John Murtha was actually compared to Michael Moore by White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan. With no disrespect to Mr. Moore intended, John Murtha is a highly decorated Marine veteran of multiple wars, perhaps the most widely respected individual in the House of Representatives on military affairs. Often referred to as a hawk, Rep. Murtha was at one time a staunch supporter of the Iraq War. As he held back tears during his Friday morning press conference, he declared it is time to bring the troops home: "They've done all they can do."
The Republicans sent 14 House members out as attack dogs to counter Murtha's words. In debate on the House floor later that day, a colleague of Mr. Murtha had the audacity to call him "a coward." Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert claimed that Murtha and his cohorts who support a troop withdrawal "want us to retreat. They want us to wave the white flag of surrender to the terrorists of the world."
Republicans have read the latest CNN/ USA Today/Gallup Poll and they realize a majority of Americans think not only was the Iraq War a mistake, but "the Bush administration deliberately mislead the American public" into it. The Republican Congressional Caucus cannot afford to allow an unpopular, unsuccessful war to be the headlining issue as voters march to the ballot box.
Since the upcoming election is the principal concern of Republican legislators, it will be the fundamental issue shaping U.S. policy in Iraq. An amendment sponsored by the Republican leadership in the Senate and overwhelmingly supported on the floor aims to clarify U.S. policy in Iraq. The Senate is requiring quarterly reports regarding the status of the occupation, the efforts to include other nations in the rebuilding of Iraq and the capacity of Iraqi forces to replace U.S. troops. This amendment represents a key turning point as the first time Republicans are demanding accountability from the White House.
The status reports, however, will not dictate a timetable for troop withdrawal - that decision will be based exclusively on the political climate. Think back and remember the march up to the Iraq War; it was so obviously engineered and coordinated based on the calendar of the election. Just as the Republican Party led the nation into an unnecessary war in order to put forward a wartime president for the election, it will set in motion the process of concluding an unpopular war with regard for political expediency and electoral timing. The Senate has begun this chain of events having passed its first piece of legislation expressing unease over the direction of the War.
Whether it is beneficial for the United States to pull out of Iraq will not be the deciding factor in the Republican agenda, but it is a question that needs to be considered carefully. Although the U.S. presence undeniably inflames the insurgency, it has also prevented the outbreak of a full-scale civil war. The United States is damned if it stays in Iraq - a well-organized, relentless insurgency continues to slaughter both Iraqi civilians and U.S. soldiers - and it is damned if it leaves the now-divided and militarized nation to launch brutal civil war.
I have no expertise to advise the correct path. Unfortunately, the self-proclaimed keepers of national security, the Republican Congressmen and women who have all the relevant information at their disposal, care only about getting themselves re-elected.
Lincoln Restler '06 is full of Mirth-a.
