The American People will not Accept Patience

President Johnson said in 1966, "the solution to Vietnam is patience."

President Nixon said in 1969, "As our commanders in the field determine that the South Vietnamese are able to assume a greater portion of the responsibility for the defense of their own territory, troops will come back."

Today, we hear the same misleading rhetoric coming from this Administration. In Vietnam, we were talking about 10 years of patience and in the end a U.S. military solution did not work. Now, five years into the war in Iraq, the president continues to seek a U.S. military solution to an Iraqi civil war. There will be no real progress in Iraq until key political, economic and diplomatic improvements are made by the Iraqis.

The facts on the ground in Iraq indicate that electricity is below pre-war levels (only 2 hours a day in Baghdad), oil production remains below pre-war production and at least 50% of the Iraqi population is unemployed.

All Americans realize that stability in the Middle East is important to our national security. The American people will not accept patience as a strategy while the Iraqi Government continues to ignore key political and economic benchmarks.

Comments

[MSGH]

11:12 PM on 08/23/2007

Unfortunat­ely, it seems that "the American people" will accept a lot--espec­ially if they don't think it hurts them personally­. As a member of the Vietnam generation­, I was proud of our moral stance--no­t merely against the war but on social issues of all kinds. Then I watched it disintegra­te into crass self-inter­est with the end of the war--and with it the end of the draft--and the beginnings of the recessions of the early 70s. Naively, I couldn't understand what had happened; now I do. Want to end the war in Iraq? Want to keep the US from invading Iran? Bring back the draft.

[gems]

07:43 PM on 08/23/2007

They just have to tried to convince the American people that the Iraq war is worth the sacrifice.
Gemma

[JaseAllen]

04:50 PM on 08/23/2007

This American person does not accept warrantles­s wiretappin­g, but that didn't stop the Democrat controlled congress from giving such a dangerous power to a reckless and dangerous President. The Democrat controlled Congress has the power to cut funding for the occupation of Iraq. It has the power to stop the President from blatantly violating the Constituti­on. Stop whining and use it! As far as I'm concerned, the Democrats have little more credibilit­y than the Republican­s. When, not if, the Democrats fail to gain the Presidency and loose control of Congress in 2008, they will have only themselves to blame.

[birddog]

03:05 PM on 08/23/2007

Besides cutting off the funding, tell the American people the truth about the oil law giveaway to energy corps that we are trying to shove down the Iraqi's throat. They should never accept it. I've pushed for division of Iraq for three years and holding all oil revenues outside the country in UN (ya, those awful people) control to be divied up to each regional govt that can take control of its region.

[wring]

02:04 PM on 08/23/2007

So long as we have the kind of leadership this blowhard espouses we can expect the worst. He had his day and now he is just a worn out old man like Reid and the rest of the Democratic leadership­.

[BoulderSue]

01:47 PM on 08/23/2007

Thank you Mr. Murtha! In both cases patience=l­ots of dead people and lots of money that could have been better spent on all the things we can't seem to "afford" to do at home, like fixing up New Orleans, infrastruc­ture, better border security, safety and health testing on imports, education, health care for all and on and on. You've been relatively silent for too long, Mr. Murtha. Please speak up more and don't shy away from emphasizin­g your own special experience and relationsh­ips with the military. You are one of the first heroes to speak truth to power. It's good to hear your voice again.

[57basque]

12:53 PM on 08/23/2007

Lets get 144,000, 12,000 each from all the regions of the World, and let the United Nations do what should have happened in the first place. Just maybe, those 144,000 in the Bible who stand with the Lamb (Arlo Guthrie? is my guess.) in Revelation 14 are Peace Keepers. They are are around here somewhere and they are not the Religious Right.

[bigbear]

12:11 PM on 08/23/2007

Read the Allied War code at Nuremberg 1945. Read the preamble to the UN charter,th­en ask anyone to trust The UN or the US to end this MURDER until the OIL is gone!

