Murtha's Op/Ed
He wants to cut and run.
Underlying his piece seems to be a bewildering assumption -- that, somehow, the Iraqi people are dragging their feet in learning how to defend their own country, and that withdrawing troops will somehow "motivate" them to get out front.
What tragic stupidity. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand that if Americans withdraw, the populace will have to arm itself, and there will be the civil war that Al Zarqawi has been trying to precipitate all along. In the midst of the chaos, Iraq will become a terrorist haven.
Does Murtha not understand this -- or does he simply not care?
Underlying his piece seems to be a bewildering assumption -- that, somehow, the Iraqi people are dragging their feet in learning how to defend their own country, and that withdrawing troops will somehow "motivate" them to get out front.
What tragic stupidity. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand that if Americans withdraw, the populace will have to arm itself, and there will be the civil war that Al Zarqawi has been trying to precipitate all along. In the midst of the chaos, Iraq will become a terrorist haven.
Does Murtha not understand this -- or does he simply not care?
posted by LadybugUSA at 8:24 AM
13 Comments:
Sometimes someone will tell me I should do this or that. I say, Okay, I'll do it. Now, if it goes wrong, blows up, stinks up the place, can I call you? Uhmmm, well, gee, maybe I was a little hasty.
"Vice President Dick Cheney charged Monday that some Senate Democrats were "dishonest and reprehensible" -AP
As opposed to the Vice President who is Honest and Admirable...
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
What a loser.
Sen. Murtha's suggestions are tragic stupidity?
Hmm. I thought it was tragic stupidity that got us into this situation. Hey General Liebau, why don't you stop bashing people with better credentials and a lot more military experience. You and Jane Schmidt, the Mop Brigade, are starting to look ridiculous.
Like YOU have any credence or credentials to comment on ANYTHING you stupid woman.
Don't you have a bathroom to clean and dinner to make, girl?
From Ralph Peters, NY Post:
QUIT. It's that simple. There are plenty of more complex ways to lose a war, but none as reliable as just giving up.
Increasingly, quitting looks like the new American Way of War. No matter how great your team, you can't win the game if you walk off the field at half-time. That's precisely what the Democratic Party wants America to do in Iraq. Forget the fact that we've made remarkable progress under daunting conditions: The Dems are looking to throw the game just to embarrass the Bush administration.
Forget about the consequences. Disregard the immediate encouragement to the terrorists and insurgents to keep killing every American soldier they can. Ignore what would happen in Iraq — and the region — if we bail out. And don't mention how a U.S. surrender would turn al Qaeda into an Islamic superpower, the champ who knocked out Uncle Sam in the third round.
Forget about our dead soldiers, whose sacrifice is nothing but a political club for Democrats to wave in front of the media. After all, one way to create the kind of disaffection in the ranks that the Dems' leaders yearn to see is to tell our troops on the battlefield that they're risking their lives for nothing, we're throwing the game.
Forget that our combat veterans are re-enlisting at remarkable rates — knowing they'll have to leave their families and go back to war again. Ignore the progress on the ground, the squeezing of the insurgency's last strongholds into the badlands on the Syrian border. Blow off the successive Iraqi elections and the astonishing cooperation we've seen between age-old enemies as they struggle to form a decent government.
Just set a time-table for our troops to come home and show the world that America is an unreliable ally with no stomach for a fight, no matter the stakes involved. Tell the world that deserting the South Vietnamese and fleeing from Somalia weren't anomalies — that's what Americans do.
While we're at it, let's just print up recruiting posters for the terrorists, informing the youth of the Middle East that Americans are cowards who can be attacked with impunity.
Whatever you do, don't talk about any possible consequences. Focus on the moment — and the next round of U.S. elections. Just make political points. After all, those dead American soldiers and Marines don't matter — they didn't go to Ivy League schools. (Besides, most would've voted Republican had they lived.)
America's security? Hah! As long as the upcoming elections show Democratic gains, let the terrorist threat explode. So what if hundreds of thousands of Middle Easterners might die in a regional war? So what if violent fundamentalism gets a shot of steroids? So what if we make Abu Musab al-Zarqawi the most successful Arab of the past 500 years?
