Posted on 02/15/2007 7:09:40 PM PST by mdittmar
WASHINGTON, March 20, 2003 -- The following are excerpts from a group interview of Congressman Murtha with several reporters regarding the Iraqi war today.
The Defense Department called last night at 9:30 and said the President would be announcing the attack at 10. They had already sent troops in.
I was there 10 or 12 days ago for three days --- Kuwait Qatar and Turkey.
The Command Center is as modern as any I’d ever seen. They know where everyone is. All of the units have GPS.
Our smart weapons are more effective and precise than in ‘91. In ’91, we had a long bombing period whereas now we'll have done as much damage in 10 or 12 hours.
We are worried about dust and the weather. This war is more complicated due to the chemical and biological threat, the city fighting and the dust. There are many more variables. We don't want to hit the stockpiles of chemicals, for instance -- we don’t know where they are. Once they surrender, the CIA believes the scientists will cooperate and tell us where the stockpiles are.
The Marines may already have crossed on the ground. Tomorrow we'll have a better feel for what's happened so far. We've dropped millions of leaflets. They've never fought back well.
Our goal this time is different than in ‘91. In ‘91 it was to get them out of Kuwait. This time it’s to dismantle Hussein’s government. It’s a different mission.
Q & A:
Q: Is there a point where troops will be there too long?
A. We need more UN cooperation. We can never get out --- I asked Rumsfeld about that -- he said we want them out ASAP, but Truman said the same thing and we still have troops in Europe. It’s not easy to get out. We need a plan with other countries participating in the rebuilding and helping to pay. Then there'll be a period when the troops will have to be there.
This operation inhibits our ability to react to another threat like North Korea or Iran. North Korea has nuclear weapons, so that would be a different ballgame.
Q: South Korea has taken precautions, they’re worried about N Korea; are you worried about spin-offs to other areas?
A. I’m Always worried about North Korea. They have a million troops on the border near Seoul. Ten years ago there was concern and we did some things to slow them down. I don't feel they're a threat right now but the fear is that they’re developing nuclear weapons to sell to other countries. We would have hard time responding to another crisis because we'll have to be in Iraq for some time.
Q. Being in Afghanistan too --- is it too much?
A: No. Afghanistan is a small operation right now. We've done a tremendous job there. There’s not many troops operating in Afghanistan.
Q: Someone said the domestic terror threat is greatly reduced.
A: I agree. There’s less chance in the short term -- the networks have no capability for a coordinated attack. But there are still sleeper cells that could erupt – the might do car bombings or something else that would be simple to do. But the probability of anyone being a victim or terrorism is about the same as getting hit by lightning. That threat is greater in New York and Washington, DC, the financial center and seat of government. We also worry about explosive charges on planes. The terror cells are hard to find.
Q: How will we pay for war?
A. The tax cuts make no sense. We need prescription drug coverage for older Americans and other important things. It’s unrealistic to think the economy will be affected by tax cuts -- we can't sustain it. We went from a $200B surplus to a $400B deficit in a year. This type of tax cuts will raise interest rates and hurt the housing market. The last tax cut did nothing to stimulate the economic recovery -- this won't either. There is no way to a quick economic recovery.
Q: What will be the cost of war?
A. The first supplemental appropriation will be for $60B or $100B... after that, it depends how long the war goes on and how long we're there. Many reservists are suffering – we have 150,000 reservists – and they don't have the same support for families as the active troops. If it’s a long deployment, it’ll be more difficult on them (reservists) and their families. Some of them may even have a job and health care loss.
Q: What is our goal in Iraq?
A. We need a change in leadership and an interim government that can work with us. The oil will be under the control of the UN.
Fascinating - Murtha had it all figured out: Too bad nobody asked him!! /sarc
Voices from the past!
Bush did this, didn't he? He had Murtha hypnotized < /Moonbat >
Why does he use John and Jack,what's that about?
I wish we only heard his voice from the past, this turkey is putting our country in peril, he's dangerous.
Hi, Justa and thanks for the ping. :-)
Other than Jack being a nickname for John, I don't know what it could be. I've known two guys over the years who's given names were John but went by Jack.
"I'm a little more nervous this time because of the threat of chemical and biological weapons and because there will possibly be fighting in the streets," Murtha said.
"To put it bluntly, it was handled badly," Murtha said of the current situation. "We should have had the allies lined up first before we pursued this. But our troops are there; it's hard to stop the momentum."
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These words were spoken the day before the interview you posted. Mr. Hawk was saying the war was handled badly the day it began!
John/Jack??? I heard he preferred Jack, therefore I only refer to him as john...or johnny boy. johnny al Murthawi, to be exact.
Yes he is!!! On both counts!
You are welcome Jaz! Good to see you! ;*)
Maybe he switched to Jack to avoid being flushed like the 2004 Johns. LOL!
Well I should have thought of that.Jack Kennedy/John Kennedy,thanks.
I'd forgotten about Kennedy. lol
Rep. John Murtha Urged Somalia Pullout in '93
After terrorists attacked U.S. troops in Mogadishu, Somalia 14 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."
Ping
I don't know how else to put it. The ex-Marine is a total *sshole.
It's not the American soldier that's the paper tiger, it's spineless politicians that are the paper tigers and murtha is the cowardly leader of them.
What a piece of excrement he is....PAPER TIGER? He's a paper pussy cat of the highest order....I'm PISSED!
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