WASHINGTON – In the three weeks since his stunning call for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, Rep. John P. Murtha, D-Pa., estimates he has received 16,000 letters, faxes and e-mails – eight of every 10 in support.
Some of the other 20 percent used language that Murtha said he hadn’t heard since he retired from the Marine Corps in 1990 after 37 years.
But the opposition hasn’t changed his view that “the American public is thirsting for a plan.”
Following President Bush’s latest speech Wednesday suggesting progress in pacifying and reconstructing Iraq, the 32-year House veteran said the White House was still divorced from reality.
The war suffered “poor planning from the start,” Murtha insisted, and the Bush plan amounted to “stay the course and hope.” He rebutted Bush’s assertions of an improving situation and said the president had lost credibility.
“I’m showing you that I don’t see the progress they are talking about,” Murtha said, holding papers with charts reflecting the state of Iraq. “The public is not buying it.”
Using blunt language and speaking with passion for U.S. troops, Murtha charged that the president was confusing “terrorism” with the insurgency. He predicted that the Iraqis themselves would quell the insurgency once American forces had departed.
“I’m convinced … there will be less terrorism, there will be less danger to the United States, there will be less insurgency once we’re out,” Murtha said.
At times Murtha gently mocked the president for not recognizing it was time to leave Iraq.
Referring to a photograph of a bemused Bush in China as he attempted to exit a locked door after a press conference, Murtha declared, “I’m trying to kick the door open! I’m trying to give him an opportunity to find a solution.”
Murtha repeated his assertion that American troops could be withdrawn within six months and redeployed to bases in Kuwait and Japan. They would return to Iraq only in the event of a threat to national security, such as a planned attack on the United States or its interests.
When he called for an end to the Iraq war Nov. 17, the 73-year-old veteran congressman from Johnstown, Pa., shocked many fellow Democrats and drew vitriolic attacks from Republicans. President Bush and Vice President Cheney were critical of Murtha initially but softened their remarks.
Murtha, a former Marine colonel, was decorated for heroism and injuries received in Vietnam. He has been a staunch advocate of the military and a leading Democratic hawk.
The White House has received some support from Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., who suggested that his party should resist undermining Bush’s credibility because he remains commander-in-chief for three more years.
“What has he (Bush) said that would give him credibility?” Murtha said, ticking off White House claims of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and connections to al-Qaeda.
During Wednesday’s meeting of House Democrats to discuss Iraq strategy, Murtha said that some 35 members endorsed his proposal, which has been championed by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California. The meeting ended without the adoption of a unifying approach.
Some Democratic leaders, notably Rep. Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and second-ranking Rep. Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland fret that that they will be branded as the “pullout party” in next fall’s congressional elections.
Murtha said he was convinced that the more congressmen who look at his proposal and “the more they study the alternatives, (then) the more people we’ll have involved in my resolution.”
The Pennsylvanian said he had received calls from 12 senators – “they’re all running for president” – asking for information about his proposal. He told one Democrat to “get off the middle ground, because what your position is, is in-between and it’s nothing.”
Murtha said the senator did not like that comment. But Murtha said he was not trying to win any hearts – just the minds.
“When I go by Arlington cemetery, and I pass by every day, I don’t see Democrat or Republican on those gravestones,” he said. “I see Americans. And that’s what I want to look at this as, an American dialogue.”
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