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Puck
The Texan
Joined: 05 Jan 2004
Posts: 5596
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 Thu May 06, 2004 8:43 pm 'Unwinnable' comment draws GOP fire |
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| Quote: |
'Unwinnable' comment draws GOP fire
Democratic lawmaker says changes needed for victory
From Ted Barrett
CNN Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A pro-military Democratic congressman's description of the war in Iraq as "unwinnable" unless changes are made sparked anger in House Republicans Thursday.
Rep. John Murtha, D-Pennsylvania, in a news conference with Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, said the problems in Iraq are due to a "lack of planning" by Pentagon chiefs and "the direction has got be changed or it is unwinnable."
Republicans seized on that word, ignoring Murtha's overall point: that more troops and equipment should be sent to Iraq.
Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, the majority leader, accused Murtha of participating in a "calculated and craven political stunt."
"The Democrats are quitting, calling the war unwinnable while we have our men and women and their families sacrificing every day" charged Rep. Sam Johnson, R-Texas, who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam.
Democrats are "basically giving aid and comfort to the enemy," echoed Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Texas.
Murtha usually wins high praise from Republicans for regularly supporting increases to the Pentagon's budget. As the top defense appropriator in his party, his views tend to carry a lot of weight.
But the word "unwinnable" -- which greeted lawmakers Thursday morning above the fold in the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call -- quickly became a Republican target.
Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-California, who chairs the appropriations' defense subcommittee, said his friend was co-opted by Pelosi so she could drum up opposition to the war she voted against.
He said it was part of "movement" by Pelosi and her strategists "because it could have an impact on election time."
She's "using the issue for purely campaign political purposes," Lewis said.
At the news conference, Pelosi said Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld should resign because of his handling of the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal.
"He has been engaged in a cover-up on this issue and continues to be," she said.
Murtha complained that the administration treats Congress "with absolute arrogance" but said he doesn't want Rumsfeld to resign.
He also said he does not think the United States should withdraw from Iraq. Rather, he said, more troops and supplies should be sent.
"We cannot prevail in this war with the policy we have today. We need to mobilize or get out," he said.
"It would be devastating to pull out now, but it may be impossible to mobilize now that the public has turned against it," he said.
Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/05/06/murtha.iraq/index.html
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Republican_Man
STV's Premier Conservative
Joined: 26 Mar 2004
Posts: 14823
Location: Classified
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| Sat May 08, 2004 2:16 pm |
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Hint: We've ALREADY WON the war. This is just the aftermath...
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"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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Puck
The Texan
Joined: 05 Jan 2004
Posts: 5596
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| Sat May 08, 2004 6:38 pm |
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I think that the democrats are really more concerned about winning the whitehouse than winning the war.
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Republican_Man
STV's Premier Conservative
Joined: 26 Mar 2004
Posts: 14823
Location: Classified
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| Sat May 08, 2004 9:49 pm |
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| JanewayIsHott wrote: | | I think that the democrats are really more concerned about winning the whitehouse than winning the war. |
That is the unfortunate, yet UTTER truth, Janeway.
-------signature-------
"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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Link, the Hero of Time
Vice Admiral
Joined: 15 Sep 2001
Posts: 5581
Location: Kokori Forest, Hyrule
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| Sat May 08, 2004 11:34 pm |
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| Republican_Man wrote: | | Hint: We've ALREADY WON the war. This is just the aftermath... |
Actully, we haven't won the war. We just ousted the dictator. The fighting still continues and boths sides continue to lose men.
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"Dissent is the highest form of patriotism." President Thomas Jefferson
"A man's respect for law and order exists in precise relationship to the size of his paycheck." Adam Clayton Powell Jr.
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Republican_Man
STV's Premier Conservative
Joined: 26 Mar 2004
Posts: 14823
Location: Classified
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| Sun May 09, 2004 9:24 pm |
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We won the war because we captured the leader and gained temporary control of the country. So fighting is still going on--it was after the United States Civil War, but the war was still over.
-------signature-------
"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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Link, the Hero of Time
Vice Admiral
Joined: 15 Sep 2001
Posts: 5581
Location: Kokori Forest, Hyrule
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| Mon May 10, 2004 2:13 am |
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| Republican_Man wrote: | | We won the war because we captured the leader and gained temporary control of the country. So fighting is still going on--it was after the United States Civil War, but the war was still over. |
The Civil war ended with a treaty signed between both generals, or did you forget that?
The war with Iraq is still going on despite the fact that we have their leader. Gaining control of the country doesn't mean we win the war. Empires have fallen because they believed that.
-------signature-------
"Dissent is the highest form of patriotism." President Thomas Jefferson
"A man's respect for law and order exists in precise relationship to the size of his paycheck." Adam Clayton Powell Jr.
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Pah-Wraith
Sheikh
Joined: 30 Nov 2001
Posts: 6012
Location: Londonistan.
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| Mon May 10, 2004 12:31 pm |
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I agree with Link, the country is not fully America's yet. The Ayatollahs still wield the most Political Power within the Predominately Shi'ite Communities.
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