Murtha: GOP will turn on Iraq when ’08 pick is made

[sabra]

Source: The Hill

House Appropriations Defense subcommittee Chairman John Murtha (D-Pa.) said Monday that he expects that Republican lawmakers will begin abandoning President Bush’s Iraq policy after the GOP picks a presidential candidate next year.

“As soon as the primaries are over, you’ll see Republicans start jumping ship,” Murtha said in remarks at the National Press Club.

Murtha also predicted that, despite the unpopularity of Congress, Democrats will make broad gains in next year’s election because voters are upset with the war.

“People are frustrated, but you’re going to see a big Democratic increase,” he told reporters after his speech. “I think we’ll pick up 40 (to) 50 seats.”

Read more: http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/murtha-gop-will-turn-on-iraq-when-08-pick-is-made-2007-09-17.html

[Greeby]

1. It's sick and inhuman, but Murtha is probably on the money

:(

[PittPoliSci]

2. he's probably dead on.

[bdamomma]

3. watch him now on C span 2

http://c-span.org/watch/cs_cspan2_wm.asp?Cat=TV&Code=CS2

[Texifornia]

4. He was right in early 2006

he was among the first to predict the Democratic "surge" in '06.

Come 2009 Democrats will have both electoral branches firmly in hand.....and an unimaginably tall pile of shit to deal with.

[BonnieJW]

6. I've seen in many places that this is the repub plan.

Let the dems win everything in 08 and then blame them for everything they can't fix by 2012 then win everything back.

[Virginia Dare]

11. Sounds about right...

they can see that not a whole lot can be salvaged from eight years of the chimp and evil dick.

[SoFlaJet]

8. yea you're right Tex

but I think the dems will be able to do it. Who knows all this horrible crap we've had to endure since November 2000 will end up for the better for this country. I LIKE the idea of having health care as I get into my mid 50's

[NBachers]

5. Inflation

Including the inflation and financial mess affiliated with paying the bills for this war and buying our country back from China. And let's pray to God that the dollar doesn't crash on the Dem's watch. Republicans and the Bush Administration have been larding on every pre-emptive treasonous nation-destroying sabotage they can think of; specifically to discredit the coming Democratic wave. Where oh where is Madame Dufarge when we need her?

[Strelnikov_]

7. Juan Cole: the moment Bush went into Iraq, Americans were screwed

http://www.juancole.com/

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

In other words, the Democratic president risks being Fordized when s/he withdraws from Iraq, by the aftermath. A one-term president associated with humiliation abroad and high inflation at home? Maybe I should say, Carterized. The Republican Party could come back strong in 2012 and then dominate politics for decades, if that happened.

It is all so unfair, of course, since Bush started and prosecuted this disaster in Iraq, and Bush is refusing to accept responsibility for the failure, pushing it off onto his successor. But life is unfair. So what can the Dems do to avoid being made the fall guy this way? They could try to legislate stronger US diplomacy aiming at ensuring peace between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran even if there is sectarian violence on a greater scale in Iraq. They could resist the temptation to demonize Iran or to push it onto a war footing with threats or even bombings.

As for Iraq itself, the best hope for the Dems may be that Gen. Petraeus actually succeeds, over the next year, in significantly reducing ethnic tensions. It is a slim reed to hold onto, as they recognize. But from the moment Bush went into Iraq, Americans were screwed. And that includes the Democratic Party, which is being set up to take the fall.

I'm a severe skeptic on the likelihood of anything that looks like success in Iraq. But I don't think career public servants such as Ryan Crocker and David Petraeus are acting as partisan Republicans in their Iraq efforts. I think they both are sincere, experienced men attempting to retrieve what they can for America from Bush's catastrophe. They may as well try, since the Democrats can't over-rule Bush and get the troops out, anyway. If the troops are there, they may as well at least be deployed intelligently, which is what Gen. Petraeus is doing. I wish them well in their Herculean labors. Because if they fail, I have a sinking feeling that we are all going down with them, including the next Democratic president. And their success is a long shot.

[CANDO]

9. It's sad the message isn't about what they did to our government.

The real message needing to be emphasized is why our government has failed miserably to meet the needs of the people under Republican control. They only care about ideologically driven agendas and not a tinker's damn about whether the government functions properly. That should be the message. This Iraq war thing is important, but the Dems are treating it almost as a win by default. You have to vote for us because there isn't any other choice. This will come back to haunt them in the end if they don't wise up.

[RamboLiberal]

10. Murtha's speech

-----

If you look back at what Napoleon learned in Spain, what the French learned in Indo-China and Algeria, what the Soviets learned in Afghanistan, and what the U.S. learned in Vietnam, the lessons of history are clear: there is a limitation to military power. Economic, political and diplomatic challenges must be solved. They can’t be solved by military means and they shouldn’t be distorted by rhetoric.

Rhetoric, spin and slogans do not win wars. Likewise, the war in Iraq will not be won with charts, projections or sound bytes saying, "we will return on success."

The Administration claims we are witnessing another turning point in Iraq. They claim progress is being made and now depending upon the "conditions on the ground," more troops will come home.

But we have heard this before. The same predictions were made with Saddam’s capture, the adoption of the constitution, with national elections, and with the capture and killing of several terrorists in Iraq.

A week ago on a Sunday talk show, a reporter expounded on a personal moment with the President in the White House when she asked him, "Mr. President, how do you continue to press forward when the war is so unpopular and things seem to be going so wrong in Iraq?" The President responded, "Because I am right."

Right about what Mr. President?
Right about weapons of mass destruction?
Right about Saddam’s involvement in 9-11?
Right about mission accomplished?
Right about thinking he could fight this war on the cheap?
Right at the ease at which Iraq could be transformed into a pillar of democracy?

Entire Speech: http://www.house.gov/list/press/pa12_murtha/npcremarks.html

This snippet from Daily Kos: http://www.dailykos.com/