To be added to the Murtha Watch ping list please notify myself or RedRover.
We’ve heard this same tripe from Fat Jack Murtha before, he’s not much more than a senile old man now. Every speech is scripted and it comes from the same script.
To be added to the Murtha Watch ping list please notify myself or RedRover.
and that script is printed on pink paper, too.
From today’s Wall Street Journal...
House Committee Approves
$459.6 Billion Defense Budget
By DAVID ROGERS
July 25, 2007 11:24 a.m.
WASHINGTON — The House Appropriations Committee approved a $459.6 billion defense budget even as a leading Democrat proposed new options to try to reach some understanding with the White House on the future course of U.S. policy in Iraq.
Rep. John Murtha, the bill’s manager and outspoken critic of the war, said he has drafted a floor amendment that would require the administration to begin a redeployment of American combat troops by the end of this year but would set no final deadline for an end to the U.S. occupation.
The Pennsylvania Democrat made clear that he still wants all U.S. forces to be withdrawn, but he said he senses more openness in the Pentagon to change and is taking this approach in hopes of encouraging those in the administration seeking some compromise.
As drafted the amendment would require the administration to submit within 60 days a “regional stability plan for the Middle East” including a detailed description of the projected U.S., military force presence in the region for the five year period beginning October 2008.
In the same 60-day period, which most likely terminates in December, the administration would be required to begin an “orderly redeployment” of U.S. forces in line with the stability plan. Troops who have been serving more than a year already would be given priority coming home, but no firm date is set for the withdrawal being completed.
Mr. Murtha said antiwar forces in his caucus may oppose his language as not going far enough, but that he has discussed it with Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.), who has been his strong ally. “Maybe we’ll start some movement. Get some time of agreement,” Mr. Murtha said.
The underlying bill reported from the panel yesterday covers the core Pentagon budget for the new fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. Congress must later consider in September a supplemental spending request for war operations, but Mr. Murtha’s intention is to first test support for his approach when the larger $459.6 billion measure comes to the House floor before the August recess.
Write to David Rogers at david.rogers@wsj.com