Is John Murtha For The Troops?

Just how bad does Rep. John Murtha want the US to fail in Iraq? According to numerous statements made by Murtha, he very much wants our troops to fail. Murtha, who is now in charge of the House Defense Appropriations Sub-Committee has recently made it clear how he will use this power. Murtha stated that by placing conditions on the $93.4 billion in new combat funds, he would be able to effectively stop the troops in their tracks. "They won't be able to continue. They won't be able to do the deployment. They won't have the equipment, they don't have the training and they won't be able to do the work. There's no question in my mind," Mr. Murtha said. "We will set benchmarks for readiness," a top Democratic leadership aide told the nonpartisan Politico.com Web site, which summarized the Democrats' strategy this way: "If enacted, these provisions would have the effect of limiting the number of troops available for the Bush surge plan, while blunting the GOP charge that Democrats are cutting funding for the troops in Iraq." By doing this Mutha is basically leaving the troops on the ground with a no win solution. Something that I know that military has no intentions of doing, but will have little choice if he gets his way.

Rep. Murtha has been against this war in Iraq since 2004, and has made every effort to cut the legs out from under our troops and the administrations war plans. His comments and remarks regarding the troops have fallen just short of treason and in the eyes of many troops in the field has become a discredit to the Marine Uniform, which he once wore. Many call Murtha a “hero”, a word that was used on a frequent basis during the John Kerry run for the White House in 2004. A phrase that was later proven to be a pure fiction, and an alteration of the real facts.

Murtha himself has come under fire on more than one occasion. His part in the Abscam, which was somewhat cleared, his convicting troops in Iraq before an investigation was completed, simply by taking what was printed in a magazine as truth; his own admission to another political friend regarding his own medals from Vietnam have been questioned. Yet Murtha has refused to produce any documentation to verify how he received them.

His cut and run tactics over the last three years have cost many troops their lives and has emboldened the enemy. Mr. Murtha has stated on several occassions that the troops went in unprepared, untrained and poorly equipped. Yet he has served on the Appropriations committee from the beginning of this conflict, and in fact voted in favor of going to Iraq. If he had been doing his job corretly, especially as a former military officer, he would have or should have been able to procure the proper training and equipment. But he, and the Democratic party have continously tried to cut the military legs out from under them.

Now Murtha, along with Pelosie and fellow cut and run democrats, will try to use his committee power to ensure that our troops fail. Murtha has asserted that "the US Army is broken, worn out and living hand to mouth". Yet, Military officers have a different outlook on our troops than Murtha. Shortly after Murtha muttered these words, Col. Joseph Curtin stated, “ The Army is not broken, every day, our soldiers are making tremendous contributions in Iraq, in Afghanistan and more than 120 countries around the world. Retention rates are at an incredibly all-time high, particularly in the active component."

Murtha has elaborated that, “80% of the Iraqis want us out of there (bogus poll numbers), and 47% say it is OK to kill Americans…” Truth of the matter is there is only about 29% that want the US to leave NOW, 80% do want the US to leave but not until they are able to stand on their own, and only 8% think that the foreign forces are the reason for the country going in the wrong direction. More of Murtha’s comments that I consider to embolden the enemy are, “We can’t win this.” “We are causing the problem.” (Congressional Record, June 15, 2006, p. H4028) “American presence in Iraq is more dangerous to the world peace than nuclear threats from N. Korea or Iran.” (June 24, 2006, South Florida Sun-Sentinel) However, Murtha stated in his own book, From Vietnam to 9/11, where Murtha advocates that the U.S. should not pull out of Iraq prematurely or create a timetable. “An untimely exit (from Iraq) could rapidly dissolve into a civil war, which would leave America’s foreign policy in disarray as countries question not only America’s judgment but its perseverance.”

I know not what Murtha thought of the quick withdraw from Vietnam, or how it affected the military and the US as a whole. But for a former military officer, especially a Marine Colonel, to stand up and presume to speak for the troops in the field is ludicrous. Many of the troops on the ground totally disagree with Murtha. In fact they feel that Murtha, regardless of his military record, should simply go away. His continual ranting does nothing short of telling our enemies we can not succeed and you might as well come on in and take over the country,

As far as Murtha being a spokesperson for the military, here a just a few comment made by some of those same soldiers he said “… could not speak for themselves…”. Iraq War Veteran Craig Minnick stated "I have called time and time again to Congressman Murtha's office and they have refused to listen to me, even though I am one of Rep. Murtha's constituents,…” SGT Mark Russak tagged in with the following comments, “I have written two letters about John Murtha (both published in several newspapers) and sent to his office in Johnstown, Pa. I even visited his office while on R&R Leave in January 06 to ask him to stop the lies about our mission but his Aid said he wasn't in. I never heard one word from him and to my knowledge neither did any one in our Task Force”. I think that this pretty much sums up his authority as a spokesperson.

If Murtha is allowed to go his way, our troops will never be able to hold their heads up. It will forever be in their minds that they could have finished the job, but were not given the chance by our politicians (a terrible ring back to the Congress during the Vietnam War). Congress was never established to manage wars. That privilege was granted to the DOD and the President.