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Home Front: Politix
Murtha questions Bush's war honesty
2005-12-24
U.S. Rep. John Murtha accused President Bush on Wednesday of being dishonest with the American people by equating the war in Iraq with the nation's response to 9/11 as part of the war on terror. Murtha was careful not to directly accuse Bush of lying about the war, but criticized the "dishonesty of the administration" for lumping together the two events. "They're mischaracterizing the facts," the Johnstown Democrat said at a news conference in Johnstown. "They do it very shrewdly. They say 9/11. Then they say Iraq. They're giving people the impression, in Iraq we're fighting terrorism."

He said sending troops to Afghanistan was a direct result of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The war in Iraq was based on faulty intelligence and U.S. troops are battling an insurgency, not terrorism, he said. Murtha is pushing his demand for a redeployment of American troops in Iraq and a timetable for bringing soldiers home. He said military commanders on the ground in Iraq -- and in the United States -- have confided in him that U.S. forces could remain in Iraq for another 10 to 15 years. Murtha, who voted to go to war, broke with the president Nov. 17 by coming out against the fighting and calling for an immediate withdrawal of American forces.
Posted by:Fred

#60  g'nite Frank, and Merry Christmas!
Posted by: TIME   2005-12-24 23:03  

#59  Yup. Got a few boxes of toys to deliver, myself. Toodles.
Posted by: .com   2005-12-24 22:59  

#58  not worth the effort - nite, "Time person of the year"
Posted by: Frank G   2005-12-24 22:57  

#57  perhaps a "brokebareback mountain" fan?
Posted by: Frank G   2005-12-24 22:56  

#56  ;-)
Posted by: TIME   2005-12-24 22:45  

#55  Lol, Time. BTW, don't wink at me, biatch, lol, you ain't me pal. Your droll troll routine is an insomniac's dream - literally.
Posted by: .com   2005-12-24 22:42  

#54  TIME, And the horse you rode in on.
Posted by: Redneck Jim   2005-12-24 22:38  

#53  Toujours un a plus que tois!
Posted by: SR-71   2005-12-24 22:37  

#52  Sort of like you, .com ;-)
Posted by: TIME   2005-12-24 22:35  

#51  Lol. Trollbait. It seems to know no other way.
Posted by: .com   2005-12-24 22:27  

#50  So do personal attacks.
Posted by: TIME   2005-12-24 22:13  

#49  Feeding the trolls makes the Baby Jesus cry.
Posted by: SR-71   2005-12-24 22:04  

#48  Okay!
Posted by: TIME   2005-12-24 21:08  

#47  It's Christmas TIME, please be extra, spritely.
Posted by: LOOK   2005-12-24 21:04  

#46  Don't strain yourself LOOK..
Posted by: TIME   2005-12-24 21:03  

#45  
It's rich chocolate goodness will keep you feeling like 12 all night.
Posted by: LOOK   2005-12-24 21:03  

#44  Don't be sad TIME, Mother Sheehans coming down the steps with something special.
Posted by: LOOK   2005-12-24 21:01  

#43  rank cowardice in the face of casualties, like Murtha's previous cut-and-run remarks on Mogadishu

I have a different take on that. Remember Bush's remark that US troops are for fighting wars and NOT for keeping the peace? If you're not kicking jihadi ass, then get the troops out. My frustration peaks every time I hear that a patrol got wiped out by an IED. Senseless. Any way you look at it, the IED attacks should be gradually decreasing over time. If they aren't, someone, somewhere is doing a lousy job, and you can't really blame people for wanting to get the troops out.
Posted by: TIME   2005-12-24 20:34  

#42  Aid and comfort: the comments that the US cannot win, that we are losing, that its an insurgeny, that its not external terrorists...

Thats all straight from Al Qaeda propaganda. Thats directly promoting the viewpoint/propaganda of the enemy, and damaging the morale of our troops. And doing so whilst lying (i.e. deliberately and knowlingly stating something he knows to not be true, and knows is harful to our troops and war effort).

That pretty much spells out aid and comfort to the enemy in most people's books.

Murtha appears to be doing it all for the sake of trying to make political hay and grab publicity for himself, at the beck and call of Moveon.org and Howard "the Coward" Dean part of the liberal left.

Another way of looking at it is: rank cowardice in the face of casualties, like Murtha's previous cut-and-run remarks on Mogadishu could be construed as encouraging Al Qaeuda's 9/11 attacks and now his current remarks encourage the continuation of the terrorism by Zarqai in Iraq.

Either way you slice it Murtha is disingenuous at best, and traitorous at worst. No matter how you look at it, you cannot deny that Murtha is not acting in the best interests of the nation nor its troops.
Posted by: Oldspook   2005-12-24 20:16  

#41  Same to you Frank :-)
Posted by: TIME   2005-12-24 20:11  

#40  And all you have is personal attacks.
Posted by: TIME   2005-12-24 20:09  

#39  yes, when you self-identify as Time person of teh year, you deserve all the bitch-slapping you get. It's not funy, ironic, or tied to the topic. It's simply asking to get treated as a punk - have a Merry Christmas :-)
Posted by: Frank G   2005-12-24 20:08  

#38  Lol. Faux Clever 101 - *applause*

Happy, now? Lol. You're too subtle for me. No fire. No conviction. No actual logic, just whiney semi-sarcasm. You were trolling for a bite. Be happy, lol.
Posted by: .com   2005-12-24 20:08  

#37  we've jumped to the wrong conclusion

Actually, you have. Bush deserves his fair share of criticism. You obviously disagree. Any more personal attacks?
Posted by: TIME   2005-12-24 20:00  

#36  That's a fancy interpretation of the Constitution, Oldspook, regarding the "aid and comfort". But in general I have no quarrel with what you said.
I'm not sure why the personal attacks started. That's so DU. My original comment wasn't even that controversial...just an observation (which may have proved correct just now).
Posted by: TIME   2005-12-24 19:56  

#35  Lol, right - you're open-minded and we've jumped to the wrong conclusion. Yewbetcha. So much TIME, so little logic or truth.
Posted by: .com   2005-12-24 19:51  

#34  Wow. Such hostility. And I wasn't even criticizing Bush directly. Just like DU, only you're white on the right side (Star Trek reference).
Posted by: TIME   2005-12-24 19:44  

#33  Bam! Lol, OS. Dead solid perfect.
Posted by: .com   2005-12-24 19:35  

#32  Mods, please close my 'strong' tag above - I left off the closure tage at the end of the Italicised contents quoting the Constitution. Once thats done, please delete this post.
Posted by: Oldspook   2005-12-24 19:34  

#31  Criticism? thats fine. Nobody is complaining about LEGITIMATE criticism, the kind aimed at solving a problem, winning the war, etc (like the criticism over body armor, etc),

Repeatedly lying about things the way Murtha and the Dems do - i.e. saying things they know are false and doing it to make a political stand? Thats NOT fine.

Then there is giving aid and comfort to the enemy in time of war. Thats TREASON and that IS in the Constitution. As a matter of fact, it is the ONLY crime delineated in the Constitution.

Article III, Section 3. Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.

So as Reagan said, there you go again... (being wrong as usual).


And also - stay on topic. the topic is Mertha's insanity/dishonesty, and seditius acts and remarks. You want to talk about Bush, post your own article here and defend it.
Posted by: Oldspook   2005-12-24 19:32  

#30  ROFL. No one prohibits criticism of the President (capital "P"), lol. That's pretty much all the Kool Aid addled zoomers do, in fact. That you are apparently similarly addled and intellectually debilitated is no recommendation. Don't you have anything besides your BDS to keep you warm?

*sniff*
Posted by: .com   2005-12-24 19:27  

#29  Next to the amendment prohibiting criticism of the president.
Posted by: TIME   2005-12-24 19:21  

#28  Just beneath the right to filibuster.
Posted by: .com   2005-12-24 19:09  

#27  It's by the Right to Privacy and Abortions.
Posted by: LOOK   2005-12-24 19:04  

#26  "badge of authority" , Time dickwad? Bush and his admin execute authority via teh constitution, something you're only temporarily associate with, I'd wager. Bet you took 92-00 off. Tool

The quote said "moral or intellectual authority". Just where is moral or intellectual authority mentioned in the Constitution (capital "C")?
Posted by: TIME   2005-12-24 18:51  

#25  "We have "fly papered" a majority of the ass holes in the region and are burying them in the Iraqi desert."

BH6, always remember that your service and sacrifice does not go unnoticed and is sincerely appreciated.
Posted by: DepotGuy   2005-12-24 17:59  

#24  I question Murtha's sanity.

His intelligence is what should be called into question.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama   2005-12-24 17:52  

#23  "badge of authority" , Time dickwad? Bush and his admin execute authority via teh constitution, something you're only temporarily associate with, I'd wager. Bet you took 92-00 off. Tool
Posted by: Frank G   2005-12-24 16:48  

#22  "But-- of course-- the reason that the *bright guys* in the media give star status to such non-entities as Murtha and Sheehan, is that they have purely symbolic power: it's their personal histories, they say, that compel us to pay attention to what they say: on account of their personal histories, they're to be regarded as sooth-saying icons."

Spot on.

This media treatment you describe is classic post-modernist tripe. It's all about the na-a-a-a-a-rative, doncha know. Facts and real-world implications need not apply.
Posted by: no mo uro   2005-12-24 16:24  

#21  I call bullshit "person of the year" You will find Bush and his Administration questioned here almost every day.

Murtha was a Marine 40 years ago. It's not worth a bucket of warm spit to me today. He is just another useless tool now.
Posted by: Mahou Sensei Negi-bozu   2005-12-24 16:06  

#20  you're not supposed to question his moral or intellectual authority.

Same applies to Bush and his admin...
Posted by: TIME person of the year   2005-12-24 15:47  

#19  Murtha is suffering from "Cindy Sheehan Syndrome", the desperate desire to extend his 15 minutes of fame to 16. The poor man just seems senile in his public pronouncements. Were I a Pennsylvania Democrat I would be thinking about how to shut this guy up before November.
Posted by: RWV   2005-12-24 15:32  

#18  Murtha's "analysis" is always prefaced by his military service, so, just like with Kerry, you're not supposed to question his moral or intellectual authority. When he demens that service by his defeatism and BDS and press-hugging, then I can question his morals AND patriotism. Putting partisan gain above national security ("but of course I support the troops!") puts him in the Pelosi/Reid traitorous crowd
Posted by: Frank G   2005-12-24 12:57  

#17  BH6, thanks for the thoughts: always spot on. Stay safe and thank you AGAIN for protecting us.
Posted by: Steve White   2005-12-24 11:59  

#16  Oh what a headache I've got....

BH6 - take care of yourself and your troops. You guys are doing fantastic work. Its amazing the changes from a while back to now - no more corkscrew flying into Baghdad airport from what I hear. A short while ago (you guys may have noticed I didnt post for a while, and I really cannot say much more), I had a brief excursion to LSAA (Sherpa. Doha. excitement.) and got a chance to daytrip to the green zone and back in an Army Blackhawk. One personal observation struck me more than any other: flying over the rooftops and seeing the kids and now the parents come out to wave!

We're winning, even if the press over here isn't getting that message out, the troops are thanks to the internet giving them a voice as never before. The PAOs really ought to be encouraginging blogging or email, OPSEC permitting of course.

Between you guys and the Dogs and the Zooms and even those nasty Swabbies, we will win this in spite of the press' slanted coverage and the left's politically motivated disinformation campaign.

Keep the faith brother Leatherneck. Let your guys know there's a whole host of people back here rooting for them even if they dont get to hear about us nor we about them.

You're already going to come home as a winner, so "enshaAllah", Come home safe!

Merry Christmas over there in the FOBs and in the rear with the gear!
Posted by: Oldspook   2005-12-24 11:32  

#15  w00t! Thx, OS, BH6, et al!

Great thread, great comments. Spot-on and deadly to the seditious charade that Murtha should be countenanced, as a traitor to his service - and every American who served, or listened to for his cowardly "advice". He was stuck on stupid decades ago, as Fed Up points out.

Only those involved know what constitutes each asshat's 30 pieces of silver, but these traitors (Murtha, Wilson, Gore & his Lick, Dickie, Bergler, Weasley, etc) trotted out by the Dhimmidonk spin masters, Moonbats, LLLs, Tranzis, Clintoonian image polishers, et al, should be more than simply hounded for their sedition. Selling out the entire country for a moment's fame, a book deal, some TV face time, an OpEd appearance, whatever. Every one of them should share Cunningham's fate.

It's one thing to screw yourself in your greed and malice. It's far beyond that to screw all of America.

No hand-slaps -- ignominy and prison.
Posted by: .com   2005-12-24 10:46  

#14  Great find, Fed Up.
Posted by: Ebboter Whaviper7978   2005-12-24 10:19  

#13  Rep. John Murtha

After terrorists attacked U.S. troops in Mogadishu, Somalia 12 years ago, anti-Iraq war Democrat, Rep. John Murtha urged then-President Clinton to begin a complete pullout of U.S. troops from the region.

Clinton took the advice and ordered the withdrawal - a decision that Osama bin Laden would later credit with emboldening his terrorist fighters and encouraging him to mount further attacks against the U.S.

"Our welcome has been worn out," Rep Murtha told NBC's "Today" show in Sept. 1993, a month after 4 U.S. Military Police had been killed in Somalia by a remote-detonated land mine.

The Pennsylvania Democrat announced that President Clinton had been "listening to our suggestions. And I think you'll see him move those troops out very quickly."
Link
Posted by: Fed Up   2005-12-24 09:27  

#12  Remember why Murtha's on the whine path -- he didn't get the face time with the president he thought he deserved. It's all wounded ego and self-puffery for him.

And notice the press lying, again, by saying Murtha "broke with the president". BS -- he'd been a defeatocrat longer than that.
Posted by: Robert Crawford   2005-12-24 08:48  

#11  If I could sit down and easily list forty good reasons why invading Iraq was an essential step in the GWoT, what's Murtha's excuse? Is he really so stupid he can't figure it out like most of us here on RB already have? Or is Murtha just dishonest?

Posted by: Dave D.   2005-12-24 08:47  

#10  Stay safe BH6, Merry Christmas and stay paranoid.
Posted by: Leon Clavin   2005-12-24 07:48  

#9  BH6,

Solid, well written analysis. Thanks for that, and for your service to our country. Merry Christmas and come home safely! Semper fidelis, Marine.
Posted by: mac   2005-12-24 07:11  

#8  that is dishonest.

that is a dishonest accusation by Murtha
Posted by: Red Dog   2005-12-24 04:12  

#7  the washington swamp lime-lite disease

John Murtha is infected big time, those who are infected seek face time no matter what the cost.

U.S. Rep. John Murtha accused President Bush on Wednesday of being dishonest with the American people by equating the war in Iraq with the nation's response to 9/11 as part of the war on terror.

that is dishonest.
Posted by: Red Dog   2005-12-24 04:09  

#6  But-- of course-- the reason that the *bright guys* in the media give star status to such non-entities as Murtha and Sheehan, is that they have purely symbolic power: it's their personal histories, they say, that compel us to pay attention to what they say: on account of their personal histories, they're to be regarded as sooth-saying icons.

Well, setting aside the fact that a large majority of folks with personal histories similar to Murtha's and Sheehan's have a point of view exactly opposite to theirs-- haven't the *bright guys* noticed that obvious fact?-- isn't it kinda odd that that *bright guys* have chosen purely symbolic figures to advance their ideas?

If the *bright guys* really had any ideas, they could find smart people to argue for them, and not have to rely on cheap symbolism....

But here we are!

Posted by: Wuzzalib   2005-12-24 03:55  

#5  As a fellow Marine currently in the sandbox, Murtha's comments sadden me. OS is quite right as to Murtha needing to take a trip here to see for himself that his accusations do not hold up against the facts. The permanent elections went way better then expected and Bush received a spike in his approval ratings as a result. My disdain for the msm has only grown since my deployment. I would go into that but it would be too long for this particular thread.

Anyhow, Murtha's recent diatribes are too bad really, I'd love to believe that this is just a case of an old man fighting irrelevance and losing perspective. I hope that it is not a case of grand standing. Either way I think Murtha is wrong & I don't give his comments much weight for the reasons I give in the following paragraphs.

Bush never put forth the case that Saddam and Al Q were in bed over 9/11. Bush distinctly said that Al Q & Saddam had "tenuous ties" at best wrt Zarqawi receiving medical help in Baghdad. Additionally, I believe based on my studies that Saddam did give tacit (i.e. plausibly deniable) support to training Al Q operators in Iraq on a limited basis.

