What Murtha Really Said About The Surge

War proponents have seized on the words of Rep. John Murtha, D-PA, who said Thursday, following a visit to Iraq, that the troop surge is working - a seeming contradiction from earlier criticism.

But the congressman's statement was far more nuanced than what is being reported and echoes his previous statements praising the U.S. military's efforts.

Speaking via teleconference to reporters in four different cities, Murtha did acknowledge that the surge, which he had firmly criticized, has led to military successes. But he also warned repeatedly that the Iraqis were not doing enough to capitalize on those gains.

"I think the surge is working but that's only one element. It's working because of the increase in troops," he said, "but the thing that has to happen is that the Iraqis have to do this themselves..."

(The caveat was all but ignored by some conservative critics, one of whom described Murtha's claim as the equivalent of "hell freezing over.")

Since expressing skepticism over the war in November 2005, Murtha has consistently applauded the capabilities of the troops but also emphasized that, in the absence of political progress among the Iraqi government, their work would be for naught. When President Bush rolled out his surge proposal in the winter of 2007, he opposed the idea, according to the Wall Street Journal, because "it meant depleting readiness at home or extending the tours of troops [currently] in the war zone."

On Thursday, the congressman took a softer but similar stance. Murtha harped on the lack of political and diplomatic progress in Iraq. "The impression I got was that the central government was pretty close to dysfunctional," he said. "They hope the 2008 budget will be passed by 2007 but there are still 17 ministerial seats unfilled."

And he spoke worrisomely about the status of America's armed forces: "I keep stressing we can no longer afford to spend 14 billion a month on the war and let our readiness slip in other parts of the country."

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Murtha also offered several more defined criticisms of the Bush administration's war policy. He discussed the violence caused by private contractors. "They are out of control," said the congressman. "There are more of them than there are troops." And he criticized America's military equipment shortage, noting that troops were leasing heavy-lift helicopters from Russia because the domestic crop had either worn down or weren't readily available.

What Murtha's press conference - and the reaction to it - did illustrate was how much of a delicate issue Iraq has become for the Democratic Party. With the levels of violence dropping, opponents of the war have been under pressure to alter their criticisms of President Bush's strategy. The outcome, some observers predict, is playing into the president 's hands.

"While you had very well intentioned and focused people like Congressman Murtha committed to getting the troops out, the Democratic Party as a whole could have won a number of these battles and didn't," Steve Clemons, a fellow at the New America Foundation, told the Huffington Post. "The [Democrats] seem to have been drawn into a fog by President Bush to neglect the larger strategic question and to allow the seduction of the American public into thinking things are improving."

And indeed, during his conference yesterday, Murtha raised the prospect that Democratic leadership could compromise on Iraq war funding (which is currently at an impasse) by extending the time-line for withdrawing troops. Such a move seemed out of the question when he and House appropriations chairman David Obey (D-WI) address the issue only a week ago.

"Congress wants to come up with a agreement," Murtha said on Thursday.

Yet even in opening up the possibility for legislative compromise, the congressman remained convinced that the soldiers in Iraq would best be served returning home. Asked about Sen. John McCain's claim that the troops simply wanted more time to complete the mission, Murtha offered:

"I think that's true. But on the other hand they want to come home. They came up to me and said how much they appreciate what the Congress has done to make sure they had what they need... Sure they want to finish the job, they feel morally responsible I think having said that they are burned out for having been there so often."

Comments

[Tator]

This is sweet. All you poor ole Liberals are going apoplectic because you staked yourselves to the losing position and now much to your dismay we are going to win. Must make you feel real good when, what is go for a Liberal is a loose for America and what is good for America is bad for a Liberal.

Might as well give up the charade Liberals. You hate a free capitalistic America, and most of all you hate a successful military.

But please DO NOT STOP trying to SURRENDER at every chance..our side needs more clips for the fall election ads.

[Not Blind]

What else do we expect from a corrupt, immoral and purjuring "regime?" Instead of portraying the full context of Murtha's statements, they hand-picked the one sentence that was supportive of their illegal and immoral invasion of a nation (which posed NO threat to us), only due to the fact they have oil reserves which we coveted and want to dominate and profit from.
They hand-picked CurveBall's information (which turned out to be false) and exploited, propagandized it as a justification for this invasion. They played Colin Powell, who went before the U.N. with this false information, and who put his credibility and reputation on the line. They played Gen. Patreaus, who cherry-picked "intelligence," which discounted many deaths and injuries, to prove the surge was working, and as a justification for continuing the occupation of Iraq.
They're hand-picking intelligence and propagandizing the Revolutionary Guard of Iran is a terrorist organization (the Kyl-Lieberman resolution) as a pretext to invade and occupy that country as well.
Next will be a draft, conscription of all American youth (male and female) to serve the corporate greed and perjurous traitors in the administration and Congress, who won't serve themselves, will find means to have their own children and spouses exempt from military duty, while promoting and profiting from the misery and destruction they gleefully and greedily promote.

