Vice President Dick Cheney jumped into the fray Wednesday by assailing Democrats who contend the Bush administration manipulated intelligence on Iraq, calling their criticism "one of the most dishonest and reprehensible charges ever aired in this city."
Murtha, a Marine intelligence officer in Vietnam, angrily shot back at Cheney: "I like guys who've never been there that criticize us who've been there. I like that. I like guys who got five deferments and never been there and send people to war, and then don't like to hear suggestions about what needs to be done."]
Senior Democrat urges Iraq pullout By Vicki Allen
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Democratic congressional leader on defense called on Thursday for an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, increasing pressure for a change in Bush administration policy just days after the Senate asked for a plan to end the war.
"The U.S. cannot accomplish anything further in Iraq militarily. It is time to bring them home," said Rep. John Murtha (news, bio, voting record) of Pennsylvania, the senior Democrat on the House of Representatives subcommittee that oversees military spending and one of his party's top spokesmen on defense. Murtha's remarks followed a string of attacks by
President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney against critics of the administration's Iraq war policy and its handling of intelligence that led to the war.
Murtha, who has a hawkish voting record and supported the Iraq war but criticized Bush's handling of it, urged the administration to "immediately redeploy U.S. troops consistent with the safety of U.S. forces."
Murtha is a Vietnam War veteran and a retired Marine colonel who has served as a trusted defense adviser to presidents of both parties. He said he will introduce a resolution calling for the return of U.S. forces in Iraq "at the earliest practicable date."
He called the war "a flawed policy wrapped in illusion" and noted a shift in public sentiment against the war.
"The American public is way ahead of the members of Congress," he said. "It's time for a change in direction. Our military is suffering. The future of our country is at risk," he said.
Just a handful of Democrats who had opposed the war from the start have called for a quick withdrawal. Most have called on the administration to provide a plan for withdrawal, based on conditions on the ground.
The administration has vehemently opposed any mention of withdrawal timetables, which is calls a "cut and run" strategy that would only fuel the insurgency. It is trying to build up Iraq's military so that U.S. troops can eventually leave.
INSURGENT TARGETS
But Murtha argued that U.S. troops have become the targets who have united the insurgency, and that continued deployments are breaking the military.
He said he believed U.S. troops could be withdrawn within six months. There are 153,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, increased from the usual 138,000 to tighten security for elections in October and December. Another 22,000 troops from U.S. allies are also serving in Iraq.
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman, asked about Murtha's proposal, said Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and top U.S. military officials had "outlined, I think, adequately ... what the strategy is for the U.S. military there and the conditions that will need to be met in order to be able to start reducing the size of the military force there."
Murtha said a "quick reaction force" should be kept to deal with emergencies in the region, but not with a possible civil war in Iraq. Iraq's stability should be pursued diplomatically, not militarily, he said.
"We cannot continue on the present course. It is evident that continued military action in Iraq is not in the best interest of the United States of America, the Iraqi people or the Persian Gulf region," Murtha said.
The Republican-controlled Senate on Tuesday overwhelmingly backed a resolution saying the Iraqis should start taking the lead in their own security next year to allow a phased withdrawal, but it rejected a Democratic resolution demanding that Bush provide an estimated timetable.