Rep. John Murtha: Despite Another $67 Billion, Our Army is Broke and Badly Depleted |

The Blog | Rep. John Murtha: Despite Another $67 Billion, Our Army is Broke and Badly Depleted : "Despite Another $67 Billion, Our Army is Broke and Badly Depleted


This morning I spoke at a gathering of the National Newspaper Association regarding my strategy to redeploy our troops from Iraq on a scheduled timetable as soon as practicable. Iraq continues to be mischaracterized by the President as the center for the Global War on Terrorism. It is estimated that there are less than 1,000 Al Qaeda in Iraq. What is happening in Iraq is a civil war. It is Iraqis killing Iraqis and our troops are also targets.

We are depleting our resources in Iraq. Last night the House Appropriations Committee passed the President's supplemental request, providing an additional $67 billion for the continued military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. With this supplemental, Congress will have appropriated nearly $450 billion for the war, running our federal deficit higher and higher while this country had a surplus when President George W. Bush took office.

The latest reports show that the war in Iraq has badly depleted essential equipment. I am particularly concerned about the National Guard, who have only a third of the equipment they need to respond to a catastrophic event in our own homeland, and much of that equipment is antiquated and worn out. If something were to happen domestically in the near future -- and it's not an 'if', it's a 'when' -- the Guard will be severely hampered. I have said before that our army is broke, hollow, and stretched thin. I am not talking about the soldiers; they are well trained and have accomplished their mission. I say this in regards to the equipment and my particular concern regarding the National Guard."

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You go Jack Murtha ! Tell it like it is

Just have to take a minute to say I love how Jack Murtha lays it on the line. He was interviewed today on CNN, The Situation Room, and also on Hardball. Thank you Marine Congressman Murtha and please keep on telling it like it is.... once again our President and Commander-in-Chief has delivered the State of the Union and offered zip, nothing except 'the long war' as any kind of plan for Iraq. And even that is not a 'plan', just a new buzz phrase being offered up at the deadly expense of our troops and their families.

Read Murtha's Letter To The President..."Iraq Has Diverted Our Attention Away From The Fight Against Global Terrorism"...

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Swift Bloat Chicken Hawks Against Murtha

Thank you to Lietta for inviting me to post this article at this excellent site.

This is an updated opinion of something I wrote during last year's election.- AR

Who has earned the right to speak about serious stuff with a veterans's wisdom?

I'm an old veteran with no hair, high blood pressure and military memories going back to the early 1970's when Jane Fonda was a swear word and my cousin somehow got into the National Guard and I didn't.

Had I waited another six months before enlisting, the new draft lottery which placed my birthday at the 350+ level would have meant that I, like Mr. Cheney, could have pursued my "other priorities."

Somewhere downstairs I've got an old hard-cardboard Schlitz beer-box with enough military records in it to prove I went and to prove I did.

There's a bunch of ribbons there that I didn't toss over any walls in protest but are in a glass jar where sometime I'll go down and look at them.

There's an air-medal (and maybe a cluster) that are still in their containers.

There's little sterling silver wings that my commander told me I could wear even when not on flying status after completing ten combat missions.

They're all down there to prove I went and did.


When I was studying Russian at Syracuse University, Woodstock happened less than 100 miles away.

I wasn't about to drive over and see that. I was too mad at Jane Fonda - mad about her movie Barbarella which had offended my youthful moral view of the world. And I was incensed by her Hanoi affair.

I don't remember hearing anything about John Kerry back then and his post-Viet Nam role against the war. I recently watched a Dick Cavett show where Kerry debated another vet and can assure you that at that time I would have voted Kerry into the brig for what he was saying and doing.

Funny how time changes perspectives.

My yuppie kids are outraged that in 1969 I willfully refused to go to Woodstock.

I agree with them.

What was I thinking?

Was my patriotism so shallow that rain, mud, outlandish music, naked women and pot smoke could rock my foundation as a true American?

I'm embarrassed about what I thought was important when I was 22 and what I did and didn't do about it.

Yet, here I am today, a middle-aged repository of all my experience which is the only source of wisdom I have to offer my kids and grandkids.

I sure as heck am not going to teach my kids that military veterans are long on judgment and condemnation and short on wisdom.

No, I'm not retired from the military. I got out after 6 years and later served 2 more in the reserve.

