It’s not enough for the congressman from PA to smear Marines who have yet to be charged with a crime. The man is incapable of learning any lesson from any war other than Vietnam. Media Blog has video of Rep. Jack Murtha on CNN advocating that the US adopt the Somalia pullout as a model for getting out of Iraq. I’m not making this up. Here’s the quote:
MURTHA: The thing that disturbed me and worries me about this whole thing is we can’t get them to change direction. And I said over and over in debate, if you listen to any of it, in Beirut President Reagan changed direction, in Somalia President Clinton changed direction, and yet here, with the troops out there every day, suffering from these explosive devices, and being looked at as occupiers — 80 percent of the people want us out of there — and yet they continue to say, “We’re fighting this thing.” We’re not fighting this. The troops are fighting this thing. That’s who’s doing the fighting.
That “change of direction” in Somalia struck most of the world, and particularly Osama bin Laden who had trained many of the fighters our troops encountered there, as a full-out retreat. Which is pretty much what it was. That “change of direction” emboldened bin Laden to see us as a paper tiger that could be easily struck and defeated. The “change of direction” in Somalia led to 9-11: bin Laden believed based largely on Somalia that we would not fight back if attacked, or that would not sustain the fight if we did decide to strike out at him. Iraq is about many things, among them proving bin Laden and anyone who agrees with him wrong about all of that.
Murtha would have us validate the “change of direction” as the surest way to defeat the US.
When does it become legitimate to question not only Rep. Murtha’s patriotism, but his loyalty and even his sanity?
I know that he’s a former Marine. In my book, that makes his comments that consistently help the enemy that much worse. He ought to know better.
Update: Murtha was on Meet the Press this morning. His solution for winning in Iraq: Redeploy our troops outside Iraq and base our air power for that war in Okinawa. Mr. Murtha may need to look at a map, and read Blackfive’s assessment of this, the only Democrat alternative strategy for Iraq.
Because, you see, Okinawa is in Japan. Over 4,000 nautical miles away from Iraq, and on the other side of Iran and China.
Call me crazy, but Murtha’s strategy may need a re-think.
Update: Murtha can’t claim that offering Okinawa as a base from which to fight the war in Iraq was a slip of the tongue. Gateway Pundit says Murtha has said it before.
The man is a lunatic.
