Crossposted from Flopping Aces
The Politico spells out some problems for Murtha, and the Democrats, via his statement yesterday that the surge was working:
Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), one of the leading anti-war voices in the House Democratic Caucus, is back from a trip to Iraq and he now says the “surge is working.” This could be a huge problem for Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other Democratic leaders, who are blocking approval of the full $200 billion being sought by President Bush for combat operations in Iraq in 2008.
Murtha’s latest comments are also a stark reversal from what he said earlier in the year. The Pennsylvania Democrat, who chairs the powerful Defense Subcommittee on the House Appropriations Committee, has previously stated that the surge “is not working” and the United States faced a military disaster in Iraq. …
But Pelosi, who is scheduled to speak to a Democratic National Committee event in Virginia on Friday, will surely face tough questions from reporters regarding Murtha’s statement on the surge.
“This could be a real headache for us,” said one top House Democratic aide, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “Pelosi is going to be furious.”
Yup, Nancy is going is to be one pissed off lady and it appears her nails came out and dug themselves into Johnboy since he is backtracking today:
Which just proves to me how dishonest this politician is. He can’t even stand up for a what he knows is true. Our troops and our leaders have done a magnificent job over there and have turned it all around.Following a headline-grabbing uproar, Rep. John Murtha, D-Pennsylvania, moved swiftly Friday to clarify earlier remarks that seemed to suggest the Iraq surge policy was working.
The surge, he said in a statement, “has created a window of opportunity for the Iraqi government,’’ but so far the Iraqi government has “failed to capitalize on the political and diplomatic steps that the surge was designed to provide.”
“The fact remains that the war in Iraq cannot be won militarily, and that we must begin an orderly redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq as soon as practicable,” said the chair of the House Appropriations Committee’s Defense Subcommittee.
The man (and I use that term loosely) convicts our Marines before any evidence comes in to score political points, he derides our war effort to score political points, he makes idiotic suggestions such as moving our troops to Okinawa and monitor the situation to score political points (this from a former military man?). Hell The Politico itself added some quotes for good measure:
Murtha told CNN on July 12, following a Bush speech, that the president’s views on the success of surge in Iraq were “delusional.”
“Well it’s delusional to say the least,” Murtha told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. “As I said earlier, and you heard me say it, it’s a failed policy wrapped in illusion. Nothing’s gotten better. Incidents have increased. We have had more Americans killed in the last four months than any other period during the war.”
Murtha added: ”I don’t acknowledge there has been any progress made. Maybe in Baghdad. But it just breaks out someplace else. We called for extra troops two years ago. We put money in for 30,000 troops. They haven’t even been able to raise the 30,000 troops they have. So they have to break all their guidelines. But there’s no progress being made.”
Back on June 3, during an appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” Murtha bashed the White House for ”making excuses” on Iraq.
”They [the White House] keep saying the news media is being negative,” Murtha said. “They keep making excuses for the lack of progress. I’ve been hearing this month after month and I’m absolutely convinced right now the surge isn’t working and I’m convinced that if they don’t pay attention to what I’m saying and a lot of other members of Congress are saying they’re going to have a disaster on their hands because the American public want the troops out of Iraq.”
He’s a earmark ogre who will say anything and do anything to stay in power, plain and simple. He obviously sees the numbers:
The latest Rasmussen Reports tracking poll finds that 47% of Americans now say the U.S. and its allies are winning the War on Terror (see crosstabs). That’s up from 43% a month ago and reflects is the highest level of confidence measured since December 2005. Over the past 35 months, confidence in the War on Terror has been higher than today only twice, in November and December 2005.
The 47% who believe the U.S. and its allies are winning is up significantly from earlier in the year. During the first nine months of 2007, the number believing that the U.S. fell as low as 33% and reached the 40% level just once. During calendar year 2006, an average of 40% believed the U.S. and its allies were winning. That average was 45% in 2005.
In what may be just as significant a finding, only 24% of voters now believe the terrorists are winning. That’s down from 30% a month ago and represents the lowest level of pessimism recorded since 2004.
And thought it was a good idea to get in on the parade section before it left him completely behind. The rest of the world already knows the surge is working, so why shouldn’t he acknowledge it huh?
The Democrats let him know why quite quickly.
Their latest attempt to force a cut and run from Iraq by forcing the latest supplemental bill to be rewritten can’t go over real good when the earmark ogre says things are working. So like any good lapdog politician he backtracks.
Can this guy be anymore embarrassing?
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