Posted on 06/21/2006 5:19:06 PM PDT by Anti-Bubba182
On NBC's "Meet the Press" last Sunday, Rep. John Murtha repeated his call for "redeploying" U.S. troops from Iraq with something new -- and disturbing to fellow Democrats. Asked by moderator Tim Russert about sites for redeployment, Murtha replied: "We can go to Okinawa. ... We can redeploy there almost instantly."
When Russert expressed doubt about "a timely response" from Okinawa to meet a Middle East crisis, the 16-term congressman from western Pennsylvania and new national security spokesman for his party stumbled: "Well, it -- you know, they -- when I say Okinawa, I, I'm saying troops in Okinawa. When I say a timely response, you know, our fighters can fly from Okinawa very quickly. And -- and -- when they don't know we're coming."
In fact, a Pentagon spokesman says it would take "under a month" to send a 4,500-man Marine Expeditionary Force 6,000 nautical miles from Okinawa to Bahrain and then 600 more miles to Baghdad.
Murtha's Okinawa answer embarrassed Democratic House members who would not dream of criticizing publicly the former backroom pol who became an icon to the party's antiwar base last November by calling for an immediate troop withdrawal. His performance on "Meet the Press" reinforced dismay inside the party that Murtha, at age 74, has announced his candidacy for majority leader if the Democrats regain control of the House in the 2006 elections......."
(Excerpt) Read more at humaneventsonline.com ...
Murtha wants to be the House Leader in '06? Ummm, wouldn't he have to win his election to do that? I don't think he's going to win his seat back, we'll see.
What, exactly, is Murtha's Marine credentials? It seems this blabbering idiot has nothing going for him except that he was once a Marine - and i say that on purpose.
I'm talking to myself. Yes in deed we're moving more than half the Marines on Okinawa to Guam and Murtha thinks we can reverse that and "redeploy there. What a buffoon.
Dementia may have consequences.
Really sad isn't it?
Proof that he's senile. Poor man.
Reminds me of that Arkansas congressman who ran for President back in the 60's. He had been an influential member of congress, head of the House ways and means committee IIRC but he will always be remembered for making a jackass of himself running for prez. His name escapes me though.
It is sad. But what is truly frightening is that the babbling of senile dementia is indistinguishable from Democrat demagoguery in Congress.
Hehehehe. What a maroon!
...that federal prosecutors designated him an unindicted co-conspirator in the Abscam investigation 26 years ago....
Murtha got into politics in 1968 as a 36-year-old highly decorated Marine and in 1974 became the first Vietnam War veteran elected to Congress. By 1980, Murtha was a lieutenant of Speaker Thomas P. (Tip) O'Neill and was moving to the top in the House when the FBI named him as one of eight members of Congress videotaped being offered bribes by a phony Arab sheik.
The other seven congressional targets took cash and were convicted in federal court. The videotape showed Murtha declining to take cash but expressing interest in further negotiations, while bragging about his political influence. Murtha testified against the popular Rep. Frank Thompson in the Abscam case, which created lifelong enemies in the Democratic cloakroom. The House Ethics Committee exonerated Murtha of misconduct charges by a largely party-line vote, after which the committee's special counsel resigned in protest.
It is clear that the man is a greater exponent of expediency than loyalty.
Attention Murtha: No matter the score or inadvertant obstacles American sport's teams or individual competitors face mid-game, they DO NOT forfeit the game to "cut and run."
http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?sm1=UmVwbGllcyB8IFJlcG9ydCBBYnVzZSBdIFRvOiBBbnRpLUJ1YmJhMTgyIFdoYXQsIGV4YWN0bHksIGlzIE11cnRoYSdzIE1hcmluZSBjcmVkZW50aWFscz8gSXQgc2VlbXMgdGhpcyBibGFiYmVyaW5nIGlkaW90IGhhcyBub3RoaW5nIGdvaW5nIGZvciBoaW0gZXhjZXB0IHRoYXQgaGUgd2FzIG9uY2UgYSBNYXJpbmUg&fw=10&fc=0&ss=-1&es=-1&gwp=11&ver=1.1.1.377&method=1
He left Washington and Jefferson College in 1952 to join the Marines during the Korean War. There he earned the American Spirit Honor Medal. He rose through the ranks to become a drill instructor at Parris Island and was selected for Officer Candidate School at Quantico, Virginia. He then was assigned to the Second Marine Division, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
After his service, he ran a small business, Johnstown Minute Car Wash, attended the University of Pittsburgh on the GI Bill, and received a degree in economics from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Murtha married his wife Joyce on June 10, 1955. (They now have three children and live in Johnstown.)
US Marine and decorated Vietnam War veteran
Murtha remained in the Marine Corps Reserves. In 1959, then Captain Murtha took command of the 34th Special Infantry Company, Marine Corps Reserves, in Johnstown. He remained in the Reserves after his discharge from active duty until he volunteered for service in Vietnam in 1966-67, serving as a battalion staff officer (S-2 Intelligence Section), receiving the Bronze Star with Combat "V" for valor in combat, two Purple Hearts and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry. He retired from the Reserves as a colonel in 1990, receiving the Navy Distinguished Service Medal.
Okinawa does not satisfy the sentimentality of women who have bought into Bring the Boys Home. They don't realize they are professional soldiers, not draftees.
An S-2 staff officer with two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star with "V" device? I wonder how he did that?
I wonder if he gets a phone call or just a memo from the office of: HRC?
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