MURTHA'S IRAQ 2005-2006 STATEMENTS:
"It was, therefore, anything but a routine moment when the normally publicity-shy Pennsylvanian joined dovish House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) at a Sept. 16 news conference criticizing the administration's handling of the war in Iraq and its aftermath."
(Rep. John Murtha during the War in Iraq, Washington Post, September 27, 2003)
"Our military has done everything that has been asked of them, the U.S. can not accomplish anything further in Iraq militarily. IT IS TIME TO BRING THEM HOME."
(Rep. John Murtha on the War in Iraq, Congressman John Murtha website, November 17, 2005)
"Our military is suffering. The future of our country is at risk... It is evident that continued military action in Iraq is not in the best interest of the United States of America..."
(Murtha, from his congressional website, Nov. 17, 2005)
"Well, I say that the fight against Americans began with Abu Ghraib. It began with the invasion of Iraq. That's when terrorism started."
(Murtha, Nov. 17, 2005, News Hour with Jim Lehrer)
"80% of Iraqis are strongly opposed to the presence of coalition troops." and "The continued presence of U.S. troops in Iraq is "uniting the enemy against us."
(Murtha, Nov. 17, 2005. NOTE: Murtha quotes a bogus poll number - only 8 % of Iraqis say that foreign forces are the reason for the country going in the wrong direction.)
"Our military has done everything that has been asked of them, the U.S. cannot accomplish anything further in Iraq militarily," Murtha, a 37-year Marine veteran, said Thursday."It's time to bring them home."
(Rep. John Murtha on the War in Iraq, News Max, November 19, 2005)
"The American public is way ahead of the members of Congress. The United States and coalition troops have done all they can in Iraq. But it's time for a change in direction."
(Murtha, TAIPEI TIMES, Nov. 21, 2005)
"(The Iraqis) are a proud people, they've been around a lot longer than we have. They've going to win this themselves, they're going to settle this themselves. They have to, there's no alternative."
(Murtha, The Guardian, Nov. 21, 2005)
"The public turned against this war before I said it."
(Murtha, USA Today, Nov. 21, 2005)
"We cannot win this militarily. Our tactics themselves keep us from winning."
(Murtha, ABC News, Nov. 21, 2005)
"The soldiers can't speak for themselves. We sent them to war and, by God, we're the ones that have to speak out."
(Murtha, ABCnews, Nov. 21, 2005)
"The military has done everything they can do. So now it's up to the politicians, up to us in Congress. Only we can send people to war and it's up to us to find a way to solve this very difficult problem."
(Murtha, IHT, Nov. 21, 2005)
"I said a year ago we can't win this militarily."
(Murtha, IHT, Nov. 21, 2005)
"All of us want to support the president when he's at war."
(Murtha, The Guardian, Nov. 21, 2005)
"I didn't want (the public) to think this was a Democrat position plotted from the left wing"
(Murtha, The Guardian, Nov. 21, 2005)
"Absolutely, we're the target. We're the enemy"
(Murtha, The Guardian, Nov. 21, 2005)
"This is not a war of words, this is a war."
(Murtha, The Guardian, Nov. 21, 2005)
"I'm very hopeful that my proposal is something they'll take seriously, that he'll (Bush) get a few of us to the White House and talk to us about this."
(Murtha, ARABWORLDNEWS, Nov. 21, 2005)
"When I talk to the troops, I get a different story (than from those who call for continued military involvement). I get a story that we need to have a plan. And from the families, an outpouring from the families,."
(Murtha, ARABWORLDNEWS, Nov. 22, 2005)
"This war cannot be won militarily, ... cannot be won on the ground."
(Murtha, The Guardian, Nov. 22, 2005)
"When I talk to the troops, I get a different story [than from those who call for continued military involvement]. I get a story that we need to have a plan. And from the families, an outpouring from the families."
(Murtha, TAIPEI TIMES, Nov. 23, 2005)
"You can't spin this. You've got to have a real solution."
(Murtha, ABC News, Nov. 23, 2005)
"All of Iraq must know Iraq is free -- free from United State's occupation."
(Murtha, Nov. 2005, Washington Times)
the Army is "broken, worn out" and "living hand to mouth," Rep. John Murtha told a civic group
(Murtha, Dec. 1, 2005 AP article)
"I admit I made a mistake when I voted for war"
(Murtha, The Guardian, Dec. 2, 2005)
"I predict he'll [Bush] make it look like we're staying the course"
(Murtha, The Guardian, Dec. 2, 2005)
"When you fight an insurgency, you have to win the hearts and minds of the (Iraqi) people, and we've lost the hearts and minds of the people."
(Murtha, Dec 6, 2005)
"The Iraqis don't want us there."
(Murtha news conference, transcript, Washington Post, Dec. 7, 2005)
"I've seen damn little things that they have said [Joint Chiefs/Pentagon] was true turned out to be true."
