Murtha Says "Army is Broken" and American People Don't Know It

[wordpix2]

John Murtha on PBS's "One on One" with John McLaughlin said today, "The Army is broken." (Unfortunately, I cannot find a link on pbs.org or other PBS site).

Some of Murtha's main points:

*Troops are redeployed so many times in Iraq that many are put in positions for which they are not trained.
*The equipment is worn out; even at US bases, there is not enough equipment to properly train troops.
*Every brigade in the nation has been deployed, including every National Guard brigade.
*There are no troops for a second front if needed.
*Troop strength is smallest since before 1941 and the military can't make enlistment goals; therefore, the goals are regularly reduced
*The budget is unrealistic including base budget cuts, with the result that the military cannot plan
*The cost of the Iraq War is so far = $327 billion and Bush wants another $125 billion.
*60% of Iraqis want US out of Iraq and only 18% want us to stay.
*There are over 16,000 US casualties including limbs blown off, head injuries and blindness. A young soldier Murtha met at a military hospital, who lost his hands and was blinded by "friendly fire" when decommissioning a bomb, was refused a Purple Heart, which is all his family asked of the government. Murtha saw that he got one.

McLaughlin read from a document put out by David Holman, who wrote that Murtha was a co-conspirator in the ABSCAM scandal of the '70's and that Murtha's brother Kit is a defense lobbyist. Murtha responded that his brother served in the Marine Corps, has been a lobbyist for 20 years and is given no special treatment. Murtha also said he was never indicted in ABSCAM, was cleared completely during the Grand Jury stage and refused to go along with the scam, turning down $50,000 offerred from a drawer. McLaughlin suggested that perhaps Holman is engaged in character assassination and writing as part of a smear campaign and Murtha brushed it off, stating the issue is the Bush admin. "can't answer substantively."

*Murtha reiterated that the Bush Admin. is detracting from war on terrorism in changing direction to Iraq and now we're caught in a civil war---we need to redeploy out of Iraq and let the Iraqis work out their own government and security. He stated that we should not even leave advisors in Iraq since US advisors know nothing about the country's culture. Murtha predicted Bush will follow his advice eventually.

*Murtha also invoked Ronald Reagan, stating he "is turning over in his grave" and Bush has squandered the Reagan legacy and destroyed our credibility worldwide. Murtha said that when Reagan realized he made a mistake, he typically changed direction. As an example, Murtha said Reagan sent the US military into Beirut but pulled them out two months after US lost 242 men, realizing troops didn't belong there.

[thefloyd]

1. Mutha is a hero

For those here that did not know that!! Also, Talking about Reagan would be a great way for Democrats to campaign. Get those Reagan Democrats Back!!!

[wordpix2]

2. I think Murtha would make a great pres & even Repubs would vote for him

[thefloyd]

I agree

Truth is definitely not a commodity these days.

[Road Scholar]

21. If not, then easily Secretary of Defense.

[Demeter]

3. They Know

Some know and are furious, trying desperately to dislodge the leeches in government.

Some know and are praying to their false gods that a miracle might save their asses.

The rest are self-medicating in the belief that it will go away if they ignore it.

This was once a land of heroes and patriots--for nearly 200 years. And we are reduced to laughingstock by the meanest of men: greedy, godless, grotesque, and ignorant.

May they all end up imprisoned and RICOed out of their ill-got gains.

[Briar]

4. Iraq is broken

tens of thousands of innocents are dead, and the criminals who ordered this shambles should not be allowed to get off scot free.

[Uncle Joe]

5. Semper Fi John!

Kicked and recommended.

:kick:

[genie_weenie]

6. I am tearfully proud of the Strength Murtha has shown

It overwhelms me with pride to see John Murtha, almost standing alone, and speaking the truth, not worrying about his political future.

How do those platitudes taste Hillary?

Ooh-Rah...

[Surya Gayatri]

7. John Murtha--authentic American patriot,

putting his political career and reputation on the line, walking the talk.

