 1st Marines in Vietnam and now lives near Fresno, Calif. "He's nothing more than a con man with a congressman's suit on."

Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) said Sunday that Democrats in Congress could consider impeachment as a way to pressure President Bush on his handling of the war in Iraq. “What I’m saying, there’s four ways to influence a president. And one of them’s impeachment,” Murtha, chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” Murtha has been one of the most outspoken members of Congress on the administration's handling of the war in Iraq; others who have strongly criticized Bush have stopped short of calling for impeachment. Murtha also expressed doubt that Congress and the Bush...

Seeking to boost the movement to reinstitute a military draft, Rep. John Murtha is arguing that the U.S. should have a "citizen's army" in addition to a "volunteer, professional army." However, a critic of the Pennsylvania Democrat on Monday called his statement "ridiculous" and "without merit." "I voted against the volunteer army because I felt if we ever had a war, we wouldn't be able to sustain [it]," Murtha said during the March 29 edition of CNN's "The Situation Room." "This is one of the smallest armies we've had since before World War II, right before the Korean War," added...

John "Cold-blooded" Murtha, Chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee has now submitted various proposals to shackle the president. Unrealistic readiness and training requirements. More red tape than you could possibly imagine. According to the Subcommittee's own press release, they intend to redirect more resources against the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan. That would be great if there wasn't an al Qaeda in Iraq. Additionally, Walter Reed Hospital was scheduled to close as determined previously by the B.R.A.C. It's operations were to be consolidated at other military facilities, saving money and streamlining care. Now, Murtha is trying to tinker with...

Democratic Congressman John Murtha was on Meet the Press today talking about the Democratic Party's "plan" for Iraq. One thing really stuck out to me while I was watching him (kind of) answer Tim Russert's questions: this guy is wrong a lot. He says now that he was wrong to vote for the war in the first place. He says now that he was wrong to say in his 2004 book that a precipitous withdrawal of troops based on a set timetable would be a catastrophic mistake. He even says now that he was wrong to call for an additional...

The reason why John Murtha's treasonous strategy is a non-starter, and the reason why liberals are now beginning to lose momentum on the debate over the war, is that they are --once again-- appealing to emotion instead of reason and ignoring the real central issues of the Iraq debate. The truth and consequences. It's nice that they can march, employ '60's rhetoric, and shout slogans to try and convince Congress to pass legislation resulting in the withdrawal of our forces; a prospect that is on shaky constitutional ground to begin with. But the truth of the matter is, liberals cannot...

Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) has gathered at least 202 Congress members’ signatures for a request that participants of an intelligence cell that may have identified some of the Sept. 11 ringleaders a year before the attacks be allowed to testify before Congress. Weldon has been leading the crusade for months, but his colleagues, several of them prominent members of the GOP conference, now appear to be listening. Weldon plans to send the letter to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in the coming days requesting that he allow the participants in the cell known as “Able Danger” to testify in open congressional...

Just a headline on MSNBC's site at this point

The liberal mind is infected... Diseased. The disease places the victim in a persistent vegetative state, with no cerebral centers of judgment or restraint and presents as a chronic inability to visualize the long-term consequences of one's actions. Although I am a political independent, the main reasons that I never trust a liberal, are their moral bankruptcy and licentiousness, their complete absence of logic, and their tendency to willingly contribute to their own demise, if it will bring their utopian ideals of social justice and the redistribution of American wealth to fruition. In support of that utopia, liberals twist and...

Rumored ex-Marine John Murtha, Democrat congressman from Pennsylvania, has become the darling of the cut-and-run crowd for trying to place absurd restrictions on our troops, amounting to withdrawal from Iraq. Were Arab sheiks whispering into his ear? In case you missed the video on "I Love the '80s," Rep. Murtha was caught on tape negotiating bribes with Arab sheiks during the FBI's Abscam investigation in 1980. The Abscam investigation was conducted by Jimmy Carter's Justice Department, not right-wing Republicans. On tape, Murtha told the undercover FBI agent: "When I make a f***in' deal I want to make sure that I...

hile other House Democrats were pretending that their nonbinding resolution against the Iraq troop surge was of great import, antiwar champion Rep. John Murtha spoke the truth. It is not “the real vote,� he said in a webcast for the left-wing MoveCongress.org. That comes with Murtha’s imminent attempt to hamstring President Bush’s conduct of the war that may well spark a constitutional crisis. There is a straightforward way for Congress to end a war: Cut off its entire funding. Congress has the power of the purse, the most important lever of legislative influence in the Anglo-American tradition. But House Democrats...