30 years later, I'm still aware of a sense of difference between the civilian and military world where you have got to trust somebody before you follow them.

In 1968 I was so mad at LBJ, I voted for Nixon so I guess that made me a Republican.

In 72 I thought McGovern was a peacenik and I was a war-nik so I gave RMN another vote.

In 76 I was genuinely offended at Nixon - and Ford for pardoning him - so I voted for Carter.

In 1980 when Reagan asked "Are you better off now...." he got my vote.

In 1984 he looked tougher than Mondale so I voted for RR again.

By 1988 though, I didn't trust Bush the First so I went into my vote-for-the-outsider mode and voted for Dukakis.

1992 and I'm mad at Bush Sr. who seemed to think looking like Patton would fix the economy and voted for Bill with the following little sentence in sotto voce: "Ok you SOB, you'd better not blow it."

By 1996 I began to suspect I was more of a liberal than a conservative and just couldn't bring myself to vote for Dole.

So there I am, trying to vote the man instead of the party, flip-flopping and waffling with the best of them.

By 2000 I realized that my veteran's instincts were alive and well and I saw only form without substance in Dubya. Besides, an old NBA fan like me thought Bill Bradley was the smartest guy for president and I was disappointed that he didn't get nominated.

I voted for Gore, the veteran.

So let's get real out there! Being so offended at what Kerry said and did in 1971 that you voted for George more out of spite than wisdom is not a prideful attribute.

If you think there is more international wisdom and military craftsmanship from a gang that truly cannot shoot straight, has not shot straight and literally did not serve - has not been there nor done that - then by all means betray what you think you stand for.

Speak out and reveal your belief that splashing around in shallow water is better than learning to swim and navigate in something deeper where there's much more substance to everything.

Go ahead and pretend that Repuglican political fools - presenting to us a bushwhacking war president who is bluffing - have really convinced you that Bush knows more about the military than Jack Murtha;

That Mr. Bush as a run-and-hide Texas Champagne Guardsman is truly a wiser military-veteran grown-up than Jack Murtha;

Be sure to watch a lot of Fox TV (chicken hawk heaven) and pay attention when William Kristol of PNAC fame makes a guest appearance there and talks like winning games of RISK make him a strategic wunderkind;

who said last year that Ted Koppel shouldn't have said out loud on Nightline the names of our fellow warriors who didn't make it.

And by all means, go to Kristol's pride and joy site The Project for the New American Century.

There you'll find an ivory-looking tower made of fragile glass full of intellectual hubris. It's a place where political power theories look like they came out of a perusal of Cliff Notes and where - like in RISK - military troops are nothing more than little colored blocks of wood that are casually swept off the board with each roll of the dice.

That's the alternative to using your own common sense.

Jack Murtha is much closer to the reality in which I live and the memory trove from where my own supposed wisdom comes.

I trust Jack.

Cross-posted to WashBlog at Pacifc Northwest Portal

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Watch Murtha on 60 Minutes Sunday night; Jan 15

CBS News | Murtha Details His Exit Strategy | January 14, 2006�11:03:56:

"(CBS) Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., believes the vast majority of U.S. troops in Iraq will be out by the end of the year and maybe even sooner. In his boldest words yet on the subject, the outspoken critic of the war predicts the withdrawal and tells 60 Minutes correspondent Mike Wallace why he thinks the Bush administration will do it

“I think the vast majority will be out by the end of the year and I’m hopeful it will be sooner than that,” Murtha tells Wallace, this Sunday, Jan. 15, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

“You’re going to see a plan for withdrawal,” says Murtha. He believes Congress will pass it because of mounting pressure from constituents tired of the war that could affect the upcoming midterm elections.

The political situation will force President Bush to accede to Congress, he says. “I think the political people who give [the president] advice will say to him, ‘You don’t want a democratic Congress. You want to keep a Republican majority, and the only way you’re going to keep it is by reducing substantially the troops in Iraq,’” Murtha says.

The president has said publicly that any decision regarding Iraq would be based on the situation there and not on Washington politics.

Murtha rejects the president’s argument that the war on terror is being fought in Iraq. “The insurgents are Iraqis – 93 percent of the insurgents are Iraqis. A very small percentage are foreign fighters….Once we’re out of there, [Iraqis] will eliminate [foreign fighters],” says Murtha.

