Murtha Balks at Own Proposal

Late Friday night the House took a vote on Rep. John Murtha's proposal for an immediate withdrawal from Iraq.

The vote was 403-3 against, with Murtha among the 403. The only congressmen favoring Murtha's idea were three far-left Democrats: Cynthia McKinney of Georgia, Jose Serrano of New York and Robert Wexler of Florida. Six Dems voted "present": Michael Capuano (Mass.), William Clay (Mo.), Maurice Hinchey (N.Y.), Jim McDermott (Wash.), Jerrold Nadler (N.Y.) and Major Owens (N.Y.).

Some Republicans have labeled Murtha a "coward," which strikes us as unduly personal. But he does seem to lack the courage of his convictions.

Here's what our enemy has to say, direct from the al Jazeera website:

Democrat calls for immediate withdrawal from Iraq

11/17/2005 8:00:00 PM GMT

Rep. John Murtha, an influential House Democrat who once voted for invading Iraq called Thursday for immediately pulling out American troops from the country, a move described by analysts as another sign of growing unease in Congress about the war.

"It is time for a change in direction," Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., one of Congress' most hawkish Democrats said, adding that the U.S. Army "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."

His remarks came two days after the Senate voted to approve a statement that 2006 "should be a period of significant transition to full Iraqi sovereignty" and eventually a phased withdrawal of U.S. forces, reported The Associated Press.

Chocking (sp) back tears while speaking to journalists, Murtha, a Marine intelligence officer in Vietnam, said that the U.S. can withdraw all its troops within six months.

On the other hand, House Republicans responded to Murtha's remarks, accusing Democrats of playing politics with the war. "They want us to retreat. They want us to wave the white flag of surrender to the terrorists of the world," Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., said in a statement."Big Mistake"

The former U.S. President Bill Clinton blasted President George W. Bush over Iraq war, calling it a "big mistake".

Speaking to students at the American University in Dubai, Mr. Clinton said that Bush’s admin has failed to plan for post-war Iraq.

However the former President hailed the toppling of Saddam Hussein, saying it’s good he is gone, although he doesn't agree with what was done.

"Saddam is gone. It's a good thing, but I don't agree with what was done, " he said.

U.S. officials made several errors; Mr. Clinton said, accusing Washington of failing to secure Iraq’s borders, allowing fighters’ infiltration into the war-raged country, something Bush’s admin blamed Syria and Iran for.

"It was a big mistake. The American government made several errors ... one of which is how easy it would be to get rid of Saddam and how hard it would be to unite the country."

"The mistake that they made is that when they kicked out Saddam, they decided to
dismantle the whole authority structure of Iraq ... We never sent enough troops and didn't have enough troops to control or seal the borders," Mr. Clinton said.

It would have been better if the U.S. had left Iraq's "fundamental military and social and police structure intact," he noted.

The current U.S. President George W. Bush has been trying recently to revive the public's fading support to his unjustified decision to invade Iraq, saying that many
current critics warned that Saddam was a threat before the war started.

Yesterday, during a Pentagon news conference, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld claimed that Mr. Clinton warned during his rule that Saddam posed a great threat to the United States and its allies.

Rumsfeld's remarks came in response to the Democratic Party criticism over Iraq
war.

According to results of recently conducted opinion polls, Bush's approval ratings, and support for Iraq war, have fallen to the lowest points of his presidency.

• Cheney attacks war critics

Yesterday, the U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney attacked Democrat war critics who recently accused Bush’s admin of cooking up intelligence in the run-up to the Iraq war, saying they’re spreading "one of the most dishonest and reprehensible charges ever
aired" in Washington, according to Los Angeles Times.

"The saddest part is that our people in uniform have been subjected to these cynical and pernicious falsehoods day in and day out," Cheney said in a speech in ashington
to a conservative think tank.

"American soldiers and Marines are out there every day in dangerous conditions and desert temperatures … and back home a few opportunists are suggesting they were sent into battle for a lie," he added."What we are hearing now is some politicians contradicting their own statements and making a play for political advantage in the middle of a war," the vice president told the Frontiers of Freedom Institute.

But the Democrats quickly responded.

Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) said that "It is hard to name a government official with less credibility on Iraq than Vice President Cheney. The vice president continues to mislead America about how we got into Iraq and what must be done to complete the still unaccomplished mission."

Also Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) criticised the Vice President’s remarks, saying that in "the last 24 hours, 10 of our brave soldiers have been killed in far-off Iraq. On such a night, you would think Cheney would give a speech that honors the fallen and those still fighting by laying out a strategy for success. Instead we have the vice president of the United States playing politics like he's in the middle of a presidential campaign."

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Notice how they failed to carry the story, from a factual perspective, and left out any/all mention of the vote? Can you tell whose side they're on??

God Bless,
Dan'L