Congressman Murtha Crafts Bill to Prevent Iraq Troop Deployments
Murtha's Law
WASHINGTON — A powerful Democrat and Iraq war foe said he intends to introduce legislation in the coming weeks that would effectively end President Bush's plans to send 21,500 more troops into Iraq by setting limits on which troops can be sent.
Using an unusual medium — a recorded interview posted on the Internet — Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., said his bill would prevent troops from being sent back to Iraq too soon or too poorly equipped. Troops being sent back to Iraq for another tour would have to stay in the United States at least one year before being redeployed. The bill would also end "stop-loss" policies by preventing the president from retaining troops in Iraq after their enlistments expire.
Murtha, who is chairman of the defense subcommittee to the House Appropriations Committee, said he is formulating legislation with teeth because he doesn't think Bush's plan to send more troops to Baghdad and al Anbar province would accomplish the goals of bringing peace to the country or returning troops home sooner.
The Bush administration "won't be able to continue. They won't be able to do the deployment. They won't have the equipment. They don't have the training and they won't be able to do the work," Murtha said in the post on the Democrat-friendly Web site MoveCongress.org. "This vote will limit the options of the president and should stop this surge."
Murtha's proposed legislation drew a heated response from the House's top Republican, Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, who said the bill would "cut off funding for troops in harm's way by making sure the reinforcements they need to complete their mission in Iraq never arrive."
"While American troops are fighting radical Islamic terrorists thousands of miles away, it is unthinkable that the United States Congress would move to discredit their mission, cut off their reinforcements, and deny them the resources they need to succeed and return home safely," Boehner said in a statement.
"The American people will not support a strategy that involves pulling the rug out from under American troops in the combat zone by cutting off their reinforcements and forcing them to face the enemy without our full support," Boehner added.
Murtha said the legislation would not necessarily deprive the administration of money but would redirect it, and it would be crafted to protect the troops, not harm them.
"We need to make sure that everybody understands we're going to support the troops. We're going to give the troops everything they need. We're not going to .. make any of them vulnerable," Murtha said. "But we're going to make darn sure that they have what they need before they go over."
By crafting legislation with those goals in mind, Murtha said, "that stops the surge for all intents and purposes."
The Pennsylvania Democrat added that he is also considering language in the legislation that would close the military prisons at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib, and the bill might include a provision requiring the president to get approval from Congress before taking any military action against Iran.
Murtha said his legislation would be added the defense appropriations bill, and he plans on submitting it in mid-March before the House Appropriations Committee.
Murtha's appearance on the Web site was part of a broader push to gain support of a troop withdrawal from Iraq. He also taped a message to be played before 1,200 planned viewings of the antiwar film "The Ground Truth" on Thursday. The viewings are part of a grassroots effort organized by MoveOn.org to lobby Congress for legislation blocking the troop surge.
Story Here
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Well for one thing Murtha CANT close down Abu-Ghraib prison, it's under "Iraqi Control" for which NO ONE has any say in it but the Iraqi people! So Murtha is out of his mind there. As for the rest I want to apologise to any Troops reading this post. I am sorry our Congress has come to this. I cant believe it either, and I tried like hell to make sure it didnt happen but it did. I hope the American people feel just as badly as I do about this new congress, but that doesnt help you guys in the field today. This whole thing makes me sick but I support you guys even if our Congress doesnt!
WASHINGTON — A powerful Democrat and Iraq war foe said he intends to introduce legislation in the coming weeks that would effectively end President Bush's plans to send 21,500 more troops into Iraq by setting limits on which troops can be sent.
Using an unusual medium — a recorded interview posted on the Internet — Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., said his bill would prevent troops from being sent back to Iraq too soon or too poorly equipped. Troops being sent back to Iraq for another tour would have to stay in the United States at least one year before being redeployed. The bill would also end "stop-loss" policies by preventing the president from retaining troops in Iraq after their enlistments expire.
Murtha, who is chairman of the defense subcommittee to the House Appropriations Committee, said he is formulating legislation with teeth because he doesn't think Bush's plan to send more troops to Baghdad and al Anbar province would accomplish the goals of bringing peace to the country or returning troops home sooner.
The Bush administration "won't be able to continue. They won't be able to do the deployment. They won't have the equipment. They don't have the training and they won't be able to do the work," Murtha said in the post on the Democrat-friendly Web site MoveCongress.org. "This vote will limit the options of the president and should stop this surge."
Murtha's proposed legislation drew a heated response from the House's top Republican, Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, who said the bill would "cut off funding for troops in harm's way by making sure the reinforcements they need to complete their mission in Iraq never arrive."
