The Heat Is On: Dem Hawk Murtha Calls for Immediate Withdrawal from Iraq
by Pamela LeaveyThe Bush administration has been up in arms over the recent calls from Senate Democrats to change the course in Iraq. Cheney went on the offensive last night with a vile attack on John Kerry and other Democratic Senators in a speech filled with lies on rush to war in Iraq — Kerry’s response to Cheney’s attack was swift.
Today, Rep. John P. Murtha of PA, a known Dem Hawk, who served 37 years in the Marine Corps, introduced “a bill today to start an “immediate redeployment” of U.S. troops out of Iraq, to be completed within six months.” Murtha “also called for the creation of a “quick-reaction force” in the region to deal with emergencies.”
“The war in Iraq is not going as advertised,” Murtha, 73, said in a Capitol Hill news conference. “It’s a flawed policy wrapped in illusion.”
Murtha, the top Democrat on the defense subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, supported U.S. involvement in the Persian Gulf war in 1991 and voted for an October 2002 joint resolution that authorized President Bush to take military action in Iraq to address a threat from weapons of mass destruction.
But he said the discovery that deposed Iraqi president Saddam Hussein possessed no stockpiles of such illegal weapons showed that “the main reason for going to war has been discredited.” And now, he said, U.S. forces in Iraq have become a magnet for terrorism.
“The American public is way ahead of the members of Congress,” Murtha said. “The United States and coalition troops have done all they can in Iraq. But it’s time for a change in direction. Our military is suffering. The future of our country is at risk. We cannot continue on the present course. It is evident that continued military action in Iraq is not in the best interest of the United States of America, the Iraqi people or the Persian Gulf region.”
BradBlog has the video here.
UPDATE: Listening to Murtha on Air America Radio a while ago, I was pleased to hear him echo some of what Kerry said last night in response to Cheney. It’s great to see more Dems coming forward, following Kerry’s lead.
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I didn’t especially like how the Washingon Post covered this referring to him as a “pro-defense Democrat.” Are you suggesting that opponents of the war are anti-defense?
Ron.
It does leave a lot of interpretations. One could be Democrats are Pro-Defense versus the Republican “the best defense is a good offense” or ‘pro-offense’ for short.
It could even plant in some not so nimble minds that Democrats are not all anti-millitary.
But maybe we should call em on it – LTEs anyone?
Ron:
I think you’re reading too much into it. I also think you may be missing the larger point. The Democrats need to start making more bold statements like this. And if you want Kerry to be the winning candidate, he needs to be the one making those statements. If not about the war, then about something else. I thought he made some real strides on Hardball, but he needs to stop qualifying his statements.
In Journalism 101, you learn to boil all the essentials down to a single, short paragraph. Anything that can’t be summed up that way runs the risk of not being news.
Rick, he’s a thoughful guy, not as sound-bite as others, but we understand your point.
I thought the Hardball interview concise and smart, forward-thinking. He didn’t want this war-at all-only inspections, but once there, we need to try ot get the adminstration to focus on changing.
When asked about Murtha on Hardball, Kerry said he thought a better way than precipitous turn. But Kerry understands his frustration, of no confidence in this adminstration, and concern for our soldiers. Great respect for Murtha.