Les Jones

Middle East > John Murtha and Troop Withdrawls

I haven't blogged about Murtha's talk of withdrawal, and the subsequent vote, so I'm putting a couple of things down for future reference. If the whole thing bores you, skip it.

Here's what Murtha said at his press conference:

I believe before the Iraqi elections, scheduled for mid-December, the Iraqi people and the emerging government must be put on notice: The United States will immediately redeploy--immediately redeploy.

No schedule which can be changed, nothing that's controlled by the Iraqis, this is an immediate redeployment of our American forces because they have become the target. . . .

My plan calls for immediate redeployment of U.S. troops consistent with the safety of U.S. forces to create a quick reaction force in the region, to create an over-the-horizon presence of Marines, and to diplomatically pursue security and stability in Iraq.

The Republicans called his bluff, proposing a resolution for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops in Iraq. That follows Murtha's calls, above, for an immediate withdrawal (though he calls it a redeployment, from the perspective of the Iraqis it's a withdrawal). The proposal was defeated 403 to 3, with Murtha joining the majority.

And though it's sort of nitpicking (I told you to skip this!), the constat refrain that Murtha was a 37 year veteran was a stretch:

Democratic chairman Howard Dean cited the "37 years" figure in an e-mail to supporters last week too. It's true, in a sense, but misleading. It makes it sound as though Murtha was a career military man. In fact, according to his congressional biography, Murtha was on active duty for six years at most (1952-55 and 1966-67); the rest of the time, including some 16 of his nearly 32 years in the House, he was a reservist.

We don't mean to disparage Murtha's service, but why do the Democrats always seem to exaggerate these things? John Kerry* was a "war hero" for serving 120 days in Vietnam and earning an improbable number of medals. In 2002 pro-Saddam Rep. Jim McDermott claimed that he and then-Rep. David Bonior served in Vietnam. In fact, McDermott served as a naval psychiatrist and Bonior as an Air Force cook--both in California.

Let's honor the service of all veterans--including, by the way, those who wore the uniform of the Texas Air National Guard, and those who criticize John Kerry. But all this phony jingoism in the service of weakness on national security has us nostalgic for the days when the Democrats nominated an honest-to-goodness draft avoider for president.

Murtha has been portrayed as a hawk and long-time supporter of the war. In reality, he's been criticizing the war effort for years. Here's a quote from May, 2004:

"We either have to mobilize or we have to get out," Murtha said, adding that he supported increasing U.S. troop strength rather than pulling out.

This isn't the first stunt Murtha has pulled. He was one of only two Representatives to vote to re-instate the draft. That was in October, 2004 in the run-up to the elections, when the draft was being used as a scare tactic to keep young voters away from Bush.

LATER: Glenn Reynolds suggests another motivation for Murtha's stunt. There were already plans for partial troop withdrawals next year, and by making a spectacle now the Democrats may be able to take credit for them, what he and Mickey Kaus call the "Ralph Nader strategy":

Someone who works for Ralph Nader once described to me a brilliant technique of his: When he heard a rumor that the government was about to do something, he immediately called a press conference and demanded that it be done. Is that what Rep. Murtha has now done?