"While American troops are fighting radical Islamic terrorists thousands of miles away, it is unthinkable that the United States Congress would move to discredit their mission, cut off their reinforcements, and deny them the resources they need to succeed and return home safely," Boehner said in a statement.
"The American people will not support a strategy that involves pulling the rug out from under American troops in the combat zone by cutting off their reinforcements and forcing them to face the enemy without our full support," Boehner added.
Murtha said the legislation would not necessarily deprive the administration of money but would redirect it, and it would be crafted to protect the troops, not harm them.
"We need to make sure that everybody understands we're going to support the troops. We're going to give the troops everything they need. We're not going to .. make any of them vulnerable," Murtha said. "But we're going to make darn sure that they have what they need before they go over."
By crafting legislation with those goals in mind, Murtha said, "that stops the surge for all intents and purposes."
The Pennsylvania Democrat added that he is also considering language in the legislation that would close the military prisons at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib, and the bill might include a provision requiring the president to get approval from Congress before taking any military action against Iran.
Murtha said his legislation would be added the defense appropriations bill, and he plans on submitting it in mid-March before the House Appropriations Committee.
Murtha's appearance on the Web site was part of a broader push to gain support of a troop withdrawal from Iraq. He also taped a message to be played before 1,200 planned viewings of the antiwar film "The Ground Truth" on Thursday. The viewings are part of a grassroots effort organized by MoveOn.org to lobby Congress for legislation blocking the troop surge.
Story Here
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well for one thing Murtha CANT close down Abu-Ghraib prison, it's under "Iraqi Control" for which NO ONE has any say in it but the Iraqi people! So Murtha is out of his mind there. As for the rest I want to apologise to any Troops reading this post. I am sorry our Congress has come to this. I cant believe it either, and I tried like hell to make sure it didnt happen but it did. I hope the American people feel just as badly as I do about this new congress, but that doesnt help you guys in the field today. This whole thing makes me sick but I support you guys even if our Congress doesnt!
posted by Marie's Two Cents | 10:45 AM
6 Comments:
It's a very sad day for America that these people are allowed to make any kind of decisions affecting the troops Marie. We must all pray for something that will keep these people from destroying our nation. They are lunatics and helpless morons that have survived in their offices because people are too lazy to go out and vote. It truly is a sad day for this nation. We must become even more determined to defeat two enemies of freedom and democracy, radical Islam and the democrat party.There seems to be no difference anymore between the two.
Jenn,
I dont know what else to say except I have had just about enough of this shit!
I dont know what else to do but apologise to our Troops, it's sickening that we and the President are the ONLY ones that are supporting the Troops at this point!
We can no longer count on members of Congress to do so.
All they do is whine and bitch and moan beyond belief and I'm embarrassed by them.
I am truly embarassed that our Country is in the hands of these Lunatics.
The emerging consensus among conservatives seems to be that, if either Mrs. Clinton or Sen. Obama manage to become President in 2008, the next four years will be the worst that the country has ever known. It's hard to imagine how things could be worse than, say, 1812-1816, or 1861-1865, or even 1941-1945, but there are dark days ahead, Marie.
Of course, to liberals, seeing America retreating before its enemies, scads of illegal immigrants taking up residence and soaking up social services at the expense of legal residents and citizens, higher taxes, government control of health care, suppression of political dissent, are all Good Things. In the inverted moral calculus of the more highly evolved carbon based life forms, we are left to wonder, "If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?" Psalm 11:3.
Recall Gandalf's comment when someone suggested that Tom Bombadil might help to destroy the Ring:
No, I should not put it so...say, rather that the Ring has no power over him. He is his
own Master. But he cannot alter the Ring itself, nor break its power over others. And
now he is withdrawn into a little land, within bounds that he has set, though none can
see them, waiting perhaps for a change of days, and he will not step beyond them.
Despite his well touted record of military service, Murtha has since become a traitor of the first order.
He confesses to treason in his every statement that blatantly declares his intention to obstruct the President's war efforts.
Murtha is not a man who should be a political leader, he is a miserable slug who should be prosecuted and punished to the fullest extent of the law.
Uncle P,
There are dark days ahead alright.
And it's pathetic that we have to live with this out of control Congress whom I am truly emarrassed by!
Seth,
I agree!
I dont believe this madness. I hope like heck our Troops are not paying any attention to this crap.
Enough damage has already been done to the Troops morale without having to worry about all this idiocy going on back home.
I just hope they are thinking "Those loons back home" and are hopefully just laughing at all this and not letting any of it get in the way of thier mission.
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