Murtha's New Maneuver
Wow, how the worm has turned. I am not friendly to Mr. Murtha, but I have to give him his due when he backpedaled on his gloomy predictions on the surge in light of what is happening.
According to Drudge though he is attempting to backpedal and the likely reason is he is catching heck from his leadership. No doubt about it, he was a leading critic of the administration's Iraq effort and is now indicating the surge is working thereby undercutting the Democratic leadership's position of trying to force a complete withdrawal of our forces from Iraq.
However, I think Mistress Pelosi had a talk with Mr. Murtha:
On his literal words I agree, the war can not be won (in any serious way, sure turning the middle east into a glass parking lot may be winning but it is not serious nor would it be a victory worth anything and at best fleeting) solely by military means [alone]. We must also deploy diplomatic and political offensives to win as well.
However, are we expecting a number of people who were used to doing things in Saddam's top-down Iraq now invert the power triangle and unify the nation? Clearly, the Democrat leadership recognizes the problem but then jumps to faulty conclusions. The national government in Iraq is broken it can not be anything but broken. However, the proper response is to make sure the ground remains fertile for consensus government to take root. As long as a strong and impartial moderator is present watering & fertilizing the soil the national unity is growing from the bottom up. For too long, the policy was to hide behind large bases and not confronting the thugs in Iraq whether they were AQI, radical Sunni, or Radical Shia. This is changed and even staunch critics such as Representative Murtha now admit the fruits from the Administration's new approach.
However, the implication in Murtha's general position and in his backpedaling is run away, run away, run away!
According to Drudge though he is attempting to backpedal and the likely reason is he is catching heck from his leadership. No doubt about it, he was a leading critic of the administration's Iraq effort and is now indicating the surge is working thereby undercutting the Democratic leadership's position of trying to force a complete withdrawal of our forces from Iraq.
"I think the 'surge' is working," the Democrat [Rep. John Murtha D-PA] said in a videoconference from his Johnstown office, describing the president's decision to commit more than 20,000 additional combat troops this year. But the Iraqis "have got to take care of themselves."
Source: Murtha finds military progress in trip to Iraq - Warns that Iraqis must do more for their own security – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)However, I think Mistress Pelosi had a talk with Mr. Murtha:
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.
Source: CNN Political Ticker – Murtha clarifies surge remarks“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.
On his literal words I agree, the war can not be won (in any serious way, sure turning the middle east into a glass parking lot may be winning but it is not serious nor would it be a victory worth anything and at best fleeting) solely by military means [alone]. We must also deploy diplomatic and political offensives to win as well.
However, are we expecting a number of people who were used to doing things in Saddam's top-down Iraq now invert the power triangle and unify the nation? Clearly, the Democrat leadership recognizes the problem but then jumps to faulty conclusions. The national government in Iraq is broken it can not be anything but broken. However, the proper response is to make sure the ground remains fertile for consensus government to take root. As long as a strong and impartial moderator is present watering & fertilizing the soil the national unity is growing from the bottom up. For too long, the policy was to hide behind large bases and not confronting the thugs in Iraq whether they were AQI, radical Sunni, or Radical Shia. This is changed and even staunch critics such as Representative Murtha now admit the fruits from the Administration's new approach.
However, the implication in Murtha's general position and in his backpedaling is run away, run away, run away!
posted by Marcus Aurelius at 8:47 PM
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