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Posted on 11/21/2005 9:22:36 AM PST by West Coast Conservative
After terrorists attacked U.S. troops in Mogadishu, Somalia 12 years ago, anti-Iraq war Democrat, Rep. John Murtha urged then-President Clinton to begin a complete pullout of U.S. troops from the region.
Clinton took the advice and ordered the withdrawal - a decision that Osama bin Laden would later credit with emboldening his terrorist fighters and encouraging him to mount further attacks against the U.S.
"Our welcome has been worn out," Rep Murtha told NBC's "Today" show in Sept. 1993, a month after 4 U.S. Military Police had been killed in Somalia by a remote-detonated land mine.
The Pennsylvania Democrat announced that President Clinton had been "listening to our suggestions. And I think you'll see him move those troops out very quickly."
Two weeks later, after 18 U.S. Rangers were killed in the battle of Mogadishu, Murtha visited U.S. forces in Somalia. Upon his return he proclaimed to the world that the Mogadishu defeat had a devastating impact on the Rangers' morale.
"They're subdued compared to normal morale of elite forces," Murtha said. "Obviously, it was a very difficult battle. A lot of Somalis were killed, but it was a brutal battle."
Murtha said the U.S. had to no choice but to pull out now, explaining, "There's no military solution. Some of them will tell you [that] to get [warlord Mohamed Farrah] Aidid is the solution. I don't agree with that."
The comments were eerily similar to Murtha's assessment of U.S involvement in Iraq last week, when he declared, "the U.S. cannot accomplish anything further militarily. It is time to bring [the troops] home."
Taking Murtha's advice back then, however, turned out to have deadly consequences for U.S. security.
In a 1998 interview with ABC's John Miller, Osama bin Laden said that America's withdrawal from Somalia had emboldened his burgeoning al Qaida force and encouraged him to plan new attacks.
"Our people realize[d] more than before that the American soldier is a paper tiger that run[s] in defeat after a few blows," the terror chief recalled. "America forgot all about the hoopla and media propaganda and left dragging their corpses and their shameful defeat."
Rush just brought this article up on his show...
He's back from vacation and on a roll!!!
Glad Rush is back and glad he brought up this article!
dumbocrat ping
So when is he going to urge a pullout from Kosovo? * Sound of crickets chirping *
Good thing this traitorous SOB wasn't around for the invasion of Europe!
"The Germans don't want us in France and we should withdraw!"
Of course the French didn't want us there either.
I wanted the troops out of Somalia,lots of folks did, but that was before 09-11-01.
Things change.
For Murtha and others like him, the preferred exit strategy is always defeat. For him, Viet Nam is the paradigm for every engagement. Had men like him been in charge during the Second World War, it would have ended with Dunkirk.
Having seen our efforts in Viet Nam come down to scenes of soldiers and refugees hanging from helicopters as they frantically escape from their enemy, having seen that abandoning the fight cost millions executed in Cambodia and Viet Nam itself, and generations living under totalitarian regimes in the years since, having seen the results of a Viet Nam mentality in Somalia, he wants to act it all out again in Baghdad.
The guy is shameful.
Exactly. I'm tired of so many people trying to insinuate that because he's a veteran, he can do no wrong. As some of us keep pointing out, Benedict Arnold served honorably before he turned traitor. Unfortunately, not all veterans are made of the same stuff as Ollie North. (Just one name of many, but this one comes to mind easily.)
I wanted the troops out of Somalia, too--once they finished cleaning the streets with the vermin who attacked us.
Murtha advised Clinton to pull out of Somalia in 1993
* bump *
we should have finished it...
So Mr. Murtha sounds like an ex-Marine who has gone dovish.
So.....he has years of experience in pulling a Murtha!
Or George McGovern.
"Bug Out" Murtha wants us to run away and discredit the sacrifice of everyone who has or is serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Just because he's a Vietnam vet doesn't mean his opinion is any better than any of the other far-left peacenik crowd. Most vets of all our wars know freedom needs to be constantly defended. A few, like Murtha & the French looking Kerry, forget that lesson.
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