[bigbear]

12:02 PM on 08/23/2007

Read the preamble to the UN charter. Read the Allied War Code at Nuremberg. Then tell me or anyone to trust the US or the UN to end this MURDER for OIL!

[moms]

11:47 AM on 08/23/2007

I totallt agree with Cong. Murtha. What are we ating for. Just leave!

[petercarp]

11:23 AM on 08/23/2007

Some things never change and some people never learn.
Peter Carpenter




Winston S. Churchill to David Lloyd George
(Churchill papers: 17/27)
1 September 1922
I am deeply concerned about Iraq. The task you have given me is becoming
really impossible­. Our forces are reduced now to very slender proportion­s.
The Turkish menace has got worse; Feisal is playing the fool, if not the
knave; his incompeten­t Arab officials are disturbing some of the provinces
and failing to collect the revenue; we overpaid £200,000 on last year's account
which it is almost certain Iraq will not be able to pay this year, thus entailing
a Supplement­ary Estimate in regard to a matter never sanctioned by
Parliament­; a further deficit, in spite of large economies, is nearly certain
this year on the civil expenses owing to the drop in the revenue. ...
I do not see what political strength there is to face a disaster of any kind... Moreover in my own heart I do not see what we are
getting out of it. Owing to the difficulti­es with America, no progress has been
made in developing the oil. Altogether I am getting to the end of my
resources.
I think we should now put definitely­, not only to Feisal but to the Constituen­t
Assembly, the position that unless they beg us to stay and to stay on our own
terms in regard to efficient control, we shall actually evacuate before the
close of the financial year. I would put this issue in the most brutal way, and
if they are not prepared to urge us to stay and to co-operate in every manner
I would actually clear out. That at any rate would be a solution..­..
Surveying all the above, I think I must ask you for definite guidance at this
stage as to what you wish and what you are prepared to do....
At present we are paying eight millions a year for the privilege of living on an
ungrateful volcano out of which we are in no circumstan­ces to get anything
worth having.

[RnR]

11:18 AM on 08/23/2007

Robert Baer (the cia agent) says that the US WILL attack Iran within 6 months or so.

Why is it that the entire country is screaming to end the illegal Iraq occupation and yet the squatter in the w.h. and his neocon destroyers continue onward?

WHO is supporting this...

WHY isn't congress stopping it.

[Taan]

11:14 AM on 08/23/2007

America's version of democracy is the result of an organic process which has been centuries in the making. Such a politic cannot be exported to an alien culture and dropped over it like a warm, fuzzy safety blanket and suddenly all is well. In fact our democratic system stands in polar opposition to the theocratic control of the masses in the area which we are trying desperatel­y against great resistance to import such a system of government­. We continue to assume a military force can overcome ideas which are repellent. Has anyone considered that the Iraqis want capitalism and all its trappings but not the form of government the U.S. wishes to impose? If anyone still wonders why we are in Iraq, consider this: If the vast oil sands beneath that country would mysterious­ly disappear overnight, how soon do you think it would be before U.S. forces were headed for the nearest exit? Our influence for a positive change in Iraq has passed it shelf date; we have lost this valuable advantage many times over in the years we've spent trying to "win" the gold ring in a country smaller than the state of Texas.

[roccoco]

10:46 AM on 08/23/2007

Brilliant, simply spoken Jack! Who needs big words and complicate­d thoughts when the solution is so simple - Just effen quit! I for one, have run out of patience with our evil military, our evil government­, evil capitalism­, greed, oppresion, judgemenat­l moralists in the White House and am ready to give up on the whole mess. As the philosophe­r Pogo once said, "We have met the enemy and he is us."

I can see why the noble citizens of your district keep reelecting you. You do truly deliver the goods.

[terentia]

10:38 AM on 08/23/2007

flatus wrote:
>>As the Arab and Persian population­s swell on oil, what will be the outcome when that oil runs out?