For God's sake, don't talk about democracy in the Middle East. After all, democracy wasn't much fun for the Dems in 2000 or 2004. Why support it overseas, when it's been so disappointing at home?
Human rights? Oh, dear. Human rights are for rich white people who live in Malibu. Unless you can use the issue to whack Republicans. Otherwise, brown, black or yellow people can die by the millions. Dean, Reid & Pelosi, LLC, won't say, "Boo!"
You've got to understand, my fellow citizens: None of this matters. And you don't matter, either. All that matters is scoring political points. Let the world burn. Let the massacres run on. Let the terrorists acquire WMD. Just give the Bush administration a big black eye and we'll call that a win.
*
The irresponsibility of the Democrats on Capitol Hill is breathtaking. (How can an honorable man such as Joe Lieberman stay in that party?) Not one of the critics of our efforts in Iraq — not one — has described his or her vision for Iraq and the Middle East in the wake of a troop withdrawal. Not one has offered any analysis of what the terrorists would gain and what they might do. Not one has shown respect for our war dead by arguing that we must put aside our partisan differences and win.
There's plenty I don't like about the Bush administration. Its domestic policies disgust me, and the Bushies got plenty wrong in Iraq. But at least they'll fight. The Dems are ready to betray our troops, our allies and our country's future security for a few House seats.
Surrender is never a winning strategy.
Yes, we've been told lies about Iraq — by Dems and their media groupies. About conditions on the ground. About our troops. About what's at stake. About the consequences of running away from the great struggle of our time. About the continuing threat from terrorism. And about the consequences for you and your family.
What do the Democrats fear? An American success in Iraq. They need us to fail, and they're going to make us fail, no matter the cost. They need to declare defeat before the 2006 mid-term elections and ensure a real debacle before 2008 — a bloody mess they'll blame on Bush, even though they made it themselves.
We won't even talk about the effect quitting while we're winning in Iraq might have on the go-to-war calculations of other powers that might want to challenge us in the future. Let's just be good Democrats and prove that Osama bin Laden was right all along: Americans have no stomach for a fight.
As for the 2,000-plus dead American troops about whom the lefties are so awfully concerned? As soon as we abandon Iraq, they'll forget about our casualties quicker than an amnesiac forgets how much small-change he had in his pocket.
If we run away from our enemies overseas, our enemies will make their way to us. Quit Iraq, and far more than 2,000 Americans are going to die.
And they won't all be conservatives.
Ralph Peters is a retired Army officer.
Republicans Calling a Decorated War Hero a Coward Devalue the Heroism of our Soldiers Currently Serving in Iraq
Even in the Orwellian world of American politics the events of recent weeks have been surreal. But despite all the arguing going on among our political leaders one thing has been constant and that is the overwhelming support among Americans for our troops in the field. Regardless of ones political affiliation or view on the conduct of the operation in Iraq, it is clear that all Americans support the troops, and all grieve equally when they are injured or die. Suggesting that only one side of the political spectrum is concerned about the well being of our troops is small-minded idiocy; clearly those who say or believe such a thing are profoundly morally handicapped.
It is clear to anybody who is paying the least bit of attention that the war in Iraq is not going well. Thus far 2094 American soldiers have died and more than 15,000 have been left permanently disabled. The war has thus far cost the average American family over $3000 and costs each family an additional $100 per week. The sole measure of success on the part of the wars supporters is that if we left now the country of Iraq would implode. Americans have rightly come to question whether this is an appropriate measure of success for a war that has cost us all so dearly.
But as the Bush Administration grows increasingly desperate they have come to adopt a strategy of questioning the patriotism of those with whom they disagree. It should be noted that 63% of Americans believe that the war is not going well, and that 57% of Americans believe that the Bush Administration misused pre-war intelligence to justify their preconceived plans of going to war. But Bush and Cheney are undeterred, grimly describing those who don’t agree with their policies as “deeply irresponsible, reprehensible and dishonest.”
