Posted on 11/18/2005 11:31:04 AM PST by Reagan Man
House Republicans sought a showdown Friday with Democrats on a proposal by one of their most senior members to force an end to the U.S. deployment of troops in Iraq.
Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., offered the resolution demanding a pullout. The GOP-run House was expected to reject it _ and make a prominent statement about where Congress stands on Iraq _ as the chamber scurried toward a Thanksgiving break.
"We'll let the members debate it and then let them vote on it," said Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., the acting majority leader.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's office had no immediate comment.
Murtha, a well-respected Vietnam veteran who voted for the Iraq war, called for the immediate withdrawal of troops Thursday, intensifying the already red-hot debate on Capitol Hill over President Bush's war policies.
Murtha's resolution would force the president to withdrawal the nearly 160,000 troops in Iraq "at the earliest predictable date."
Most Republicans oppose Murtha's plan, and even some Democrats have been reluctant to back his position. Republicans were seeking to force Democrats to stand with the respected 30-year congressman or go on the record against his proposal.
Some members of the House and Senate, looking ahead to off-year elections next November, are publicly worrying about a quagmire there. They have been staking out new positions on the war that has grown increasingly unpopular with the American public, resulted in more than 2,000 U.S. military deaths and cost more than $200 billion.
The House move comes just days after the GOP-controlled Senate defeated a Democratic push for Bush to lay out a timetable for withdrawal. Spotlighting mushrooming questions from both parties about the war, though, the chamber then approved a statement that 2006 should be a significant year in which conditions are created for the phased withdrawal of U.S. forces.
"Our troops have become the primary target of the insurgency," Murtha, a longtime hawk on foreign and military affairs issues, said Thursday. "They are united against U.S. forces and we have become a catalyst for violence. The war in Iraq is not going as advertised. It is a flawed policy wrapped in illusion."
A day after his comments, a U.S. field commander in Iraq countered the position of the usually pro-military congressman.
"Here on the ground, our job is not done," said Col. James Brown, commander of the 56th Brigade Combat Team, when asked about Murtha's comments during a weekly briefing that American field commanders routinely give to Pentagon reporters.
Speaking from a U.S. logistics base at Balad, north of Baghdad, two days before his scheduled return to Texas, Brown said: "We have to finish the job that we began here. It's important for the security of this nation."
Republicans pounced, chastising Murtha for advocating what they called a strategy of surrender and abandonment, and Democrats defended Murtha as a patriot, even as they declined to back his view.
"I won't stand for the swift-boating of Jack Murtha," Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee in 2004, responded Friday. Also a Vietnam veteran, Kerry was dogged during the campaign by a group called the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth that challenged his war record.
"There is no sterner stuff than the backbone and courage that defines Jack Murtha's character and conscience," Kerry said.
For his part, Kerry has proposed a phased exit from Iraq, starting with the withdrawal of 20,000 troops after December elections in Iraq. A Kerry spokesman said "he has his own plan" when asked if Kerry agreed with immediate withdrawal.
As a Vietnam veteran and top Democrat on the House Appropriations defense subcommittee with close ties to many military officers, Murtha carries more credibility with his colleagues on the issue than a number of other Democrats who have opposed the war from the start.
Bush administration officials have been cautious in responding to Murtha.
"We have nothing but respect for Congressman Murtha's service to his country," White House communications director Nicolle Wallace told NBC's "Today" show Friday. "And I think he spoke from the heart yesterday. We happen to have a real serious policy disagreement with him."
Rep. Sam Johnson, R-Texas, a 29-year Air Force veteran who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam for nearly seven years, called Murtha's position unconscionable and irresponsible. "We've got to support our troops to the hilt and see this mission through," he said.
With a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts, Murtha retired from the Marine Corps reserves as a colonel in 1990 after 37 years as a Marine, only a few years longer than he's been in Congress. Elected in 1974, Murtha has become known as an authority on national security whose advice was sought out by Republican and Democratic administrations alike.
He won't bring this forward if he doesn't have the votes. He'll have the votes of all the Repubs, and 60 or so Dems.
What is he saying?
I bet 75% of the House Dems. won't even show up to vote for this one.
To me, that means he'll bring Murtha's resolution forward and demand a vote on it.
Yup, call their bluff and get them on record.
Please, with sugar on top, ping me to it!
The MSM/ Democrats insinuate the American people want out of Iraq now. Well call the vote and make the Congress Commies take a stand, make a statement and not govern by insinuation, implication or outright lies.
Time for the high noon shootout.
I;ll believe it when I see the Republicans do a floor vote on it.
I would be Democrats and perhaps a couple of Republicans would not say no, they would just not vote IMO.
I can't see more then 50 house members voting for this resolution. 75 tops.
This would be a unifying vote, bringing Republicans together and splitting the Dems.
Not to me. These guys speak in nuance, riddles, compromise and half-truths. Put it in plain English, have an up or down vote. Do you or don't you support immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq. Don't couch it in "support the troops" speak. Tom DeLay himself said you can support the troops and not the war during Clinton's presidency. Up or down, yes or no, troop withdrawal or not. Put everyone on record once and for all!
This will prove to be a wonderful Christmas present to conservatives. When someone is making a complete idiot out of themselves (before cameras no less, just step out of the way and let 'em have at it!
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's office had no immediate comment
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA .... I expect this will go the same way as that draft bill went
HEY DEMOCRATS ... AMERICANS DO NOT SURRENDER TO THE ENEMY!!
Nancy is a bit busy trying to throttle Murtha for putting them in this spot.
I PRAY this goes forth. I want everyone on record now! I'm sick of this crap.
I'm with you. Seems the Republicans always come out talking tough in front of the cameras, then they cave and never back it up. By the way, whatever happened with the leak investigation of the classified prisons? Didn't the Republicans call for an investigation, in front of cameras only to cave like a day later. These phonies need to put up or shut the hell up.
Get em on record, get em on record! I love it. Democrats will be sorry they ever put national security and defense on the front burner. That's an issue they lose every time.
Murtha is scheduled to be on MTP on Sunday for an "exclusive" interview
IMO ... This stunt was planned ahead of time and as usual the dems over reached
This is what being in power is all about, driving the agenda and the daily business of congress. I say, why stop with Iraq? Make the dems vote against/obstruct deficit reduction, closing the border, tax reform etc. etc. Make them do it early and often. PUT THEIR ARSES ON THE RECORD.
WoW this is great---calling their bluff....I wish Frist would do the same thing in the Senate this afternoon...
Hit them in both houses...the Senators should have to go on the record also.
FYI
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1513207/posts?page=1170#1170
To: All
Be sure to saunter over to the House at 6PM for debate on "the Murtha Resolution" - vote at 7PM. Tentative timing on that, but could be fun. Presser concluded on CSPAN on that topic, about 10 minutes ago.
1,170 posted on 11/18/2005 3:08:55 PM EST by Cboldt
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