[SmellyOne]

Can't you HuffBots just be at least a little happy that the violence in Iraq has subsided by a substatial level?

It's like you want to fight that fact to the end because you are politcally motivated to do so.

It's really pathetic.

[mjjcpa]

This wimp finally realized it's now more politically expedient to support the war because we are clearly winning. He's lost all his troop-cred.

[dnels14]

THE TROOPS AND THE PAID INSURGENTS BY THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION SEEMS TO POLICING THE STREETS OF BAGDAD.. WHERE'S THE POLITICAL SOLUTION. BILLIONS OF DOLLARS WASTED..THAT MONEY SHOULD STAY HOME FOR ALL AMERICANS HEALTH CARE..WAKE UP WORLD

[doinaheckofajob]

The immature right wing wackos equate a short term success due to the surge as the be all to end all. All the surge did is slow down the death spiral momentairly. When the equation is reformulated, all hell will break lose. The only real success wil come when the Iraqis stand or fall on their own. The Bush monsters are clowns and liars and will cling to their pitiful insanity until they start WW III. Fucking idiots are the GOP and their whores.

[darker]

Republican corrupt media spinning lies, as usual.
It's been THE SPLURGE not the surge.

It's SPENDING AS USUAL by Bush-Cheney in their "mission accomplished" to create a war-profiteer NANNY STATE FOR THE RICH and corporate welfare queen pals.

Shoveling your tax dollars out of the USTreasury is the name of their game.

[bushmocker]

There has been a concerted effort by the Iraqi's to keep us there,the Iranians have curtailed shipments of IEDs by 50%(good move with oil at a hundred a barrel),the militias have been ordered to stand down.The surge isn't doing squat,if they wanted to attack us they would move to other areas and do hit and runs.We don't have near enough troops to put a dent in things.It has also been reported we are handing out enormous sums of money to the unemployed Iraqi population for performing menial tasks like picking up litter.In the meantime,with all the troops being supplied and fed by Halliburton,who do you suppose has a vested interest in staying there as long as possible?The surge will work as long as we are handing out bushels of money,I'm surprised they're not requesting to be paid in Euros.

[alfrede]

Hi,

President Bush has one year + to keep the war going in Iraq and then turn over this "thing" to the next President!

It is this observor's opinion that he and the VP will do whatever they have to do to keep the Iraq war going as is until they leave office.

Do they care about the status of the Army and Marine Corps and what these two institutions will look like when they leave office?

The Republican candidates will just have to deal with it (unfortunately).

What do U think?

[dartagnan]

Hell, when you put 30,000 more cops on the streets of course violence is going to go down. The real question is what happens when the cops go away. Of course the Smirky McChimp regime is determined to keep the cops there forever.

[ajax2]

It's actually what the opposition said, it won't nudge the political impasse one centimeter.

[Waitaminute]

Is this another mission accomplished moment? Thats claiming a military and politicl vidtory, right. So when rightwing bush suckers talk about "ONLY 37" troops lost their lives in November. They ignore nearly 4000 deaths (even according to the sold out nolonger free press), since the "mission accomplished" bull.

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

The surge was originally to be measured based on the political reconciliation is was to allow for.

No political reconcilliation.

No "successful" surge.

What is clear NOW is what many of us were saying THEN: There is no predictive cause-and-effect relationship between the two.

[Elkanah]

This morning on CNN John Roberts stated that things are changing. He stated that after a trip to Iraq John Murtha now agrees with the surge of President Bush. Things are better in Iraq as a result of the surge. None of the criticisms as pointed out in this article were mentioned. I was floored. Was this the John Murtha I know of? Frankly I did not know what had come over him. After reading this article, I understand more clearly. Why can CNN not tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

[realpolitic]

Murtha is a hero. Please keep up your pricipled opposition to this senseless war, Mr. Murtha. Despite a decrease in violence, the troops need to come home. The faster we drawdown, the sooner the Iraqis will learn to administer their affairs.

In the meantime, our bridges are crumbling, our schools are substandard, our electricity grid is outdated and not up to current demands. I never understand why conservatives rush to spend hundreds of billions in Iraq and fight every dollar investment at home. Is America not worth the investment?