Posted on 01/02/2006 5:36:07 PM PST by jmc1969
Rep. John Murtha, a key Democratic voice who favors pulling U.S. troops from Iraq, said in remarks airing on Monday that he would not join the U.S. military today.
A decorated Vietnam combat veteran who retired as a colonel after 37 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, Murtha told ABC News' "Nightline" program that Iraq "absolutely" was a wrong war for President George W. Bush to have launched.
"Would you join (the military) today?," he was asked in an interview taped on Friday.
"No," replied Murtha of Pennsylvania, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives subcommittee that oversees defense spending and one of his party's leading spokesmen on military issues.
"And I think you're saying the average guy out there who's considering recruitment is justified in saying 'I don't want to serve'," the interviewer continued.
"Exactly right," said Murtha, who drew White House ire in November after becoming the first ranking Democrat to push for a pullout of U.S. forces from Iraq as soon as it could be done safely.
"Let me tell you, war is a nasty business. It sears the soul," he said, choking up. "And it made a difference. The shadow of those killings stay with you the rest of your life."
Asked for comment, a Defense Department spokesman, Lt. Col. John Skinner, said: "We have an all-volunteer military. People are free to choose whether they serve or not."
"Our freedom of speech in this country allows all of us the opportunity to voice an opinion. It's one of our great strengths as a nation," he added.
(Excerpt) Read more at alertnet.org ...
I've lost all respect for Murtha.
>>>Rep. John Murtha, a key Democratic voice who favors pulling U.S. troops from Iraq, said in remarks airing on Monday that he would not join the U.S. military today. <<<
He is a senile old man who needs to be put out of our misery.
Good the military wouldn't take him now
bttt
Me, too. When I read comments by him I think of my much older brother who was in the Korean Conflict. He said that he would go to Iraq if he were much younger. One believes in his country, the other does not.
I wonder if he knows Scott Ritter......
Don't worry congressman, today's Military has higher standards.
This guy is drunk on media attention.
Nice neutral question...NOT.
It works bothways.......I wouldn't want to serve under the likes of Murtha..!
he probably wouldn't meet the standards anyway
Murtha probably wouldn't have joined back then either if he was the person then that he is now.
If he thinks Iraq is wrong, then Vietnam must've been far worse.
Knowing Marines, my uncle was a marine in the pacific in WWII, I can say with great knowledge that this man would be rejected by the Marines today. He wouldn't have to worry about enlisting.
Yes, I'm sure it does. Never mind WHY you went to war, Murtha. It's all about you and YOUR feelings; your demons. Yep. Trash your country around the world, give the go**amned Haji's more ammo; feed propaganda to Al Quaeda and others........you just go right ahead, if it makes YOU feel better, Colonel. Yes, you pantywaisted crybaby.......forget WHY you went to war for your country and for whom; it's all about you, buddy.
I was AF, not a Marine, but I have a huge respect for the Corps. I have to believe that all Marines, current and former, would just as soon spit on this whiny sumbitch as look at him. Let the press fawn all they want; those that matter.........Marines..............must look at him with disgust.
Whatever you say, Staff Geek. You must've killed many a guy who brought you lukewarm coffee to get all emotional like that, huh?
What a loser.
Who would serve with a cut and run person like John.
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