This is not a game. It is deadly serious business, with dire, long-term consequences far beyond the 2008 election. Democrats are throwing around words like "defeat" on the House floor. I vehemently disagreed with my president more than anyone on the conduct of this war, but nothing good can come from calling this a defeat, Henry Waxman. It's time to condemn and tear down the House that Jack built, before they encourage the terrorists enough that they again attack us here at home.

This is the House that Jack built. This is the resolution that rots the foundation of the House that Jack built. These are the traitors who voted for the resolution that rots the foundation of the House that Jack built.

By Pedro O. Vega As published today in the Johnstown Tribune DemocratThe situation in which we find ourselves in Iraq because of the war on terror defies my attempts at originality to describe. I find myself in need of laying hold of aphorisms and clichés said by the truly Great Ones, and some not-so-great. The first one that comes to mind is from Thomas Paine, an American Founding Father, written in 1776. It’s one I used in a previous column, one I keep returning too because of its sheer wisdom: “These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer...

If these men, like the Pendleton 8 before them, become sacrificial lambs, it will be Taps for the US Marine Corps, having turned it's back on that which it depends for it's existence; 16 of it's riflemen who answered their country's call and survived, only to be devoured by the very legal system they fought to protect. Facing charges of murder: Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich Sgt. Sanick P. De La Cruz Lance Cpl. Stephen B. Tatum Lance Cpl. Justin L. Sharrat Facing charges of failing to report/investigate: Lt. Col. Jeffrey R. Chessani Cpt. Lucas M. Mc Connell Cpt. Randy W....

French wartime collaborator Maurice Papon, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in deporting Jews to Nazi death camps during World War II, has died, his lawyer said Saturday. He was 96. Papon, who became budget minister after the war, was taken to a clinic east of Paris on Thursday for heart problems and was to undergo surgery involving his pacemaker. Lawyer Francis Vuillemin told LCI television that Papon "died peacefully in his sleep."

You liberal Democrats and the elected traitors you’ve put in office are no less dangerous to this country and our troops than the Muslim whackos that want us dead. We’ve been waiting for your plan to win and the only thing you can come up with is a plan for successful defeat. You cringe every time someone questions your patriotism or support of our military. Fast forward to John Murtha (what a disgrace to the uniform) who is seeking to restrain reinforcements for our military in Iraq or any future action against Iran. The only remaining allies of the terrorists...

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today released its 2006 list of Washington’s “Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians.” The list, in alphabetical order, includes: 1. Jack Abramoff, Former Lobbyist – 2. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) 3. Former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-CA) 4. Former Rep. Tom Delay (R-TX) 5. Former Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) 6. Rep. Denny Hastert (R-IL) 7. Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL) 8. Rep. William “Dollar Bill” Jefferson (D-LA) 9. Former Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) 10. Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) 6 Dishonorable Mentions: 1. Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) 2....

For a quarter of a century, Carmen Scialabba labored for Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.), helping parcel out the billions of dollars that came through the House Appropriations Committee, so when the disabled aide needed a favor, Murtha was there. In 2001, Murtha announced the creation of Scialabba's nonprofit agency for the disabled in Johnstown, Pa. The next year, with Scialabba still on his staff, Murtha secured a half-million dollars for the group, the Pennsylvania Association for Individuals With Disabilities (PAID), and put another $150,000 in the pipeline for 2003, according to appropriations committee records and former committee aides. Since...

RUSH: Can you believe this circus? All of this stuff about Murtha, all of it is being brought out after the election. None of this, of course, none of this scandal is worthy enough to keep him out of the House. But, boy, when you talk about putting him in the leadership, the liberal Drive-By Media and this CREW group and a number of others are going to town on Jack Murtha here today. Ladies and gentlemen, I've been thinking about this, and I actually think that we want Murtha in there. We want the Democrats to be who they...

Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) told a group of Democratic moderates on Tuesday that an ethics and lobbying reform bill being pushed by party leaders was "total crap," but said that he would work to enact the legislation because Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) supports it. Murtha and Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) are locked in a battle for the House Majority Leader post, and both men made presentations for to the Blue Dog Coalition on Tuesday in a bid for their votes. "Even though I think it's total crap, I'll vote for it and pass it because that's what Nancy wants," Murtha...