Recently the Bush war marketing campaign has taken a further turn, suggesting that those who question the Administration conduct of the war undermine our soldiers in the field, that those who disagree with Bush don’t support the soldiers. Only19% of Americans support Cheney, 34% support Bush and only 40% of Americans still believe that Bush is honest. Those numbers seem to be sinking by the day as Americans are increasingly disgusted and appalled by an Administration and a Republican Congress that judges whether citizens support their own soldiers on the basis of who agrees or disagrees with the Administration war policy.
There is no doubt that we ask a great deal of our soldiers in the field, this has been the case throughout the history of our country. We have seen so many times that ordinary men are asked to perform extraordinary duties; those that go above and beyond are considered heroes and recognized by their country for their valor. Just over a week ago our country paused to reflect and remember, and to honor those who served our country in war. Veterans proudly displayed their medals, tokens of appreciation from a grateful country for their acts of bravery. Today in Iraq we have men and women performing those same duties on our behalf; some will be similarly honored.
But what message does it send to our soldiers in the field in Iraq, soldiers whom we are asking to perform extraordinary acts of bravery on our behalf, when their Commander in Chief who sent others to do his war service questions the bravery and patriotism of a soldier who earned 2 purple hearts in battle? When the Vice President (himself a recipient of 5 deferments) suggests that a much-decorated veteran who happens to disagree with him “lacks backbone?” When a Republican member of Congress suggests that that same decorated war veteran is a coward? Does it devalue the service of our soldiers in the field when they see that the Administration can so easily dismiss a war hero as a coward simply because he disagrees with them? Why should they be as committed to duty, honor and bravery as John Murtha was when they see that the Administration would piss on Murtha and his medals for their political purposes? Would the Administration do the same to them?
Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, just when you thought you had seen the worst of American politics, we’re treated to the spectacle of cowards like Cheney calling heroes like Murtha a coward. Orwell lives, but the last shred of decency on the part of the Bush Administration has long since passed. The Bushtanic is sinking, but as it was when Nixon went down the mood is not celebratory, it’s far more like mourning; mourning for our country, for all of us…for we brought it upon ourselves when we elected the incompetent bastard and his band of sissy-hawk warriors.
What phil said Cheney said about Murtha:
“ . . . . we’re treated to the spectacle of cowards like Cheney calling heroes like Murtha a coward. Orwell lives, but the last shred of decency on the part of the Bush Administration has long since passed . . . “
What Cheney actually said about Murtha:
“Recently my friend and former colleague Jack Murtha called for a complete withdrawal of American forces now serving in Iraq, with a drawdown to begin at once. I disagree with Jack and believe his proposal would not serve the best interests of this nation. But he's a good man, a Marine, a patriot -- and he's taking a clear stand in an entirely legitimate discussion.”
VP Cheney, Remarks to the American Enterprise Institute, Nov 21, 2005.
Of course Cheney's all back-slappy, and polite. He's more like the Godfather. He has his henchmen like Carol Liebau and Jean Schmidt do the actual 'hit' on Murtha and others whom he decides to put political price on their head.
It's politics, mob-style.
What's your evidence that Cheney is personnally directing Liebau and Schmidt to criticize Murtha, as opposed to Liebau and Schmidt simply expressing their personal individual opinions?
I was being slightly tongue-in-cheek anonymous. But why don't you come back and play when you're a little older...
Uh huh, sure.
And why don't you and phil ensure that you don't come back until you have substantive comments to make, rather than slinging mud via unsupported and unsubstantiated allegations?
One thing you must keep in mind, "Decorated War Veteran (Hero)" does not equal "Brilliant Military Strategist". The man voted to send our troops to Iraq. Now he is alarmed that the other guys are shooting at them! If this is such a surprise, sir, you need to consider scheduling your retirement party. There is a target drawn over all America and all her people by this enemy. No surprise at all to a realist. Only the "alternate reality" crowd can claim this kind of reality crisis at this point in time. Murtha has a history of cutting and running. To his great credit, he cares deeply about the welfare of all our troops and desires to see all come back whole. But in his passion, he cannot see the danger of the short-sighted position in which our trained military volunteers are unable to do the job that needs to be done and can be done by no one but them.
Marine Mom, very well said.
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