Just caught this on the Huffington Post:
The Huffington Post has learned the Bush administration recently asked high ranking military leaders to denounce Congressman John Murtha. Congressman Murtha has called for the Bush Administration to withdraw US troops from Iraq.
The Bush Administration first attacked Rep. Murtha for his Iraq views by associating him with the filmmaker Michael Moore and Representative Jean Schmidt likened him to a coward on the floor of the House of Representatives. When those tactics backfired, Dick Cheney called Murtha “A good man, a marine, a patriot and he’s taking a clear stand in an entirely legitimate discussion.”
Though the White House has backed off publicly, administration officials have nevertheless recently made calls to military leaders to condemn the congressman. So far they have refused.Rep. Murtha spent 37 years in the Marine Corps earning a Bronze Star, two Purple Hearts and a Navy Distinguished Service Medal. His service has earned him the respect of the military, and made him a trusted adviser to both Republican and Democratic presidents and leaders of the armed forces.
Unfolding…
That is the entire brief for now.
At least they’re consistent. Do you recognize the pattern? First response hard negative, then when they’re called on the lie, backup and punt.
That’s just uglier than sheep shit in shallow water.
Just precisely how f*cking dumb do you have to be to call the Pentagon asking them to slam a 37-year Marine vet? I’ve tripped over rocks smarter than that.
during an avalanche.
.
An overflow crowd of 600 and live broadcast by C-span —
ARLINGTON (Wva) Jan. 5 — Pennsylvania Rep. John T. Murtha commanded the stage and a live national television audience with unbowed resolve to defend his call for the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Iraq, spellbinding an overflow crowd of 600 at a town meeting hosted by Rep. Jim Moran in the Ballston area of Arlington.
Murtha’s credentials as a respected, veteran member of Congress with a strong record of supporting national defense has given enormous credibility to his call, and he told the audience that he’s been frustrated by the Bush administration’s reaction.
“All they can respond with is rhetoric,” he charged. “We’re 6,600 short in our military recruitment goals this year, and now have the smallest military since 1941. Families are having to go out to buy their sons and daughters in Iraq their battle armor, because they’re not getting it from the Pentagon, and all this was going on before I started speaking out.”
“I am getting criticized personally, yet this is not about me,” he stated. “It’s about people thirsting for a policy that makes sense, instead of an open-ended policy with no exit strategy.”
“I want to save every single life I can, yet now we’ve lost just about as many Americans in Iraq as in the (World Trade Center) towers,” he added. “In addition, there are 7,500 wounded, many so disfigured their wives can’t look at them, and many more who suffer from battle fatigue. They call it by something different these days, but we knew it as battle fatigue.”
“Our efforts in Iraq have turned the Iraqi people against us. 150,000 were put out of their homes in the siege of Falluja and the only thing that is uniting the Iraqi population now is its opposition to the U.S. occupation.
Murtha’s stern bull dog presence and resolute voice in the highly charged atmosphere was highlighted by moving statements from a number of former U.S. soldiers who’d served in Iraq, and denounced the Bush administration’s handling of the conflict.
However, the first questioner was a former Army sergeant who took issue with Murtha and Moran, insisting that morale among the U.S. troops was high in Iraq.
Moran replied, “We best support the troops when we make the most responsible decisions on their deployment.” He said he didn’t support the invasion of Iraq from the beginning because he didn’t trust the intelligence, because Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. and was no threat, and because Bush went in “without a plan to win the peace.”
“I support our troops, but I don’t want to put them in harm’s way unless it is in the U.S. interest,” he said, and a loud applause burst forth.
The other side of Townhall
“Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”
▼▼▼ READ MY DIARY ▼
However, the first questioner was a former Army sergeant who took issue with Murtha and Moran, insisting that morale among the U.S. troops was high in Iraq.
Morale and withdrawal are separable issues, and that NCO knows that. The military’s job is to do the best with what they’ve got. Our job is to get them the best we have to offer.
Interesting that the group most involved – and not publicized – in truly supporting the troops are the military veterans in the House.
.
By Larry B. Stammer, Times Staff Writer
In a statement sent to Bush and Congress, Catholic prelates avoid the word “withdrawal,” but say American troops should leave “sooner than later.”
Declaring that the United States was at a crossroads in Iraq, the nation’s Roman Catholic bishops said the time had come to withdraw U.S. troops as fast as responsibly possible and to hand control of the country to Iraqis.
“Our nation’s military forces should remain in Iraq only as long as it takes for a responsible transition, leaving sooner than later,” said Bishop Thomas G. Wenski of Orlando, Fla., speaking for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
USCCB
“Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”
▼▼▼ READ MY DIARY ▼
They had a preview of “60 Minutes” with Murtha. He told Wallace flat out we’ll be gone before the election. Also will answer attacks on him by (who else) Cheney, and unfortunately Pace.
administration officials have nevertheless recently made calls to military leaders to condemn the congressman. So far they have refused.
The refusal is the key point.
The Bush people are shameless scum, but they are also stupid, shameless scum. There is a limit to how much you can anger the people you depend on, and they neither realize that nor realize they have just about exceeded it.