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aeroplane
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 Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2005 11:20 pm Post subject: Hawkish Democrat calls for Iraq withdrawal |
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Hawkish Democrat calls for Iraq withdrawal
Reversing view, war veteran says U.S. needs immediate change of course
Updated: 4:39 p.m. ET Nov. 17, 2005
WASHINGTON - An influential House Democrat who voted for the Iraq war called Thursday for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, another sign of growing unease in Congress about the conflict.
“It is time for a change in direction,” said Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., one of Congress’ most hawkish Democrats. “Our military is suffering; the future of our country is at risk. We cannot continue on the present course. It is evident that continued military action in Iraq is not in the best interests of the United States of America, the Iraqi people or the Persian Gulf region.”
Murtha estimated that all U.S. troops could be pulled out within six months. A decorated Vietnam veteran, he choked back tears during his remarks to reporters.
Murtha’s comments came just two days after the Senate voted to approve a statement that 2006 “should be a period of significant transition to full Iraqi sovereignty” to create the conditions for the phased withdrawal of U.S. forces.
In recent days, President Bush and other top administration officials have lashed out at critics of the war and have accused Democrats of advocating a “cut and run” strategy that will only embolden the insurgency.
White House spars with critics
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.”
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.
Murtha could not say whether his caucus supports his position. And, although he is a close adviser to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., she was absent from his news conference.
Later Thursday, Pelosi said she supported his position that the president’s policy is not working and must be changed but she stopped short of endorsing his call for immediate withdrawal. “Mr. Murtha speaks for himself very eloquently and the district he represents,” Pelosi said.
For months, Pelosi has pushed for the Bush administration to outline an exit strategy. Some Senate Democrats have laid out plans for a phased withdrawal, and a number of House Democrats have been demanding that the troops be brought home. But few House members have the level of credibility on military issues that Murtha does.
‘Not going as advertised’
Murtha voted to give the president authority to use force against Saddam Hussein in 2002 but in recent months has grown increasingly troubled with the direction of the war and with the Bush administration’s handling of it.
“The war in Iraq is not going as advertised. It is a flawed policy wrapped in illusion,” Murtha said.
Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, said Murtha’s call for withdrawal was “reprehensible and irresponsible.”
“It shows the Democratic Party has chosen a policy of retreat and defeatism which will only encourage the terrorists and threaten the stability of Iraq,” Granger said.
First elected to Congress in 1974, Murtha is known as an ally of uniformed officers in the Pentagon and on the battlefield. The perception on Capitol Hill is that when the congressman makes a statement on military issues, he’s talking for those in uniform.
Known to shun publicity, Murtha said he was standing up because he had a constitutional and moral obligation to speak for the troops.
His voice cracked and tears filled his eyes as he related several stories of visiting wounded troops, including one who was blinded and lost both his hands but had been denied a Purple Heart because friendly fire caused his injuries.
“I met with the commandant. I said, ‘If you don’t give him a Purple Heart, I’ll give him one of mine.’ And they gave him a Purple Heart,” said Murtha, who has two.
© 2005 The Associated Press.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10084428/ |
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Mystic Power
admin THC-Ministry YahooGroup
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| Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2005 11:50 pm Post subject: |
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I love this part:
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| Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, said Murtha’s call for withdrawal was “reprehensible and irresponsible.” |
"reprehensible and irresponsible."
The NeoCons are loosin' it. Big time. God! It's fun to watch!
Ben
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aeroplane
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Location: Valhalla
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| Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2005 3:33 pm Post subject: |
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Freshman Republican weathers backlash
Schmidt says she meant no insult to Murtha
By Charles Babington
Updated: 6:42 a.m. ET Nov. 23, 2005
Rep. Jean Schmidt flung the word "coward" at a decorated war veteran from Pennsylvania last week, but the Ohio Republican's comments landed with a splat in her own Cincinnati district, where some supporters are backing away as she scrambles to explain what she meant.
Judging by her words yesterday -- the first after avoiding the public for three days -- Schmidt doesn't understand what the fuss is about, and sees herself more as victim than villain. "I am amazed at what a national story this has become," she said in a statement. "I have been attacked very personally, continuously since Friday evening."
Many people are unsympathetic. NBC's "Saturday Night Live" lampooned her, the Cincinnati Enquirer's editorial page -- which endorsed her congressional bid -- said she was "way out of line," and the friend she claimed to be quoting on the House floor last week declared yesterday that he had said no such thing.
Schmidt, Congress's newest member, vaulted from obscurity with inflammatory comments during a House debate over whether to promptly withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq, as has been proposed by Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.). Murtha is a 31-year House veteran and longtime military hawk who fought in Vietnam and Korea as a Marine.
