Hawkish US democrat calls for Iraq pullout (AP) Updated: 2005-11-18 09:51
One of US Congress' most hawkish and influential Democrats called Thursday
for an immediate U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, sparking bitter and personal salvos
from both sides in a growing Capitol Hill uproar over President Bush's war
policies.
 Rep. John P. Murtha
is shown in this Oct. 28, 2003, photo.
[AP] | "It's time to bring them home," said Rep.
John Murtha, a decorated Korean War and Vietnam combat veteran, choking back
tears during remarks to reporters. "Our military has accomplished its mission
and done its duty."
The comments by the Pennsylvania lawmaker, who has spent three decades in the
House, hold particular weight because he is close to many military commanders
and has enormous credibility with his colleagues on defense issues. He voted for
the war in 2002, and remains the top Democrat on the House Appropriations
defense subcommittee.
"Our troops have become the primary target of the insurgency. They are united
against U.S. forces and we have become a catalyst for violence," he said. "The
war in Iraq is not going as advertised. It is a flawed policy wrapped in
illusion."
In a biting response, Republicans criticized Murtha's position as one of
abandonment and surrender and accused Democrats of playing politics with the war
and recklessly pushing a "cut and run" strategy.
"They want us to retreat. They want us to wave the white flag of surrender to
the terrorists of the world," said House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill.
"It would be an absolute mistake and a real insult to the lives that have
been lost," said Rep. David Dreier, R-Calif.
Underscoring the rising emotions of the war debate, Murtha
uncharacteristically responded to Vice President Dick Cheney's comments this
week that Democrats were spouting "one of the most dishonest and reprehensible
charges" about the Bush administration's use of intelligence before the war.
"I like guys who've never been there that criticize us who've been there,"
Murtha said. "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."
Referring to Bush, Murtha added, "I resent the fact, on Veterans Day, he
criticized Democrats for criticizing them."
The White House fired back from Busan, South Korea, where Bush was meeting
with Asian leaders.
"Congressman Murtha is a respected veteran and politician who has a record of
supporting a strong America," said White House press secretary Scott McClellan.
"So it is baffling that he is endorsing the policy positions of Michael Moore
and the extreme liberal wing of the Democratic Party."
"The eve of an historic democratic election in Iraq is not the time to
surrender to the terrorists," McClellan said. "After seeing his statement, we
remain baffled — nowhere does he explain how retreating from Iraq makes America
safer."
Murtha once worked closely with the vice president when Cheney was defense
secretary. During Vietnam, Bush served stateside in the National Guard while
Cheney's five deferments kept him out of the service entirely.
Just two days earlier, the GOP-controlled Senate defeated a Democratic push
for Bush to lay out a timetable for withdrawal. Spotlighting mushrooming
questions from both parties about the war, though, the chamber then approved a
statement that 2006 should be a significant year in which conditions are created
for the phased withdrawal of U.S. forces.
Murtha estimated that all U.S. troops could be pulled out within six months.
He introduced a resolution Thursday that would force the president to call back
the military, but it was unclear when, or if, either GOP-run chamber of Congress
would vote on it.
On the Senate floor Thursday, Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., called on
President Bush and the White House to stop what he called an orchestrated attack
campaign.
"It's a weak, spineless display of politics at a time of war," said Reid, who
spoke while Bush was in Asia.
The rhetorical dueling came in a week in which Bush and other top
administration officials lashed out at war critics, saying they advocate a
strategy that will only embolden the insurgency.
Some Senate Democrats have already laid out plans for bringing home U.S.
troops. Other House Democrats have called for the military to pull out, but none
has Murtha's clout on military issues.
With a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts, Murtha retired from the Marine
Corps reserves as a colonel in 1990 after 37 years as a Marine, only a few years
longer than he's been in Congress. Elected in 1974, Murtha has become known as
an authority on national security whose advice was sought out by Republican and
Democratic administrations alike.
Murtha's shift from an early war backer to a critic advocating withdrawal
reflects plummeting public support for a war that has cost more than $200
billion and led to the deaths of more than 2,000 U.S. troops.
Known as a friend and champion of officers at the Pentagon and in the war
zone, it is widely believed in Congress that Murtha often speaks for those in
uniform and could be echoing what U.S. commanders in the field and in the
Pentagon are saying privately about the conflict.
Murtha, who normally shuns the spotlight, said he spoke out because he has
grown increasingly troubled by the war and has a constitutional and moral
obligation to speak for the troops.
But Republicans said Murtha does not represent the views of U.S. troops or
military leaders.
"This falloff of support among Democratic ranks is not shared by the
war-fighting forces. It's not shared by our troops," said Rep. Duncan Hunter
(news, bio, voting record), R-Calif., chairman of the House Armed Services
Committee.
Several times a year, Murtha travels to Iraq to assess the war on the ground,
and sometimes he just calls up generals to get firsthand accounts.
His voice cracked and tears filled his eyes as he related stories of one of
his visits to wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington.
One man, he said, 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.
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