“[President Bush] is trying to fight this war with rhetoric. Iraq is not where the center of terrorism is,” he says. “We’re inciting terrorism there....We’re destabilizing the area by being over there because we’re the targets,” Murtha says.

When Wallace challenges him by saying, “General Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, says your comments are damaging recruiting and hurting the troops,” Murtha respo"

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Murtha says he wouldn't join military now

Murtha says he wouldn't join military now
Tue Jan 3, 2006 9:00 AM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Rep. John Murtha, a key Democratic voice who favors pulling U.S. troops from Iraq, said in remarks airing on Monday that he would not join the U.S. military today.

A decorated Vietnam combat veteran who retired as a colonel after 37 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, Murtha told ABC News' 'Nightline' program that Iraq 'absolutely' was a wrong war for President George W. Bush to have launched.

'Would you join (the military) today?,' he was asked in an interview taped on Friday.

'No,' replied Murtha of Pennsylvania, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives subcommittee that oversees defense spending and one of his party's leading spokesmen on military issues.

'And I think you're saying the average guy out there who's considering recruitment is justified in saying 'I don't want to serve',' the interviewer continued.

'Exactly right,' said Murtha, who drew White House ire in November after becoming the first ranking Democrat to push for a pullout of U.S. forces from Iraq as soon as it could be done safely.

At the time, White House spokesman Scott McClellan equated Murtha's position with surrendering to terrorists.

Since then, Bush has decried the 'defeatism' of some of his political rivals. In an unusually direct appeal, he urged Americans on December 18 not to give in to despair over Iraq, insisting that 'we are winning' despite a tougher-than-expected fight.

Murtha did not respond directly when asked whether a lack of combat experience might have affected the decision-making of Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and their former top deputies.

'Let me tell you, war is a nasty business. It sears the soul,' he said, choking up. 'And it made a difference. The shadow of those killings stay with you the rest of your life."

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Murtha commands spotlight over Iraq policy

Murtha commands spotlight over Iraq policy

A veteran backbencher becomes an anti-war movement darling



Monday, December 26, 2005

By Maeve Reston, Post-Gazette National Bureau





WASHINGTON -- Amid the media frenzy over U.S. Rep. John P. Murtha's proposal to begin withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq at the earliest practical date, the Pennsylvania Democrat got an interview request from an unusual source.



He told an aide that he'd just gotten off the phone with Rolling Rock.



"The beer company, Congressman?" the puzzled aide asked.



"No, that magazine all the kids read," he replied.



The magazine, of course, was Rolling Stone.



Few of his colleagues would have made that mistake in a town where most politicians covet press attention. And for some, the story spoke to the authenticity of a congressman who has long preferred a backstage role.



That changed Nov. 18, when the Johnstown Democrat, a decorated Vietnam War veteran and legislative hawk, moved debate over the war in Iraq to the top of Washington's agenda by saying it was time for the United States to start pulling out.



The man described by another top Democrat, U.S. Rep. David Obey, of Wisconsin, as someone "who likes to get things done with virtually no spoken words," has become a regular on the news talk shows.



He has become a celebrity in blogosphere. One blogger recently dubbed him as the "anti-war movement's new darling," while others have begun picking apart the millions of dollars he has channeled back to his district.



Mr. Murtha's media omnipresence has opened him up to sometimes unmerciful ribbing from friends such as U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Swissvale. They have chuckled over his adjustments to prime time, most recently, his horror when a television producer tried to coax him into wearing makeup, and warned him about overexposure.



But this very public role is one Mr. Murtha is taking seriously.



"It's not about me, but I've become the spokesperson," he said in an interview last week during a break from negotiations over defense spending legislation. "There wasn't even a debate before, they just went blindly on. ... But we're starting to get the attention of the thoughtful people."





Todd Berkley, Johnstown Tribune-Democrat, AP

U.S. Rep. John Murtha: "You really get an awful lot done when you work behind the scenes."

Click photo for larger image.





Before this winter, Mr. Murtha was better known for making deals in the back halls of Congress.



U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah, D-Philadelphia, said that, if you counted the minutes Mr. Murtha had spoken on the House floor, "they'd probably add up to less than an hour during any given year of service."



"He has stepped out in a very unconventional role for himself ... and he's in the middle of a fairly serious fight," Mr. Fattah said. "Beyond the smiles and the joking, there's a real admiration for him taking a very courageous position."



