Murtha just finished speaking on House floor. His answer to "Cut and Run"

[flpoljunkie]

"STAY AND PAY!"

Remember it. We are going to need to repeat it, as the Rethugs are going to beat "Cut and Run" into the ground hoping to forestall defeat in November.

STAY AND PAY!

Murtha is now speaking again. He is leading the debate for our side.

[flpoljunkie]

1. Murtha: The war cannot be won militarily, but diplomatically, politically

[BOSSHOG]

2. Its so incredibly easy

to get a "conservative" to vote for you. And by gawd, you'll never see a chickenhawk cut and run.

[Apollo11]

3. I agree with Al Gore on this issue

I know this is an issue that people have very strong feelings about.

Al Gore was asked about this question on Larry King Live on CNN this week (June 13th). This was a chance for him to say if he thought it would be a good idea to set a deadline for all US troops to leave Iraq. But his answer was more nuanced.

I mention this because many of us feel that Al Gore has a lot of credibility on this issue, being one of the first national figures to publicly disagree with Bu$h's decision to invade Iraq 3 years ago. Also - for what it's worth, Cindy Sheehan has said that Gore would be her first choice for President in 2008.

Here's what Al had to say to Larry King ...

KING: How do you end Iraq? Do you leave?

GORE: Well, yes, we need to get our troops back...

KING: Now?

GORE: ...as quickly as we can but we have to recognize that however bad I believe the mistake was in invading Iraq under these pretenses that turned out to be based on completely false impressions however big the mistake was in getting there, we now all of us, whether we thought it was wise or not, have a moral obligation to look at the situation as it is and try not to make the mess that's been created worse than it would otherwise be.
And we need to follow twin objectives, get our troops back home as quickly as we can. But, secondly, we need to avoid the moral mistake of just getting out in a way that enhances the already high risk of anarchy and/or civil war.

KING: That's a thin line.

GORE: It is a thin line and I said earlier in the program the unfortunate reality is we do not have good options now. We have to choose among the least bad options.

Al Gore on Larry King Live (transcript):
http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/13/lkl.01.html

Cindy Sheehan on Al Gore (interview):
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/5/10/181122/700

In Gore We Trust :)
www.algore.org
www.draftgore2008.org
www.draftgore2008.com

[Mass]

4. Gore is right on a lot of things, but I disagree with him on this one.\nt

[gratuitous]

6. Gore does support a quick pullout

In your excerpt, he said we need to get our troops back home as quickly as we can. That's exactly what Murtha is saying. Both Gore and Murtha (veterans remember, unlike most of the folks employing stay-the-course rhetoric) know that getting our troops out as quickly as possible is a process that will take several months, perhaps even a couple of years. Both of them know that we can't extract over 100,000 troops in a day or a week or a month.

[Apollo11]

8. How quick is quick?

If Al Gore thought we should fix a deadline 6 or 12 months from now, then he would have had the opportunity to tell the world on Larry King Live.

For me a quick pullout means all US Troops out of Iraq before the end of 2006.

It's what a lot of folks around here seem to want ...

But the last thing I want to do is misrepresent Al Gore's position on this issue.

So I will go back and edit the title of my previous post.

[gratuitous]

10. You could ask Gore how quick "as quickly as we can" is

I don't know exactly what he might have meant, but those are the words he used, and since he's a veteran, I presume he knows (I'm a stinking unpatriotic pacifist who hates America and loves terrorists and even I know) that getting 140,000 troops out of Iraq isn't going to happen overnight.

[quiet.american]

7. Actually, neither does Jack Murtha, Repubs skew his proposal

In reading Al Gore's remarks, and having attended a town hall meeting with Jack Murtha, they actually are not in disagreement.

Murtha proposes a staggered re-deployment of our troops from Iraq. The Republicans (chickenhawks to a man) immediately jumped on this and labeled it "cut-and-run."

If Al Gore and Jack Murtha were to meet on this subject, I have a feeling they would find more areas of agreement than disagreement.

[qanda]

5. Perfect!

It announces a consequence for the action and sums it up perfectly.

[izzie]

9. I guess the GOP does not dare to cross the boy in the War House.

I was mad with the women from Ohio that went on about the 'freedom' we had given the women. Really funny as it was a secular state and the women were pretty free and now they are back in their black robes and can not drive cars. Plus the religious people want to keep them down even more. Heck I can read about this what is it with this women who is in Congress and does not know what ever blog from Iraq is saying? I will say this on Lamb's question. This hurts the Congress as now both sides know the other side is nuts and it was great for every one else as, for sure, we know we have fools in Congress.

[Ian David]

12. Who cares if Iraqi women can't drive cars anymore...

since the Iraqis don't have any gasoline for their cars now anyway.

[izzie]

15. Many do not even have arms any more.

--

[Ian David]

11. I suppose that if someone REALLY believes in the war...

they're welcome to go to Iraq and fight it themselves.

All they have to do is join the Iraqi army.

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

13. Murtha up next with Wolf (CNN) ...

[rniel]

14. Booyah

Damn that's good. First thought in your mind is how much this is costing us. And not enough return on investment for the taxpayer.