Guest Author - Tracey-Kay Caldwell
Rep. John Murtha know that “war is a nasty business, it sears the soul. The shadow of friends killed, the shadow of killing people, lives with you the rest of your life.” Murtha knows this because he has been to war. He is a veteran of both the Vietnam and Korean War. He has won eight military awards, including the bronze star and a distinguished service metal for his 39 years in service in the Marine Corp. On CBS’s 60 Minutes (1/15/06), Murtha stated that he believes if Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld had been in combat themselves, they would have been more reluctant to send young Americans into combat. Last November, Murtha sparked a debate in this country when he said it was time to bring the troops home. Murtha plans to reintroduce the debate again in Congress this session and to have Congress create a plan for withdrawal.
Murtha believes that Bush will be forced to accept the plan for withdrawal of the vast majority of troops from Iraq and the leaving of a ready reaction force of twenty thousand in Kuwait. Murtha believes that Bush will bow to pressures of the 2006 elections, and fears that to not withdrawal troops, will result in the Republicans loosing control of Congress. Murtha continues to speak out on behalf of the troops despite having been called a coward on the floor of the Congress and the recent swift boating of his Purple Heart medals. The Cybercast news service’s editor David Thibault, has questioned Murtha’s right to his Purple hearts. David Thibault is the former senior producer of GOP-TV’s Rising Tide, the weekly news magazine produced by the Republican National Committee. When will non-combat experienced Republicans quit questioning the right of combat experienced veteran’s to have the metals they have been awarded?
Murtha is not the only one calling for troops to come home. Walter Cronkite, former CBS news anchor, stated, “It’s my belief we should get out now.” (AP 1/15/06). Walter Cronkite started the debate on the withdrawal from Vietnam in 1968 when he said on air that the war was unwinable and the US should exit. President Johnson reportedly told a white house aid that “If I have lost the Cronkite, I have lost Middle America.” The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has calculated that the military cannot sustain more than 123,000 troops in Iraq much longer (Kaplan 1/1/06 NYT). So a plan to at least reduce troops to that level must be worked out.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has characterized the nature of the debate that need to take place. “We need a forthright discussion that begins with an honest assessment of the situation in Iraq and acknowledges both the mistakes that have been made and the signs of hope that have appeared. Most importantly, an honest assessment of our moral responsibilities toward Iraq should commit our nation to a policy of responsible transition”(USCCB, 1/12/06). The time has come for Congress to have that debate so that a bi-partisan plan for Iraq can be developed. A plan that the American people will support and fully fund, so that our troops can achieve victory in Iraq.