Schmidt said in her brief speech: "A few minutes ago, I received a call from Colonel Danny Bubp. He asked me to send Congress a message: Stay the course. He also asked me to send Congressman Murtha a message: that cowards cut and run, Marines never do."
The chamber exploded in boos and catcalls from Democrats, and within minutes Schmidt had withdrawn her words and sent a note of apology to Murtha. But waters were still roiling when she went home Saturday to start a two-week congressional recess.
Schmidt stayed largely out of sight until yesterday, when she issued her statement and spoke with reporters. "There's no way that I remotely tried to impugn his character," she said in a telephone interview. She said she was simply trying to register her strong belief that U.S. troops must stay in Iraq until their mission is completed.
‘Hateful words’
Noting that criticism has poured in via phone calls, e-mails and TV reports, she said in her statement: "I am quite willing to suffer those attacks if in the end that policy I so strongly oppose is exposed as unsound. First and foremost, I support the troops. They dodge bullets and bombs while I duck only hateful words."
Bubp, a GOP state legislator and Marine Corps Reserve officer, had campaigned for Schmidt. He put out his own statement yesterday: "The comments and concerns I shared with Congresswoman Schmidt were never meant as a personal reference to Mr. Murtha. . . . We never discussed anyone by name and there was no intent to ever disparage the congressman or his distinguished record of service for our nation." Bubp, through a spokeswoman, declined an interview request.
Schmidt recalls their Friday phone conversation somewhat differently. "I wrote down what he was saying," she said in the interview. "He did ask me to send a message to Congress, and he also said send a message to 'that congressman.' He did not know that congressman's name, but I did. Neither one of us knew he was a Marine."
Schmidt said she had not noticed the numerous references to Murtha's military background in the newspaper, radio and TV accounts of his troop-withdrawal proposal, made Thursday. "They keep us pretty busy," she said.
‘Mean Jean’
Paul Hackett, a veteran of the Iraq war who lost the August special election to Schmidt, said her comments on the House floor "were at best irresponsible and at worst grossly unpatriotic." Hackett, who has sharply criticized President Bush's Iraq war policy, is running for the U.S. Senate in Ohio, but some Democrats are trying to talk him into a rematch against Schmidt.
Opponents had dubbed her "Mean Jean" for the sharp tongue she wielded in the August campaign to replace Rob Portman (R), the new U.S. trade representative. Bubp campaigned for her in his Marine dress uniform, rebuking Hackett for criticizing "their commander in chief."
Yesterday, Schmidt said she hoped the hubbub will have faded by the time Congress reconvenes next month. Asked if she would change anything if she could do it over again, she replied: "I wouldn't have used Congressman Murtha's name."
© 2005 The Washington Post Company
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10169562/
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I can hear the toilet flushing her career away even as I write this. 
_________________
"Penalties against the possession of a drug
should not be more damaging to the individual
than the drug itself."
US President Jimmy Carter |
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Mystic Power
admin THC-Ministry YahooGroup
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| Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2005 4:14 pm Post subject: |
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Yes. She recently got elected to Congress in a special election. It was her FIRST speech, there.
She had no clue as to who Jack Murtha is...or that he was a career Marine Corps colonel with a Bronze Star, Silver Star and Purple Heart, earned in Korea and Viet Nam.
She's just another Republican nitwit.
Bliss,
Ben
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~Hopi Elder ~
"In Lak'ech"
~ Ancient Mayan: "I am another YOU." ~ |
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Ferre
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| Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2005 4:26 pm Post subject: |
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| Schmidt said she had not noticed the numerous references to Murtha's military background in the newspaper, radio and TV accounts of his troop-withdrawal proposal, made Thursday. "They keep us pretty busy," she said. |
So she is blaiming it on "They" (whoever 'they' are) who keep her from being informed about what she is talking about in public??
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aeroplane
Cannabis Sacrament Minister
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| Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2005 4:43 pm Post subject: |
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| Ferre wrote: |
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| Schmidt said she had not noticed the numerous references to Murtha's military background in the newspaper, radio and TV accounts of his troop-withdrawal proposal, made Thursday. "They keep us pretty busy," she said. |
So she is blaiming it on "They" (whoever 'they' are) who keep her from being informed about what she is talking about in public??
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Maybe "They" are the voices in her head. Georgie thinks his voices speak for god. Schmidt's voices keep her busy with paperwork.
_________________
"Penalties against the possession of a drug
should not be more damaging to the individual
than the drug itself."
US President Jimmy Carter |
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