Heres even more fuel for America's "new direction" of "cut and run". ?Your strong voice for national security, the war on terror and Iraq provides genuine leadership for our party, and I count on you to continue to lead on these vital issues,? Pelosi wrote Murtha Sunday in a letter obtained by The Hill. ?For this and for all you have done for Democrats in the past and especially this last year, I am pleased to support your candidacy for majority leader for the 110th Congress.?? ?Nancy told me some time ago that she would personally support Jack. I respect...

A triumphant Rep. John Murtha describes what will happen if he’s elected Majority Leader, to a sympathetic interviewer at NPR: Murtha to Run for Majority Leader in New Congress. (Hat tip: John.) Regarding Iraq: Winning is not a strategy, victory is not a strategy. What the Dems will do: We’re gonna say, here’s a plan that we have, and Speaker Pelosi has signed on to the plan I have, stability in the Middle East, stability in Iraq comes from redeployment of our troops, and that’s gonna be what we’ll work for. On the Presidency: Listen, this is not a dictatorship....

On January 8th of 2003, Congressman Charles Rangel [D-NY] began an extensive campaign to bring back the military draft. He repeatedly submitted legislative bills to begin a military draft and compel all American men and women up to the age of forty-two to serve two years of military service. Under the Republican-controlled Congress, such bills went down to defeat.One of the few notable supporters of the draft was Congressman John Murtha [D-PA]. Congressman Murtha reportedly is preparing to campaign to take over the highly influential position of House Majority Leader. Congressman Rangel is set to take over the House Ways...

If you are a terrorist, you should definitely vote the straight Democratic ticket in the upcoming election. Now, I know that is not politically correct to say, but it does happen to be true virtually beyond contradiction. Just consider the overarching issue of this election and of our times - the war against Islamic/fascist/Nazi/terrorism. There is little doubt that the Democratic Party would not fight a robust, aggressive, successful war against the threat to our country and civilization. Some Democratic leaders, such as John Murtha, have made it clear that they want to cut and run right out of Iraq....

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. The 20 Most Corrupt Members of Congress (and Five to Watch) (Available online here.) John Murtha is a seventeenth-term member of Congress, representing the 12th district of Pennsylvania. His ethics issues stem from abuse of his position as Ranking Member of Defense Appropriations Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee to benefit clients of his brother, Robert "Kit" Murtha, a registered lobbyist....

Please take a few minutes to read and listen to what these two men have to say: I want what I have to say today to cause some of the good citizens of the 12th Congressional District of Pennsylvania to vote for a lasting peace and freedom's preservation which can only come from victory and [the] decimation of our enemies. -- David Beamer, Boot Murtha rally, Johnstown, PA, 10/01/2006 CLICK ON THE IMAGE AND START BUTTON TO HEAR HIS SPEECH ...Journalists sheepishly toe the party line defined by the editorials and coverage in publications such as The New York Times,...

The publication of Hubris is filled with irony for David Corn, Washington editor of the left-wing Nation magazine. He was present at the creation of the Valerie Plame "scandal," which the enemies of George W. Bush hoped could bring down a president. Nobody was more responsible for bloating this episode. Yet Corn is coauthor of a book that has had the effect of killing the story. Thanks to Corn's intrepid coauthor, Newsweek investigative reporter Michael Isikoff, Hubris definitively revealed then-Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage as my source that Joseph Wilson's wife, Valerie, worked for the CIA and suggested her...

SEAN HANNITY, CO-HOST: It was one of the biggest congressional scandals in our country's history. It was called Abscam. Undercover FBI agents posed as Middle Eastern businessman and attempted to bribe members of the U.S. Congress in return for political favors for a fictional Arab sheik. Now, 31 officials were targeted and when the dust cleared, one senator and five members of the House were convicted on bribery and conspiracy charges. But one man who was caught on tape with the undercover agents was never indicted. His name: Congressman John Murtha of Pennsylvania. Now, after 26 years, the tape of...

       MAJORITY LEADER MURTHA? Dem Leader John Murtha Would Have American Troops Leave Iraq Now And Embolden Terrorists To Attack Again ______________________________________________    Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) Continues His Call To Halt War On Terror, Despite Generals Who Have Criticized Murtha's Plan:  Rep. John Murtha: "I don't remember what [Gen. John Abizaird] was doing beforehand but all the military commanders know that we have become the enemy." (ABC's "This Week," 10/1/06)  ABC's George Stephanopoulos: "Even Generals on your side, General John Batiste, no one has been more critical of Secretary Rumsfeld than General John Batiste ... [H]e disagrees with...