Iran and Qaeda benefit from US in Iraq: congressman (Murtha)

[leftchick]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/05/AR2006030500361.html


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. presence in Iraq is hurting the worldwide war on terrorism and benefits only Iran and al Qaeda, U.S. Rep. John Murtha said on Sunday.

"The only people who want us in Iraq are Iran and al-Qaeda," Murtha said on CBS's "Face the Nation" political talk show. "And I talked to a top-level commander the other day and he said China wants us there also. Why? Because we're depleting our resources ... our troop resources and our fiscal resources.

"... The war on terrorism is worldwide. In Iraq, it's a civil war," said Murtha, a Pennsylvania Democrat.

Murtha, who in November called for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, said it was useless for the United States to advise Iraqis.

"One of the problems I see and frustrating things is our ambassador keeps giving advice to the Iraqis," Murtha said. "Every time we give the Iraqis advice, they vote for someone else ... The Iraqis don't pay attention to our advice."

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

1. GO John... keep it up

just stay off small planes, dude.

[leftchick]

2. he was fantastic!

read the last two paragraphs in the article. He essentially calls pace and bushco** LIARS.

[stevedeshazer]

6. Yes, he all but called General Pace a liar.

Murtha was great.

[EVDebs]

8. Rep Mike Thompson (St Helena, CA) has a bill to withdraw troops

from Iraq by Sept 30th I hear. This may or may not pass but is the last chance really. Sen McCain, if he takes Cheney's place if Cheney resigns, is adamant about keeping US troops in Iraq till hell freezes over

""When asked this week on CNN how long the U.S. military is likely to remain in Iraq, Senator John McCain replied "probably" 10 or 20 years. "That's not so bad," he said...""

http://spectrumz.com/z/fair_use/2004/09_04.html

McCain is the R's frontrunner for '08

[Greeby]

9. H Con Res 348

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:H.CON.RES.348:

Expressing the sense of Congress with respect to accomplishing the mission in Iraq. (Introduced in House)

HCON 348 IH

109th CONGRESS

2d Session

H. CON. RES. 348

Expressing the sense of Congress with respect to accomplishing the mission in Iraq.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

February 28, 2006

Mr. THOMPSON of California submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of Congress with respect to accomplishing the mission in Iraq.

Whereas the members of the United States Armed Forces have served honorably and courageously in Iraq;

Whereas Congress and the people of the United States owe a debt of gratitude to those members of the Armed Forces who have died fighting for their country; and

Whereas Iraq will have established a free and democratic government once it completes its constitution-making process: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that--

(1) the United States should not maintain a permanent military presence or military bases in Iraq;

(2) the United States should not attempt to control the flow of Iraqi oil; and

(3) United States Armed Forces should be redeployed from Iraq as soon as practicable after the completion of Iraq's constitution-making process or September 30, 2006, whichever occurs first.

[EVDebs]

14. "Redeployment" and not withdrawal from the region are more apropos

terms. Scalable response but getting the job done right is what this is all about. A civil war, with US troops in between, makes no sense. Let the Iraqis get sick of war and then if they ask us back...we can 'think about it' this time around.

[wookie294]

3. See the video here

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/03/05.html#a7402

[XOKCowboy]

4. Murtha has credibility...

with the Repugs and the military. It wasn't long ago that he was thought of as one of those Dems that might as well join the other party. SuperHawks get a lot of flak in our party. What I like about him is his ability to say "I was wrong" then stick to his word. A politician with integrity. What a concept.

[sattahipdeep]

5. Iran and Qaeda and this guy benefit....

[EVDebs]

7. "Mission Accomplished" .... for Iranian intelligence, according to

DIA's Pat Lang.

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/print.php?sid=16284

""The Defense Department this week halted payment of $340,000 a month to Chalabi's program. Chalabi had long been the favorite of the Pentagon's civilian leadership. Intelligence sources say Chalabi himself has passed on sensitive U.S. intelligence to the Iranians.

Patrick Lang, former director of the intelligence agency's Middle East branch, said he had been told by colleagues in the intelligence community that Chalabi's U.S.-funded program to provide information about weapons of mass destruction and insurgents was effectively an Iranian intelligence operation. "They knew exactly what we were up to," he said.

He described it as "one of the most sophisticated and successful intelligence operations in history."

"I'm a spook. I appreciate good work. This was good work," he said.""

Bush, Cheney, and all who did the WHIG/PNAC treachery to 'do' the Iraq war should be charged with treason. Bypassing legitimate CIA intelligence and stovepiping lies to promote an agenda, at the expense of the US military's own strength along with abusing the taxpayers.

Lovely conservative principles on display.

The DOD's Office of Inspector General is either compromised or just plain unwilling to level the charges. What say you, DUers ?

Also, read what is being covered up, just to get to the full extent of this fiasco
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=2466336

Mind boggling incompetence; thirty year old plans, dusted off the shelf.

[worldgonekrazy]

10. China? Thats interesting.

Probably might as well throw Russia in there too, as they might as well cast their lot with China.

[leftchick]

11. One of the very few brave Dems in congress who tell it like it is

:)

[cassiepriam]

12. yes, it is mission accomplished all right, but by the other side

[0007]

13. Murtha very skeptical!

Read more here

"We have a situation where our military is in such bad shape, it couldn't deploy to a second front," Murtha said. "And the Iranians know this. North Korea knows it. China knows it. We're depleting our resources in Iraq."

Marine Gen. Peter Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday and said the war in Iraq was going "very, very well" but Murtha was skeptical.

"Why would I believe him?" he said. "This administration, including the president, has mischaracterized this war for the last two years ... So why would I believe the chairman of the Joint Chiefs when he says things are going well?"