An exchange with Margaret Warner on last night's "NewsHour With Jim Lehrer," though, suggests that Murtha has simply taken leave of reality:
Warner: But may I ask you, sir, if you believe--[the president] says--for whatever reason, Iraq has become the center of terrorism - that if the U.S. appears to retreat in the face of that, that it will be a blow to the American fight against radical Islamic terrorism? What do you say to that?
Murtha: Well, I say that the fight against Americans began with Abu Ghraib. It began with the invasion of Iraq. That's when terrorism started. It didn't start when there was criticism of this administration. This administration doesn't want to listen to any ideas.
So according to Murtha, "terrorism started" either in March 2003 (with the "invasion of Iraq") or in May 2004 (when the Abu Ghraib miniscandal came to light). One wonders where he was in, say, September 2001. One wonders, too, how a political party can keep a straight face while putting him forward as a spokesman on national security.
I've been watching this mess again and when he went into that letter writing spree, I damned near lost it. What a load of swill!