:kick: for this exemplary Dem. SG

[democrank]

8. John Murtha is a giant compared to

the Bush administration`s bullying Chickenhawks. He knows war is about a lot more than strutting around on a stage with a flag pin and a rented costume.

[agincourt]

9. Part of the problem,

are so many reagenites and bushbots in the command structure who punish military people who tell the truth, starting at the top with Rumsfeld. The military itself is corropted by the political arm of the republican party, and an army run by bullshit often falls on hard times. The only reason more aren't leaving is that the entry level civilian pay is so poor.

[proud2BlibKansan]

10. I sure wish Murtha would run for prez

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

11. So, it was Murtha who was the Congressman who literally recoiled at

the offered bribe during Abscam.

I remember a couple of editorials remarking on this, and saying it was sad that a Congressman unequivocally refusing a bribe was so rare that it stood out.

I always remembered that snippet of the story, though had forgotten who the Congressman was.

Such integrity. MKJ

[dogday]

12. Thank Cheney for this, he was the one who recommended

that we cut our military spending, etc during the Reagan Administration. They would like to blame Clinton, but it was Cheney who made some huge cuts in the military budget when he was Sec of Defense....

[AntiFascist]

13. The army is broken....

yet Halliburton and the Carlyle Group make out like bandits. Something's not right here.

[autorank]

14. The notion that we would attack Iran is lunacy unless we use nukes.

Makes you wonder if that's their objective. It makes no sense whatsoever, it is total lunacy. At the same time, the Murtha equation says, we're screwed if we try to invade Iran. Presuming we invade, the net result would be to up the ante and use tactical nukes. This is the type of reasoning the stupidity of the Bush administration engenders. Using nuclear weapons makes no sense BUT ... If we go after Iran and the .5 million Iranian army heads for Iraq, what options do we have? Crazy stuff, awful stuff.

IMPEACH BUSH NOW

[Robeson]

16. That's my thinking. Other than doing some bombing missions and knocking..

...out some facilities, there is nothing else we can do. We don't have the conventional ability on the ground. So what else is left? Nulear weapons. Scary.

[genie_weenie]

20. No we could invade easily

Your reasoning is flawed. US forces are more than capable of conducting an invasion and push into Iran, today. You really need to think about how strong our modern air cover (bombing, strafing, invicibilty vs. their air force) and the effect that can have on increasing the combat power of our units.

But, the problems come about when we have to occupy. We are stationary, we don't have an "enemy" tank Corps waiting 55 miles up country to be blown to hell. We are forced to protect logistical lines, communications, run patrols. That's when a guerilla force is at it's trongest and we are at our weakest.

We won't use nukes.

I am anti-war, but I have no power.

[Wilms]

15. Good work. Thank you. n/t

[Rainscents]

17. Murtha is true American hero!!!

[RazzleDazzle]

18. Link?

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

19. Broken, incompetant, and overpriced.

Not to mention (mis)led by idiots.

[TahitiNut]

22. Never before has our "military" been so profitable for the already-wealthy

We're spending more than the rest of the world combined on a military that's destroying the young men and women who, based on "quaint" notions of patriotism and loyalty, join to 'serve' their fellow Americans.

Instead of being trained and deployed in roles that translate to useful skills for employment in the private sector, those 'jobs' are being outsourced and off-shored faster than they're created.

Nearly $500 billion per year of taxpayer money - the sweat and blood of American labor - is being poured into an unaccountable system that creates gushers of wealth in a multi-tiered profiteering and privateering scam of contractor/subcontractor profit-skimming created as some fraudulently-proclaimed cost-effective alternative. As a result, military personnel are not getting adequate body armor, Humvee armor, food, ammunition, or other necessary logistical support.

On top of all this, that plunder is not being taxed at even half the rate that a middle-income worker is taxed - stuffing and gorging the off-shore bank accounts of the wealthiest of the already-wealthy.

The criminality and corruption is so far beyond merely cancerous that any decent person should be vomiting daily.