(Murtha, RSS, Dec. 8, 2005)
"There's no question they're going to withdraw [US troops]. I predict that a big proportion of the troops will be out by next year."
(Murtha, Dec. 11, 2005)
"Since we've become enemies, since most of the people over there want us to be out of there, I advocate that we withdraw, we redeploy to the surrounding area,"
(Murtha, Dec. 12, 2005)
"It's not going to get better with us over there."
(Murtha, The Guardian, Dec. 12, 2005)
"So I've finally come to the conclusion that we've become the enemy, and that there's no alternative."
(Murtha, Dec. 12, 2005)
"We've got nation building by the U.S. military, and that's not a mission for the U.S. military."
(Murtha, RSS, Dec. 14, 2005)
"Torture scars not only its subject, it scars those who perpetrate it and those who are witnesses to it."
(Murtha, TIMES OF INDIA, Dec. 15, 2005)
"There can be no waiver to the use for torture. No torture and no exceptions,."
(Murtha, The Guardian, Dec. 15, 2005)
"...They're [Bush Administration] giving people the impression, in Iraq we're fighting terrorism."
(Murtha, Dec. 22, 2005, Pittsburgh Tribune Review)
Asked during an interview broadcast Monday night if he would "join the military today," the decorated Vietnam combat veteran told "ABC's Nightline" - "No."
(Murtha, Jan. 2, 2006)
"We've become the enemy."
(Murtha, Jan. 5, 2006 during Arlington Forum)
"Peter Pace told me this last night: They know militarily they can't win this."
(Murtha, The Guardian, Jan 6, 2006)
"They're [US troops] frustrated by this mission."
(Murtha, The Guardian, Jan 6, 2006)
"I didn't have concerns like these when I enlisted in the Marines during the Korean War or volunteered to go to Vietnam."
(Murtha, The Guardian, Jan. 6, 2006)
"The military had no problem recruiting directly after 9/11 because everyone understood that we had been attacked. But now the military's ability to attract recruits is being hampered by the prospect of prolonged, extended and repeated deployments; inadequate equipment; shortened home stays; the lack of any connection between Iraq and the brutal attacks of 9/11; and — most importantly — the administration's constantly changing, undefined, open-ended military mission in Iraq."
(Murtha, CBS News, Jan 6, 2006)
"There is no reason in the world we couldn't do what we're doing (in Iraq) from the periphery."
(Murtha, ARAB WORLD NEWS, Jan 27, 2006)
"Our troops are the target."
(Murtha, ARAB WORLD NEWS, Jan 27, 2006)
"We can't win it militarily. That's the key,"
(Murtha, Jan. 27, 2006, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)
"We're not fighting terrorism in Iraq. We're fighting a civil war in Iraq."
(Murtha, Jan. 27, 2006, Pittsburgh Tribune Review)
"We have to say to the Iraqis, 'This is your war. This is no longer our war. You've got an elected government. This is up to you now to settle this thing."
(Murtha, March 19, 2006)
"Eighty percent of the Iraqis want us out of there, and 47 percent say it's OK to kill Americans," Murtha said. "Something like this happens, they knew about it. The Iraqis knew about it. The Americans pay them, and then it goes up the chain of command and somebody stifles it."
(Murtha, RSS, May 31, 2006)
He's [Karl Rove] making a political speech. He's sitting in his air-conditioned office with his big, fat backside, saying, 'Stay the course.' That's not a plan, "
(Murtha, NBC's "Meet the Press." , June 6, 2006)
''We can go to Okinawa. . . . We can redeploy there almost instantly.''
(Murtha, June 11, 2006, Meet The Press)
"We can't win this."
(Rep. John Murtha, Congressional Record, June 15, 2006, p. H4028)
"We are causing the problem."
Rep.John Murtha, Congressional Record, June 15, 2006, p. H4028)
Rep. Murtha Claims Americans Are Driving Iraqis Out Of The Country, Just Like Saddam Hussein:
"Almost 900,000 people left when Saddam Hussein was there... The time we have been there, 900,000 people have left the county."
(Rep. John Murtha, Congressional Record, June 15, 2006, p. H4027)
"If we prevail as I hope and know we will, and return to the majority this next Congress, I have decided to run for the open seat of the majority leader."
(Murtha said in a letter to his Democratic colleagues, June 2006)
"American presence in Iraq is more dangerous to world peace than nuclear threats from North Korea or Iran."
(Murtha, June 24, 2006 South Florida Sun-Sentinel)
“An untimely exit (from Iraq) could rapidly devolve into a civil war, which would leave America’s foreign policy in disarray as countries question not only America’s judgment but its perseverance.”
(From Rep. John Murtha's 2004 book "From Vietnam to 9/11"...
where Murtha advocates that the U.S. should not pull-out or Iraq prematurely or create a timetable)
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"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem." Ronald Reagan 
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