Dem House Representative calls for immediate troop withdrawal

…. also known as the cut and run approach:

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Warning that other global threats “cannot be ignored,” Rep. John Murtha, D-Pennsylvania, a leading adviser on defense issues, called Thursday for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

“U.S. and coalition troops have done all they can in Iraq,” the senior lawmaker said. “It’s time for a change in direction.”

He said he believes all the forces could be redeployed over a six-month period.

Murtha, a former Marine Corps colonel and veteran of the Vietnam war, is the first senior lawmaker to call for an immediate withdrawal. Other critics of the war have asked President Bush to set up a timetable for withdrawal.

And the mediots are falling all over themselves to inform us of his defense credentials (as noted a bit in the last paragraph above) in order to give his position more credibility. Surprise surprise.

But is this really news? No:

Murtha: Iraq ‘Unwinnable’
By Erin P. Billings and Emily Pierce
Roll Call Staff
May 6, 2004

Signaling a new, more aggressive line against the Bush administration’s policy on Iraq, Rep. John Murtha (Pa.), the House Democrats’ most visible defense hawk, will join Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) today to make public his previously private statements that the conflict is “unwinnable.”

Hat tip: KLo at NRO’s Corner. See this link also for more on Murtha’s “unwinnable” statement.

Glenn Reynolds’ asks “And he’s the Democrats’ hawk?”

Good question.

Thankfully, there is still one sane Democrat in the Congress: Joe Lieberman. Read his speech about the raging debate going on between Democrats and Republicans on Iraq here. He puts the handwringers on both sides to shame. My hat is off to you, Sen. Lieberman, for standing strong when so many on your side right now (and a few on my side) are making us look very weak to the enemy.

More commentary on Murtha’s call can be found at Protein Wisdom, Iowa Voice, Big Lizards, Tel-Chai Nation,

Update: Confederate Yankee notes a stirring piece by a veteran who chooses to go by the name as “Old Soldier” that is well worth reading. The piece is titled “America, Do Not Lose Heart …. Again”.

(edited to change title from “Senator” to “House Representative” 11/18 12:42 a.m. EDT– ST)