Hawkish Democrat Calls for Iraq Pullout
Murtha: ‘We cannot prevail in this war’
They want us to retreat. They want us to wave the white flag of surrender to the terrorists of the world.
- House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL)
There comes a time when good men must stand up and speak their minds. That their act of unburdening their conscience may bring down the wrath of those not noted for breaking party ranks makes this an even more courageous and morally superior act.
This is why I admire Rep. John Murtha, whom no one could EVER reasonably accuse of being a bleeding heart Liberal, and his singular act of courage in standing up and calling the war in Iraq exactly what it is: a colossal clusterf—k. Of course, Murtha didn’t exactly use those words, but then I’m not encumbered with the burden of having to be something resembling diplomatic.
Murtha, a former Marine intelligence officer in Vietnam, has credibility regarding things military that Our Glorious Leader and the Vice Torturer couldn’t begin to approach, so when someone like Murtha speaks out, we would all do well to listen. How many young Americans would still be walking this Earth if the warmongers in the Bush Administration had listened to voices like Murtha’s?
And what does Murtha get for speaking his mind? How about treated as if he is advocating mandatory gay marriage? How about having to listening to GOP apologists spinning furiously in an attempt to associate him with (GASP!!) Michael Moore? Even Vice Torturer Dick Cheney, he of the five deferments whose only combat experience was a few Wyoming snowball fights, has weighed in, and Murtha, to his credit is not about to take it lying down:
Vice President Dick Cheney jumped into the fray Wednesday by assailing Democrats who contend the Bush administration manipulated intelligence on Iraq, calling their criticism “one of the most dishonest and reprehensible charges ever aired in this city.”
Murtha, a Marine intelligence officer in Vietnam, angrily shot back at Cheney: “I like guys who’ve never been there that criticize us who’ve been there. I like that. I like guys who got five deferments and never been there and send people to war, and then don’t like to hear suggestions about what needs to be done.”
Referring to Bush, Murtha added: “I resent the fact, on Veterans Day, he criticized Democrats for criticizing them.”
The top Democrat on the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, Murtha has earned bipartisan respect for his grasp of military issues over three decades in Congress. He planned to introduce a resolution Thursday that, if passed by both the House and the Senate, would force the president to withdraw U.S. troops.
Americans should be standing and applauding John Murtha. Finally, an elected politician with the balls to stand up and speak the truth to power. If anything is to going to turn around the colossal, murderous failure that is the war in Iraq, it’s going to be people of conviction in positions of political power standing up to the Republican propaganda machine. This is not about giving in to terrorism. Despite Republican propaganda efforts to the contrary, Iraq has never been about terrorism…unless you count the insurgency we created out of whole cloth. This war has been about many things- oil, imperialism, conquest, political empire-building- but one thing it is not and never has been about is terrorism. This war needs to end, and it needs to end now, before any more young American lives are sacrificed as fodder for IEDs.
Would that Congress harbored more courageous souls like John Murtha. Were that the case, many more young Americans would be preparing to celebrate the holidays with their loved ones instead of being six feet under ground. Yes, these folks are heroes, but their sacrifice has been pointless and without any reasonable explanation or defense. WAKE UP AND SMELL THE CAT LITTER, America…it’s time for this madness to end.
WE DESERVE BETTER.