As a young member in the mid-1970s, Mr. Murtha sought the advice of a senior member who told him he would maximize his impact in Congress by following two rules: Specialize in one area and always keep your word.



Mr. Murtha, a Marine who became the first Vietnam veteran in Congress, plunged into military matters and soon won a coveted seat on the defense appropriations subcommittee, where he is now the ranking Democrat overseeing billions of dollars in defense spending each year.



He gained gravitas through his advice to Republican and Democratic presidents. One year after he was elected, he went to Vietnam and Cambodia to assess the need for military aid. He led a delegation to the Philippines to observe their presidential elections at the behest of President Ronald Reagan.



In 1989, President George H.W. Bush asked Mr. Murtha to chair a delegation to observe the elections in Panama, which were fraudulent and ultimately led to the invasion by U.S. forces. And in the early 1990s, Mr. Bush once again summoned Mr. Murtha to the White House for advice before launching the Persian Gulf War; Mr. Murtha led a House delegation to survey the region, traveling 13,000 miles across three countries in 100 hours.



In the House, the Johnstown Democrat built his power from the corner seat in the back row of the chamber, where he still sits today during votes, nearly obscured from the prying eyes in the press gallery above.



"People line up there in the corner to see him," said Mr. Doyle, one of at least a half-dozen Pennsylvania lawmakers who congregate near Mr. Murtha's chair during votes. "It's funny sometimes. We're standing there like we're almost selling admission tickets."



Mr. Murtha acknowledges that his quieter approach and his seat on the defense appropriations subcommittee had led to major successes for his district. One needs to look no further than the example of National Drug Intelligence Center in Johnstown. It was on the administration's list to be closed this year, but instead got $39 million in the defense spending bill Congress just completed.



"You really get an awful lot done when you work behind the scenes," Mr. Murtha said.



While he shows a bit of wistfulness for that time when he wasn't turning down seven or eight interview requests for each one he agrees to, he says he plans to stay in his new role until he sees substantive changes.



He's worried about what programs might be cut to support the $100 billion he expects the administration to request for Iraq and Afghanistan next year. And he intends to force attention to what he sees as the military's weakened state of recruiting, its shortages in specialists such as translators and bomb demolition experts, and the lower level of readiness because of the U.S. commitment in Iraq.



"Until they get the message where the withdrawal is significant," he said, "then I'll be satisfied and I'll certainly back down."



In the meantime, he'll be trying to get his message out while not getting snared by those who'd like to make him a symbol.



After the initial interview, the photographer for Rolling Stone showed up for the shoot and tried to wrap him in an American flag.



Mr. Murtha's aide nearly jumped out of her chair at the request, but the congressman quietly said, no, he wasn't going to do that.



(Maeve Reston can be reached at mreston@nationalpress.com or 202-488-3479.)





Murtha commands spotlight over Iraq policy

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Murtha on Hardball: Generals tell him 25 years to train troops in Iraq

reposted from poster at DU

Last night I watched Rep. Murtha on Hardball; the man's sincerity and real concern, not politically correct concern, for the troops just shines through. He is a great American. What he said has not received any play in the "lib'rul media" so I thought I would post here too.

I think he told Matthews some things that he did not want to hear. One of the issues they discussed was what Bush meant when he said we would stay "until the job is done." Murtha, almost in horror, said that that was not a plan, and that according to generals he has spoken to in closed meetings that preparing the Iraqi troops for a stable Iraq may take twenty five years.

Twenty five years. Think about it. My youngest child will be 36 years old, technically old enough to have one of her children drafted. My God. What has Bush done?

Here is what he said:

MURTHA: So we've got a position where if we won't redeploy, as I'm suggesting, and let the Iraqis change their own destiny, let them handle their own destiny, we're going to be there for 100 years. I remember one time in the closed hearing, one of the top generals said, "we'll be there for 25 years." I said you saying 25 years? A lot of people think it would take that long.


Please go read this if you missed the show; it is a very worthwhile read:

Another quote showing that he thinks the casualties we have suffered thus far may be just the tip of the iceberg:

MATTHEWS: What are the military folks you get access to saying about how long it will take if we continue on the president's course, to have an Iraqi army that can defend that government?

