Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Cleland Update

Max Cleland has made more outrageous comments about the Iraq War while defending John Murtha. Here's what he said:
Cleland, a triple amputee veteran of the Vietnam War, appearing on the "Countdown with Keith Olbermann Show," on MSNBC said that Iraq is "George Bush's Vietnam." He predicted, "History will look back on the invasion of Iraq after 9/11 as one of the greatest elements of folly in our history." He added, "Five years later, Osama bin Laden and his terrorist cadre are still on the loose." He criticized government officials for being stupid in losing their focus on capturing and killing bin Laden.
Shame on Sen. Cleland for suggesting that Iraq wasn't a worthwhile war to fight, especially considering the fact that he voted for authorizing it. Is he now willing to admit that he's complicit in this "folly"?
"And when someone like Jack Murtha says that, what do they (the administration) do? Do they go after Osama bin Laden? No, they go after Jack Murtha. And they're trying to slime him in his own hometown of Johnstown, PA," Cleland said, referring to a rally scheduled next month by an anti-Murtha veterans' group.
Speaking for the MMG crew, I can tell you that we jumped all over John Murtha for his playing judge, jury and executioner to soldiers for doing their job. Did he do it because he'd gotten a detailed briefing of the Haditha incident? No, As Leo pointed out, Gen. Hagee briefed Murtha almost a week after Murtha made his public accusations. In fact, based on what we know now, I'd be surprised if the Haditha Marines could be convicted if they're even tried.

What Sen. Cleland wants us to ignore is that Murtha threw out the Constitution, specifically its guarantees of the right to a fair trial and to due process. He'd also want us to forget that Murtha's accusations came without seeing a piece of incriminating evidence. That's why we're rallying against Murtha.
It's time to redeploy the forces from Iraq and bring home our guard and reserve to guard our borders and focus on killing or capturing Osama bin Laden and his terrorist cadre.
Speaking for myself, I'm not convinced that bin Laden isn't already dead. Why else haven't we seen anything that proves he's alive? Why didn't he appear in the video marking the 5 year anniversary of 9/11 instead of al-Zawahiri? Secondly, why should we think that killing bin Laden is still a significant step in ending the war on Islamofascism?
In response to a question from Olbermann on what Murtha would do differently in the new Congress if Democrats win a majority and Murtha heads the Defense Appropriation sub-committee, Cleland said Murtha would do three things.
"First, he'd lead an effort that I think is growing in this nation and in the Congress and hopefully in the new Congress that we've had it in Iraq. And it's time for the Iraqi citizens to take charge of their own country. It's time to withdraw our forces out of harm's way and eliminate the possibility of the veterans that are getting killed and maimed there and adding to that number. Secondly, to focus our guard and reserve on our border. "And third, to really focus on the military necessity and political necessity to put together our allies who we've dissed for five years and really focus on the center of terrorism in the world. And that's Osama bin Laden and his terrorist cadre. And kill or capture him and kill or capture them. That, you can expect from Jack Murtha."
Thank God we won't have to worry about a Murtha-led Defense Appropriation sub-committee. Thank God we won't have to deal with any of his wrong-headed policies.

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Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog