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Iraq
Dems' "slow-bleed" Strategy To De-Fund The War
2007-02-15
Moved to Opinion given the source, but it sure does seem like Murtha's M.O.
Top House Democrats, working in concert with anti-war groups, will pursue a "slow-bleed" strategy designed to gradually limit Bush's options. But those doing the bleeding, slowly, will be US troops.
Led by Rep. John P. Murtha, D-Pa., and supported by several well-funded anti-war groups, the coalitionÂ’s goal is to limit or sharply reduce the number of U.S. troops available for the Iraq conflict, rather than to openly cut off funding for the war itself.

Murtha plans to attach a provision to an upcoming $93 billion supplemental spending bill for Iraq and Afghanistan. It would restrict the deployment of troops to Iraq unless they meet certain levels adequate manpower, equipment and training to succeed in combat. ThatÂ’s a standard Murtha believes few of the units Bush intends to use for the surge would be able to meet.

In addition, Murtha will seek to limit the time and number of deployments by soldiers, Marines and National Guard units to Iraq, making it tougher for Pentagon officials to find the troops to replace units that are scheduled to rotate out of the country. Additional funding restrictions are also being considered by Murtha, such as prohibiting the creation of U.S. military bases inside Iraq, dismantling the notorious Abu Ghraib prison and closing the American detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Pelosi and other top Democrats are not yet prepared for an open battle with the White House over ending funding for the war and they are wary of Republican claims that Democratic leaders would endanger the welfare of U.S. troops.
Like making it impossible to deploy enough troops to fight and win the war? So they're cowards and traitors. What a disgrace.
Posted by:cajunbelle

#16  LUCIANNE > Russia threatens to unilater pull out of INF treaty. Officially its Dubya-USA's fault. unofficially is toss-up bwtn CAN'T HAVE ASYMMETRIC, ANTI-US/WESTERN, "ASSASSIN'S MACE" + NUCLEARIZED "WAR/BATTLE ZONE" ACTIVE-DEFENSE STRATEGIES WITHOUT INTERMEDIATE/TACNUKES; versus = DEMOGRAPHICALLY DYING RUSSIA'S FEAR OF CHINESE NEED FOR "LIVING SPACE" IN CENTRAL EURASIA/ASIA. Russia > Putin > no new Cold War but does prefer "limited military actions" + Russia will not = never give its right to UNILATERAL PRE-EMPTIVE MILITARY STRIKE in support of Russian security andor other national interests. ERGO AMER HAS NO RIGHT OF PRE-EMPTION LIKE RUSSIA[CHINA].
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2007-02-15 23:03  

#15  Anguper--don't forget the Nigerians...

I agree that the economy of the West is very fragile.

As to Murtha et al: I hoped for better, but this sort of "just this side of treason" political sniping isn't new. Lincoln had the same troubles, with the same party, with similar effects on the opposing armies.
Posted by: James   2007-02-15 15:57  

#14  How far do the traitors to this country have to go before some one starts putting bullets in them?

I am amazed at the restraint of our ex and current military that have the ability to vent this idiot's head and don't do it.
Posted by: jds   2007-02-15 14:55  

#13  Yeah, I was about to comment throw stones too, xbalanke, but then I realized that I live next door to (not in, thank God) Cynthia McKinney's (D-People's Republik of DeKalb) former district. That doesn't even take into account the only p-nut farmer to sit in the oval office, Jimmuh.
Posted by: BA   2007-02-15 13:49  

#12  You can't blame Murtha exclusively - he was, after all, re-elected by the idiots moonbatsgood citizens of PA, long after his nasty senilityreal views were made public.

/Of course, living in Mass, I'm in the ultimate glass house on this point.
Posted by: xbalanke   2007-02-15 12:31  

#11  Given Murtha's history of corruption, what are the odds he's been bought off, rather than doing this simply because he's a complete idiot?
Posted by: Rob Crawford   2007-02-15 11:55  

#10  The dhemmicrats just want to obstruct. They are a treasonous bunch along with the MSM. In the long run they will find they don't want what they have been working so hard for--the downfall of this country. They put partisanship above country.

If support for the military is pulled, I doubt anyone will want to be in the military again. They deserve better than this. The country will be vulnerable. AQ and all the terrorists will have won. The next war will be here--soon. We will be fighting for our survival.
Posted by: JohnQC   2007-02-15 11:41  

#9   The American economy is more fragile than many think. If its leadership is annihilated and its fuel runs out, the survivors will be far more involved in getting enough to eat and staying warm than in settling old political scores. The collapse of the Roman empire in the west took its citizens by surprise. One story among many is that of a Roman military detachment keeping the peace somewhere on the frontier near what is now Switzerland while barbarians ravaged the rest of the Empire. The soldiers sent a delegation to Ravenna, the then capital of the Western Empire, to pick up their annual pay in gold. The detachment was never heard from again. The remaining soldiers found other employment, and so Roman rule abruptly ended in that locality. Most of the people and local resources were untouched, but their way of life had ended. Think of the TV show "Jericho". That's what it would be like, no central authority, scanty resources, things going from bad to worse.
Some of our current options are to inform & persuade & take measures to make local communities more resilient.
I was not as surprised by 9/11 (and its political aftermath) as many. When I saw the planes hitting the WTC, I knew who was behind it, and thought "They said they would hit it again, and they did." I didn't need the MSM or the government to tell me that, I had been reading the news (such as it had been) about al Qaeda and its ilk since 1993. I called my brother in Boston & warned him to look out for the prevailing winds in case dirty bomb material was involved in the attack, knowing the US government would suppress such information if it existed. (Fortunately that wasn't the case, but remember how quick the EPA was to tell people the dust was not dangerous, when in fact it was dangerous. Your tax dollars were again misused.)
On 9/11 I searched all over the internet, for some info on what else might have been involved. I was aware of the shock/grief/anger of the attack, and tried not to be distracted by it. I was more interested in those Americans and Europeans were did not feel that way. The same day I found reports of Palestinians and Lebanese celebrating the attacks, of the notes in European papers saying we deserved it, and most especially noted the efforts of the Fifth Column in this country to organize and blunt if not reverse the impact the attacks on 9/11 made on the country. The internet had lots of material on those efforts on 9/11, and more as time passed. The only thing that surprised me was the efforts of people like Murtha to make political hay out of 9/11 to secure political power. I knew politicians to be crass & venal, but never to that degree.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418   2007-02-15 11:13  

#8  Remember those assholes you used to bitch about in Vietnam, John?
You've become one of them.
Posted by: tu3031   2007-02-15 11:13  

#7  You gotta hand it to the Democrats. TheyÂ’re not going to let little things like dignity or principle stand in their way of power and greed.
Posted by: DepotGuy   2007-02-15 11:11  

#6  Is there any way to cut off Murtha's "Funding" say by firing his aides, disconnecting the power, etc and leave him sitting alone in a dark room without anyone to "assist" him?
Posted by: Redneck Jim   2007-02-15 09:07  

#5  A comment over at GoV in A Stirring in the Forest

Redneck Texan said...
The partisans are stirring in the forest.

And thats good to see. I applaud your efforts to jump start the resistance, because I have about zero confidence in a non extra-judicial solution to our problem.

And not to marginalize your short term goals, but the best results you can probably expect from protesting the sign or the compound's existence is that they take down the sign and relocate the compound somewhere else where the locals are a little more complacent. Worthy goals, but much more will be required to remove the threat they and their kind pose.

I'm figurin' the American Spirit that flows in our veins will be awakened in earnest when an attack on our infrastructure cripples our transportation network enough to cause sustained empty shelves in the grocery stores or no fuel to power our wage earning commutes. Or one that leaves everything inside the Washington Beltway permanently inhabitable. There's nothing like an empty stomach to help get your priorities in perspective, and the remnants of a government whose entire leadership has been vaporized will have better things to worry about than groups of like-minded rednecks taking the opportunity to reestablish the old rules of engagement our ancestors exercised during our expansive stage.

That could happen tonight, or it might never happen.

Posted by: SR-71   2007-02-15 08:58  

#4  It's over our country can't survive this treasonous stupidity. Get your beasn and bullets put by, these same people want to put most of you in "camps" because you will not go along with them.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom   2007-02-15 07:00  

#3  If anyone had told me right after 9/11 that barely five years later it would come to this, I would have called them insane.

This is not going to end well.

Posted by: Dave D.   2007-02-15 06:54  

#2  "What we have staked out is a campaign to stop the war without cutting off funding" for the troops, said Tom Mazzie of Americans Against Escalation of the War in Iraq. "We call it the 'readiness strategy.'"

Same results as cutting off funding, just not as obvious or honest. A different way to 'A New Vietnam'.
Posted by: Bobby   2007-02-15 06:07  

#1  This just in - tune in tomorrow:

"CHAIRMAN JACK MURTHA TO OUTLINE COMMITTEE STRATEGY ON BUSHÂ’S IRAQ FUNDING REQUEST
THURSDAY, FEB. 15th AT 11:00 AM EST
Join Us!"
[Posted in the "Anti-War Room" at this pitiful site: http://www.movecongress.org/content/index.php]
Posted by: cajunbelle   2007-02-15 01:16  

00:00