Democrat Assails Rove's Remarks on Iraq ["sitting in his air-conditioned office on his big, fat...]

New York Times ^ | June 18, 2006 | RAYMOND HERNANDEZ

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Democrat Assails Rove's Remarks on Iraq By RAYMOND HERNANDEZ

WASHINGTON, June 18 — Representative John P. Murtha, the Pennsylvania Democrat and Vietnam War veteran pushing for a quick withdrawal of American troops from Iraq, today mocked Karl Rove, the president's senior adviser, for championing the war while "sitting in his air-conditioned office on his big, fat backside."

Mr. Murtha, in an appearance on the NBC News program "Meet the Press," was responding to a speech Mr. Rove delivered in New Hampshire last week attacking Democrats for what he called "that party's old pattern of cutting and running."

When Mr. Murtha was asked today for his reaction to Mr. Rove's remarks, he said: "He's making a political speech. He's sitting in his air-conditioned office on his big, fat backside saying, 'Stay the course.' That's not a plan. I mean, this guy — I don't know what is military experience is, but that's a political statement."

Mr. Murtha's comments came as the Bush administration pressed ahead with its campaign to seize the political offensive on Iraq — a campaign that included President Bush's surprise visit to Baghdad early last week.

The White House spokesman, Tony Snow, made the rounds on the Sunday morning political programs, saying that President Bush has every intention of sticking with the course he has set in Iraq, even as opinion polls suggest that most Americans are increasingly uneasy about the war.

"The president understands people's impatience — not impatience but how a war can wear on a nation," Mr. Snow said on the CNN program "Late Edition With Wolf Blitzer." "He understands that. If somebody had taken a poll in the Battle of the Bulge, I dare say people would have said, 'Wow, my goodness, what are we doing here?'

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