These once proud Americans get the later in life, Barry Goldwater disease.
Posted on 11/17/2005 9:12:40 AM PST by Reagan Man
An influential House Democrat who voted for the Iraq war called Thursday for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, another sign of growing unease in Congress about the conflict.
"This is the immediate redeployment of American forces because they have become the target," said Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., one of Congress' most hawkish Democrats. At times during his remarks to reporters, the decorated Vietnam War veteran was choking back tears.
"It is 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 interests of the United States of America, the Iraqi people or the Persian Gulf region," Murtha said.
Murtha, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, has earned bipartisan respect for his grasp of military issues over three decades in Congress.
He said announcing a U.S. withdrawal would provide the Iraqi government with an added incentive to have their own security forces take control of the conflict.
Murtha is a close adviser to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D- Calif. For months, Pelosi has pushed for the Bush administration to outline an exit strategy, although she has stopped short of calling for an immediate troop pullout.
Some Senate Democrats have called for immediate or phased withdrawal.
Murtha's comments came just two days after the Senate voted to approve a statement that 2006 "should be a period of significant transition to full Iraqi sovereignty" to create the conditions for the phased withdrawal of U.S. forces.
Murtha voted to give the president authority to use force against Saddam Hussein in 2002. In recent months, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee defense panel has grown increasingly troubled with the direction of the war and with the Bush administration's handling of it, particularly following reports of secret CIA prisons in Eastern Europe.
"The war in Iraq is not going as advertised. It is a flawed policy wrapped in illusion," Murtha said.
Looks like Murtha has let his partisanship overcome his patriotism. But he's not the first Vietnam vet to against our nation and our troops in the field.
Says it all.
Pelosi made him an offer he couldn't refuse.
Murtha joins the defeat brigade. May his name be held in contempt forever for dealing a defeat to his country.
These once proud Americans get the later in life, Barry Goldwater disease.
Uh oh....someone has his FBI file.....
The sky is falling! The war is failing! The administration is imcompetent! Pelosi stomped on my toe!...........
Like Cheney said last night. Some Democrats have lost their memory and their backbone. This is clearly a cut and run mentality that will only embolden the terrorists.
..eeeeyep!!,/p>
Doogle
Pull Out?!??
Doesn't sound manly to me!
This man, Mr. Murtha, is a coward and a defeatist. It figures he is a Democrat.
Putz.
We WANT our military to be the target, to flush out and kill the enemy.
Otherwise, we'll be picking our dead civilian bodies out of the rubble -- on September 11, 2001 over 72 police officers were killed. More than our military has lost in any single day fighting the terrorists in Iraq.
We are winning the war on terror. But every day we fight is another day we will lose a few more men.
Murtha says our country can't afford or stomach having 7 dead marines in a day in the war on terror. He is wrong, he underestimates the american people, the resolve of our military, and the clear lesson of history.
If we pull out because of 2000 deaths in 2 years, you can be sure there will be thousands more dead wherever else our troops are found.
Murtha's crying fake tears, he has been co-opted by the radical left which now owns his party.
This guy can cry all he wants, keep his damn hands off my country's foreign policy.
I wish General Patton had been there to smack the Congressman across his sniveling jowl.
That speaks volumes doesn't it? Their biggest "hawk" wants to abandon our ally and pull out to turn the Mideast over to terrorists in the middle of a war that frankly isn't experiencing a high rate of casualties.
BTW, secret CIA prisons are not directly related to the war in Iraq, and have nothing to do with our troops being there or not.
Unless Murtha is going to say that we should also stop rounding up terrorists and imprisoning them.
Maybe we should give them "work" visas for them to come over here and do "their work" of annialating us.
Hey, we are winning. By pushing back the lies of the democrats, we have forced their hand. Now we have to be more resolute than the anti-war, anti-american left who wants nothing more than to lose the war and gain power.
When Cindy shows up in Texas, we need 50 people in FRONT of her with pro-USA signs. No more free publicity for the enemies of our country, for those who want to abandon our allies like they did in Vietnam.
And a cut and run pullout would be? What a frickin idiot. Hang in there a little longer terrorists. The US congressional politicians will hand you the victory.
YOU TELL 'EM TO PULLOUT, MURTHA.
NOW!
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