I don't think Iraqi Intel had any sort of strong quasi-like American/British alliance w/Al Q. I do believe they were aware that Al Q trained from time to time in Iraqi space and they gave them limited access to Iraqi territory for this purpose. By this way, Hussein kept tabs on his potential enemy in Bin Laden and created the politics make strange bed fellows scenario. Bush also never said Saddam was a big Osama benefactor.

Murtha's trying to suggest that since there are some Americans who are ignorant enough to believe that Saddam had a direct link to 9/11 that this is Bush's fault. I've definitely heard the admin say that Saddam's removal makes the U.S. safer from another 9/11 type event - that is true, his removal does. However, that's not the same as saying Saddam had a direct link to 9/11. The fact that people confuse that is not the fault of the president. Stupidity & a lack of attention to detail is a bitch, but not the fault of the C-N-C.

For the record, I'm not sure Saddam had direct knowledge that 9/11 was in the works before it happened though it would not surprise me if he did have some intel on it. I also don't think he was directly involved in it - though I have no empirical data to back that assertion either. However, by the very nature of us being in Iraq terrorism is being dealt with in a very direct, real, and efficient way. We are killing them here. We have "fly papered" a majority of the ass holes in the region and are burying them in the Iraqi desert.

OS, drink a few more spiked egg nogs for me. I won't be tasting any of the fine spirits until March.

Semper Fidelis & Merry Christmas,

BH6
Posted by: Broadhead6   2005-12-24 03:45  

#4  Actually, it's all kinda funny/sad.

Murtha's plainy not a very bright guy-- earnest, but not very bright. But because he said things that some *bright guys* at the NY Times etc. liked, they pushed this old man onto center stage where, of course, he is daily making a public fool of himself.

The sad part is the abuse of this old man. The funny part is that, by pushing such sad sacks as Murtha and Sheehan forward as their spokesmen, the *bright guys* at the NY Times etc. end up making their message look like a message from and for sad sacks.

And dat ain't *bright*-- it's farking stoopid!

Posted by: Wuzzalib   2005-12-24 03:08  

#3  The war in Iraq was based on faulty intelligence and U.S. troops are battling an insurgency, not terrorism, he said.

So, those AL Qaueda people who are doing the organzing and bombing, led by Jordanian Al Zarqarwi and staffed by Morroccans, Iranians, Syrians and Iranians are an INSURGENCY?

What a MORON!

Murtha, if you had any honor left, I'd call you out old man to old man. But that credits you with still being a man; as you've shown you are a craven little butt-monkey carrying water for the loony left at the expense of men. Men and women who are far better and braver than you, the ones who are carrying Liberty's light into the darkest corners of the middle east's nest of terroists, dictators and islamofascists.

With lies like that one, you are just another lying piece of liberal sh*t, worthy of nothing other than contempt.

Yes, I've had it with this assclown and the whole host of dimwits on the left. They aapparently wouldn't know reality if it walked up to them and slapped them in the face with its **ck.

Murtha deserves a trip over there and to be cut loose with the brave men he insults every day with partisan political White-Flag Defeatist Democrat crap like this.

Blanket party time.

(yeah I've had a few. so Im less polite than usual. too bad. C**kbites like Murtha deserve every bit of sh*t we can heap on them).
Posted by: Oldspook   2005-12-24 01:43  

#2  I respect his former service but..

Murtha has his head firmly up his ass on this one. A reserve Colonel from a LOSING war 35-40 years ago (politically lost, not militarily) knows precisely JACK SH*T about this one. And he is talking out his ass when he says something like this. He needs to shut his partisan pie-hole if all thats going to spew out of it is disinformation and crap like this. Does he have a tumor? Is he gone mental? Doesnt he realize he is giving aid and comfort to the enemy as surely as Jane Fonda did in his day? Does he place the MArines and other troops below his politics?

Sure as hell looks that way. Grandstanding asshole bastard.

Come on Gi-reens, get your brother Jarheads together and straighten out this sad excuse for a former Marine. OR be faced with another Ritter... this time, a worm inside our own congress shielding himself the Eagle Globe and Anchor.

This from an old Dog Soldier who respects all the Marines he served with.
Posted by: Oldspook   2005-12-24 01:31  

#1  I question Murtha's sanity.

BDS is such a ugly affliction. And apparently incurable, too.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2005-12-24 00:25  

00:00