Posted on 03/05/2006 9:15:53 PM PST by pcottraux
Sun Mar 5, 12:58 PM ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. presence in
Iraq is hurting the worldwide war on terrorism and benefits only
Iran and al Qaeda, U.S. Rep. John Murtha (news, bio, voting record) said on Sunday
"The only people who want us in Iraq are Iran and al-Qaeda," Murtha said on CBS's "Face the Nation" political talk show. "And I talked to a top-level commander the other day and he said China wants us there also. Why? Because we're depleting our resources ... our troop resources and our fiscal resources.
"... The war on terrorism is worldwide. In Iraq, it's a civil war," said Murtha, a Pennsylvania Democrat.
Murtha, who in November called for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, said it was useless for the United States to advise Iraqis.
"One of the problems I see and frustrating things is our ambassador keeps giving advice to the Iraqis," Murtha said. "Every time we give the Iraqis advice, they vote for someone else ... The Iraqis don't pay attention to our advice."
The U.S. role in fighting terrorism around the world is being subverted by Iraq, said Murtha, who characterized the sectarian strife between Iraq's Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims as a civil war that must be settled internally. Murtha, a decorated Vietnam veteran who retired from the Marines Corps Reserve as a colonel in 1990, said Iraq would do a better job of rooting out terrorists once U.S. troops leave the country.
"I'm convinced they know where they are, they know who they are," he said. "But they won't tell us because they've turned against us. We've lost the hearts and minds of the people." The
United Nations is scrutinizing Iran because of its nuclear research but Murtha said Tehran has become emboldened because of the U.S. focus in Iraq.
"We have a situation where our military is in such bad shape, it couldn't deploy to a second front," Murtha said. "And the Iranians know this.
North Korea knows it. China knows it. We're depleting our resources in Iraq."
Marine Gen. Peter Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday and said the war in Iraq was going "very, very well" but Murtha was skeptical.
"Why would I believe him?" he said. "This administration, including the president, has mischaracterized this war for the last two years ... So why would I believe the chairman of the Joint Chiefs when he says things are going well?"
LOL!
We are in Iraq to bring forth all the islamic terrorists from all the world to kill them there, and it is working according to plan. It is as simple as that.
Al-Qaida Also Benefits from Johnny "Cut and Run" Murtha Being in Congress.
You beat me to it. Murtha IS senile and he's an idiot too. He's entitled to his opinion, but he should keep it to himself. He's giving aid and comfort to the enemy, worldwide Islamofascism and the leftist traitors right here in America.
I'm sorry folks, this guy seems to be going for Jane Fonda status.
Did Murtha just imply that we should ignore one active enemy that has attacked us, in order to save our strength for two other enemies that have yet to attack us?
Our military activity in Iraq and Afghanistan probably delayed any future belligerence by either China or North Korea because it showed them that we had a serious President in power who was willing to defend U.S. interests abroad with military might.
Iraq, supposedly, had one of the largest armies in the world, and it collapsed before our forces like a house of cards. And it wasn't the "majority" of our total force that we can field if we have to.
China must've done a severe reassessment of our military capabilities after 2003, and we're still ramping up.
I wonder if Al-Qaida has any AAA sites Murthas fat ass can sit on for publicity sake....What a sad sorry fat man he is. Reminds me of Ted Kennedy.
well we sure are giving a lot of al Qaeda types the chance
to get 72 virgins on the "accelerated payment" plan
It's time for the Iraqi people to stand up and call this man what he is: A lying racist stooge of Al-Qada.
LOL! You got that right. More like insane than just senile. Nice to get a good laugh though hehe. He is sad that there will be no civil war in Iraq.
He reminds me of the old Grandpa who gets up at the family dinner gathering and goes off on some kind of crazy rant that makes no sense and angrily storms out of the room. Then, when he's gone, the family members look at each other shaking their heads and saying, "What are we gonna' do about Grandpa?"
Exactly
Yeah, there's some real disappointment on the left because we came SOOO close it seemed. But alas, the civil didn't happen and America will prevail. Poor liberals.
Maybe that's why Murtha is coming out and saying this; to convince everyone the the civil war is on.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.