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Pop goes another Murtha puff piece
Jim Wright's OpEd gets hit hard
An OpEd titled, "Another Casualty of War,"
published last Sunday in the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram [LINK]
made erroneous claims about Vets for the Truth / Boot Murtha. The
author is Jim Wright (D-TX), who resigned as Speaker of the
House in 1989 amidst a swirl of ethics investigations.
Below is an excerpt from Wright's editorial:
Now the same clique of self-styled "Swift Boat vets," with a new
bag of money, announce an expensive television and Internet campaign
to discredit and dislodge Pennsylvania Rep. John Murtha, another
decorated and wounded-in-action Vietnam vet. The same old weary
charge: not patriotic enough about Iraq.
Two responses to Wrights' OpEd have appeared in the Aug. 25th edition
of the Star-Telegram. [LINK]
One is written by Vets for the Truth-er Eric Cooper, the other from a
Fort Worth resident:
Veterans against Murtha
Jim Wright and other Democrats have been bemoaning a potential
"Swift-boating" of Democratic Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania. (See
Sunday commentary "Another casualty of war.")
Beautiful poetry aside, let's set the record straight. In 2004, the
Swift Boat Veterans for Truth provided a tremendous service by
exposing the disgraceful Vietnam War conduct of John Kerry, the
Democratic presidential nominee. I happily donated to their cause and
would proudly join them again in defense of our nation's military.
But that stellar organization isn't involved with the planned Oct.
1 rally in Johnstown, Pa., where our group, Vets for the Truth (VFTT),
intends to call out Murtha for his horrendous pronouncement of guilt
regarding the "Haditha Marines." (See Aug. 14 news story "Veterans
taking aim at war critic.")
Additionally, many hawkish, decorated combat veterans vehemently
disagree with the supposedly authoritative voice of Murtha, who
incessantly belittles our military's mission, accomplishments and
vital presence in our war on terror.
VFTT members have not served in Swift boats, but all have worn our
country's uniforms proudly. And we've earned the right to speak out,
with or without the approval of Murtha's groupies.
--Eric Cooper, Springfield, Va.
In his Sunday commentary, Jim Wright wrote that "self-appointed
jihadist enemies" are destroying our national unity.
He referred specifically to the Swift boat veterans, noting that in
2004 they spent "millions of somebody's dollars" impugning John
Kerry's patriotism and that they're at it again, this time with a "new
bag of money" that'll be used to discredit John Murtha because of his
get-out-of-Iraq stance.
One could argue that Kerry and Murtha are self-appointed jihadist
allies and that they and their supporters are contributing to national
disunity. These get-out-of-Iraq folks have access to millions of
dollars supplied by Moveon.org, George Soros and others.
Who can deny that they're trying to discredit the Swifties and
others who support the war?
--Gordon Crow, Fort Worth
...and another pop:
Congressman John Murtha has found his way home to PA district 12 to
rev-up the rhetoric machine prior to the Nov. 7 election. Dutifully
puffing: the Washington Observer-Reporter. Its puff piece, titled
"Campaign swings through county," ends with a pop, however, courtesy
of commenter Frank Catalano: [LINK]
MEADOW LANDS -- U.S. Rep. John Murtha said Thursday that the
country's federal funding needs for vital infrastructure projects are
falling behind because of the massive amounts of money being spent to
finance the war in Iraq. Murtha, of Johnstown, the ranking Democrat on
the House Defense Appropriations Committee, was the featured speaker
at the Washington County Chamber of Commerce's "Breakfast Briefing" at
the Holiday Inn, Meadow Lands. He told about 150 chamber members that
the United States, which he said is spending $8 billion a month in
Iraq, can't win a military victory there....
COMMENT
Where was Bagdad Murtha prior to the war with his infrastructure
program? Another typical politician, promising the moon, and
delivering nothing but blue sky. He brings up WWII, concerning the
length of the Islamic War, but says nothing about the solidarity of
Americans during that war. Bagdad Murtha is another typical liberal,
seeking to capitalize on protesting the war for political gain.
--Frank Catalano
 Murtha
flunks true or false test
three statements in past
week easily proven false
Q. Is the following Murtha statement True or False?
"...we are unable recruit the
necessary volunteers
to maintain troop levels in our armed forces."
-- John Murtha,
Aug. 23, 2006
A. It is false.
The Marines did not fall short in recruiting, as Murtha's opponent
Diana Irey reports in a
statement:
"According to Defense Department statistics released 13 days before
he [Murtha] made his statement (available online at: DoD Announces
Recruiting and Retention Numbers for July), the Marines have met and
in fact surpassed their recruiting and retention goals: for the month
of July, the Marine Corps' recruiting goal was 2,865, but they
actually recruited 3,197 volunteers -- 112 percent of their goal. For
the Fiscal Year that began on October 1, 2005, the Marine Corps
recruiting goal through the end of July 2006 was 23,968; during that
time period, the Marine Corps actually recruited 24,300 -- 101 percent
of their goal.
Q. Is the following Murtha statement True or False?
the recall of reserve Marines is
"...just another sign
of how badly the war in Iraq is going..."
--John Murtha,
Aug. 23, 2006
A. It is false.
An
Associated Press article states violence last month in Baghdad
dropped by 40 percent:
Violence in Baghdad has dropped by 40 percent since US and Iraqi
troops entered select neighborhoods to clear out cells of Shiite and
Sunni extremists, a US brigade commander said.
In the month of July in Baghdad, there were 52 violent actions a
day," he [Colonel Robert Scurlock ] said. "And the two weeks since we
began the operations, the attacks have dropped down 41 percent."
Q. Is the following Murtha statement True or False?
"I don't think there would have
been an investigation
[of the Haditha Marines] if I hadn't said something."
--John Murtha,
Aug. 22, 2006
A. It is false.
An investigation was already underway when Murtha spoke his
prejudicial statement, "they killed innocent civilians in cold blood"
at his May 17, 2006 press conference.
Murtha claims to be a friend and strong supporter of the military. But
his willful mis-statements of the facts show otherwise. They reveal
yet another veteran-turned-politician willing to sacrifice truth and
troops for his mission of higher office.
John Murtha truly is unfit for command.
Boot Murtha.
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