John Murtha's Delusions Continued

Far be it from me to try and upstage my better half's rant involving John Murtha. Though controlled, I can assure our readers that she was raging when she heard this story come down the wires. And I can't say that I blame her. Remember that this is the same John Murtha whose strategy in Iraq is cut-and-run. That's where he got his notoriety from, and since then Democrats have been jumping on that same bandwagon.

There are dozens upon dozens of Democrat congressional candidates that are sticking by Murth'as call for withdrawal. But, this isn't about withdrawing. This is about the indictment he's handed down involving a number of Marines, and a town named Haditha. Supposedly, US Marines not only "opened fire" on civilians, but also broke into homes, and massacred double the number stated in the Time magazine that lit the fuse to this bomb. (I'd like to note that there is a slideshow on the Time site, and it appears to be the same six people in the body bags, being moved, and wrapped in the funeral shrouds.)

This is a serious allegation to be levied by doddering old fools like Murtha. And while I share the same feelings for Murtha that Marcie has--including her list of those whom he has dishonored--this, in my opinion, is the straw that broke the camel's back. Censure is surely in order for him, and if I were the people of Pennsylvania, I'd unseat his worthless backside this year. Whereas I might have a tiny bit of respect for this man for his past accomplishments, I honestly can say that I don't. There's no excuse for his irresponsible behavior. First "redeployment" (read: cut-and-run), and now this.

But the real rub of it all is the fact that these Marines, who are being investigated and have yet to be charged, have been tried and convicted in John Murtha's mind. And, of course Murtha "feels their pain" and he's admitted it. He has stated that they acted this way because of stress. In essence, he's blaming the Bush administration for this situation. "It's the administration's fault we're in Iraq, and it's so stressful on our troops, and they're snapping and killing civilians, journalists, and bad guys." Bravo-sierra, Congressman Murtha. I don't buy it. Further, anyone who does buy this is an idiot. The JAG office has yet to hand down charges. "Why not?" shrieks the Left.

Simple Einstein. The investigation is still ongoing. As long as it is, there are no charges. But that doesn't stop blowhards and conspiracy theorists like John Murtha from coming out and making the allegation that there was a massacre. To him, these men are war criminals. We remember the last moron to accuse our troops of a war crime, and we also remember how lightly he got off. Let's not repeat it this time. Let's really slam Murtha's d**k in the door over this.

This is completely and totally irresponsible. Not only is it a congressman, and not a spokesman for the JAG or the Marines making this statement, but he has grossly exaggerated the actual incident. According to the Army Times report this incident occurred after an IED attack. A firefight ensued. John Murtha disputes that there was no IED, and no firefight. I think based on his comments alone, he shows he really has no clue.

We have countless incidents that have occurred where IEDs have gone off in Iraq, then the troops immediately afterword start taking fire--like the enemy is picking off the survivors. The Marines and Army have become adept at handling such ambushes, and that's why I doubt Murtha's comments. Bob Owens at Confederate Yankee notes a similar sentiment, and backs it up with recent history.

There is the possibility that the Marines did gun down innocent civilians as local Iraqis claim. But it is equally as possible that one or more people inside the house opened fire upon the Marines in an ambush after the IED went off. It has happened that way frequently, and that exact scenario left ABC anchor Bob Woodruff and cameraman Doug Vogt seriously wounded, when the IED attack that wounded them was followed by small arms fire from nearby buildings. The attack was broken when coalition forces counterattacked.

Someone who truly supports the troops, even if they do not support the war, would want this incident fully investigated to uncover the truth. They would want to know the facts.

They would want to know if the Marines fired out of blind rage at the loss of their friends, and they would be equally interested in finding out if the Marines assaulted that location because someone inside fired upon them, as they claimed. Was it a slaughter of innocents, or were insurgents firing from within civilian homes? Were those that triggered the IED among the dead? We do not yet know, and some are already passing judgment.

And again, that goes to the irresponsibility of an incompetent congressman. Murtha should not be passing judgment on these guys. But in his story, he's already spinning this away fropm being the fault og the Marines on the ground, and more towards the administration. See, I don't buy the stress line. Allow me to explain.

I have never served in this nation's military. Physically I can't. Arthritis in both knees and a bad back would prevent me from even coming close to finishing basic training. So, I support the troops in other ways. I support them here, at pro-troop rallies, and in knowing as much about the military as I can. I do tons of reading (BTW Robert Kaplan's "Imperial Grunts" is a must-read for anyone wanting to know the current condition of our military; it doesn't seem to represent the military that Murtha and others portray.) I do loads of research. So, while I may never have served, I'm still a helluva lot closer to understanding the military--knowing its tactics, strategies, MO's, etc.--than the average civilian. I've spoken with veterans from past wars, and I've spoken with veterans of the GWOT.

These men aren't under any undo amount of stress. They aren't on the verge of cracking. These men are experienced soldiers and operators. They're seasoned vets. They know what the hell they're doing. Hell, I spent a week with Marcie's brother when he came on leave. He's one of the most stable and down-to-earth guys you could get to know. But in Murtha's eyes--coming from the Vietnam era of a man who disliked that war, I'm sure, to begin with--he is trying to gin up support for the antiwar crowd, and by injecting this story into the foray of debate, he's given the antiwar nutters another talking point to latch onto.

Let me tell you what this story caused, in the way of fervor, in the chat rooms last night. I occassionally venture into them, just to tweak the Left a bit, and the accusations thrown around the room last night inreference to this story--"baby killers," "murderers," "war criminals," "goose-stepping fascists," and calls for trial in the Hague just barely scratch the surface. (And yeah, trying to explain this logically and rationally to these people is like convincing the MSM that they're virtually irrelevant.) But this is what he's caused, and today's only the first full day of coverage. I can only imagine what sort od delusional moonbats will be on the prowl in the rooms later tonight.

Thank you Congressman Murtha. Only you could dishonor yourself twice inside of a year. Hell, not even Uncle Teddy did that. You should get the Democrat's "Golden Jackass" award for being even more nutter than most of you looney friends in the party.

Publius II