MURTHA: I've heard estimates up to 25 years. Now we've already spent $277 billion in Iraq and Afghanistan. Let me give you a figure from Vietnam. Secretary McNamara said in 1963 that it would take us two years to win the war in Vietnam, two years.

In 1965, we had lost 2,100 people in Vietnam. From 1965 until 1972, we lost 55,000 Americans. What I'm saying is, we've lost 2,100 people now and we have become the enemy. Our troops are the targets for the insurgents.


Democratic Underground

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Video Immediate Troop Withdrawal speech Congressman John Murtha; also transcipt

Hi all,

Lietta here, animated excitement this morning on (D) Rep John Murtha's impassioned call of Immediate Withdrawal Troops. Brief research this am indicates this is not a lightweight position by this Congressman, known for his hawkish positions (per what others say about him). He's a long time and respected Congressman, long time former Marine, Vietnam Veteran, and a bit of research will tell you this is almost a pivotal turning point (imo).

A must see link to video of Congressman John Murtha's speech this morning on CNN
http://www.canofun.com/blog/videos/murthaoutofiraqnov1705.wmv

A link to partial transcript of his speech this morning
http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/pa12_murtha/pr051117iraq.html

Just some excerpts but he covers every single point and fullness of his speech is a don't miss, he states so much pertinent factual info;

"The war in Iraq is not going as advertised..."

"The American and coalition troops have done all they can in Iraq..."

"It is evident that continued military presence in Iraq is not in the best interests of the United States, Iraq, or the MIddle East..."

"The main reason given for war has been discredited..."

"Let me personalize this for you. I go to the hospitals every week... two women... they wanted to say they were happy to be alive... I had a kid in my district, was blinded and lost his foot... getting bills from a collection agency..."

"These soldiers are marvelous people..."

"It was a US intelligence failure, and it was a failure in how the intelligence was used..."

"What demoralizes is not the criticism" but the lack of a plan to win the peace.

"We must be prepared, the war in Iraq has caused huge shortfalls in our bases at home..."

"George Washington said that being prepared for war is one of the best ways to preserve the peace... we better make sure we prepare enough to preserve the peace..."

That the Coalition soldiers were considered the common enemy of the Sunnis, Saddamists and foreign Jihadists, alike...our men were the catalyst of violence in Iraq.

That our troops have become the primary target of the insurgency.

That only about 7% of the insurgency consists of foreign fighters.

That 80% of the Iraqis are against the presence of our Coalition being there and want us out of their country!

That 45% of the Iraqis think that attacks against our soldiers are justified.!

That we need to turn Iraq over to the Iraqis!

That criticism isn't what is demoralizing our troops...what is demoralizing them are the IEDs (roadside bombs)!

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Immediate Troop Withdrawal says Congressman John Murtha, former Marine - Nov 17, 2005

Vietnam vet says the Iraq war is a flawed policy wrapped in illusion

WASHINGTON (AP) -- An influential House Democrat who voted for the Iraq war called Thursday for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, another sign of growing unease in Congress about the conflict.

"This is the immediate redeployment of American forces because they have become the target," said Rep. John Murtha, D-Pennsylvania, one of Congress' most hawkish Democrats. At times during his remarks to reporters, the decorated Vietnam War veteran and former Marine was choking back tears.

"It is time for a change in direction. Our military 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," Murtha said.

Murtha, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, has earned bipartisan respect for his grasp of military issues over three decades in Congress.

He said announcing a U.S. withdrawal would provide the Iraqi government with an added incentive to have their own security forces take control of the conflict.

Murtha is a close adviser to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California. For months, Pelosi has pushed for the Bush administration to outline an exit strategy, although she has stopped short of calling for an immediate troop pullout.

Some Senate Democrats have called for immediate or phased withdrawal.

Murtha's comments came just two days after the Senate voted to approve a statement that 2006 "should be a period of significant transition to full Iraqi sovereignty" to create the conditions for the phased withdrawal of U.S. forces.

Murtha voted to give the president authority to use force against Saddam Hussein in 2002. In recent months, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee defense panel has grown increasingly troubled with the direction of the war and with the Bush administration's handling of it, particularly following reports of secret CIA prisons in Eastern Europe.

"The war in Iraq is not going as advertised. It is a flawed policy wrapped in illusion," Murtha said.

CNN.com - House Democrat�calls for immediate troop withdrawal - Nov 17, 2005

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