When it Comes to Pork....

Murtha remains the King....

From the New York Times, nonetheless:

The Pork King Keeps His Crown

The new earmark disclosure rules put into effect by Congress confirm the pre-eminence of Representative John Murtha at procuring eye-popping chunks of pork for contractors he helped put in business in Johnstown, Pa. The Pennsylvania Democrat, a power player on defense appropriations, exudes pride, not embarrassment, for delivering hundreds of millions of dollars in largesse to district beneficiaries. They, in turn, requite with hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign donations.

Mr. Murtha led all House members this year, securing $162 million in district favors, according to the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense.

[SNIP]

In 1991, Mr. Murtha used a $5 million earmark to create the National Defense Center for Environmental Excellence in Johnstown to develop anti-pollution technology for the military. Since then, it has garnered more than $670 million in contracts and earmarks. Meanwhile it is managed by another contractor Mr. Murtha helped create, Concurrent Technologies, a research operation that somehow was allowed to be set up as a tax-exempt charity, according to The Washington Post. Thanks to Mr. Murtha, Concurrent has boomed; the annual salary for its top three executives averages $462,000.

There’s been no report of Mr. Murtha’s profiting personally. “This is about jobs,” the congressman insists. But the Murtha operation — which has become a model for other entrepreneurial lawmakers — is a gross example of quid pro quo Washington. Every one of the 26 beneficiaries of Mr. Murtha’s earmarks in last year’s defense budget made contributions to his campaign kitty, a total of $413,250, according to the newspaper Roll Call.

Once a Marine, now a bloatedly corrupt politician.

Is this really who you want representing you, PA-12???

A Defining Atrocity

Diana West's latest column does a great job of highlighting what we've been saying here at MMG for months. It's great having Ms. West on board. The more voices talking about Murtha's disgraceful actions, the better.

What a difference a year has made since charges came down at the end of 2006. The New York Times in October mourned, I mean, noted, the shift: “Last year, when accounts of the killings of 24 Iraqis in Haditha by a group of Marines came to light, it seemed that the Iraq war had produced its defining atrocity, just as the conflict in Vietnam had spawned the My Lai massacre a generation ago.”

No “defining atrocity”? Gee, that’s too bad. The Times went on to lament that the presiding military investigator recommended that murder charges against the ranking enlisted Marine, Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich, be dropped. And this, the newspaper bellyached, “may well have ended prosecutors’ chances of winning any murder convictions in the killings.”

No murder convictions? Well, boo — the heck — hoo.

This got started way back in May, 2006. John Murtha, one of the most corrupt politicians in US history, told a wrapt audience of Beltway reporters that US Marines "killed innocent civilians in cold blood."

Rep. John Murtha, an influential Pennsylvania lawmaker and outspoken critic of the war in Iraq, said today Marines had “killed innocent civilians in cold blood” after allegedly responding to a roadside bomb ambush that killed a Marine during a patrol in Haditha, Iraq, Nov. 19. The incident is still under investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and Multi-National Forces Iraq.
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“It’s much worse than was reported in Time magazine,” Murtha, a Democrat, former Marine colonel and Vietnam war veteran, told reporters on Capitol Hill. “There was no firefight. There was no [bomb] that killed those innocent people,” Murtha explained, adding there were “about twice as many” Iraqis killed than Time had reported.

As the cases moved through their respective Article 32 hearings, recommendations were made that charges be dropped against Justin Sharratt, Randy Stone and Lucas McConnell, recommendations that were accepted.

I put together a timeline that show the disingenuousness of Murtha's statements. Here's where I nailed Murtha the hardest:

The next day, Murtha was asked about the sourcing for his accusations. Here’s his answer:

Asked about his sources during a midday briefing on Iraq policy in the Capitol, Murtha confidently replied, “All the information I get, it comes from the commanders, it comes from people who know what they’re talking about.” Although Murtha said that he had not read any investigative reports by the military on the incident, he stressed, “It’s much worse than reported in Time magazine.”

The Marine Corps later corrected the record:

Murtha, a Pennsylvania Democrat, is being sued by one of the accused Marines for libel. He had told The Philadelphia Inquirer that Gen. Michael Hagee had given him the information on which he based his charge that Marines killed innocent civilians.

But a spokesman for the Marine Corps said Hagee briefed Murtha on May 24 about Haditha. Murtha had made comments on the case as early as May 17. On May 17, for example, he said at a news conference, “Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood.”A spokeswoman for Murtha was not immediately available. (Sounds familiar.)

I said then what I've believed throughout: that John Murtha's inventing this stuff and he's getting caught doing it.

Technorati: Haditha, John Murtha, Corruption, Michael Hagee, Military, Justin Sharratt, NCIS, Randy Stone, Tim McGirk, Time Magazine

Why Russell has more than a chance to win!

There are those who believe that Lt. Col. William Russell has no chance to win against the Gasbag from Johnstown, Jack P(utz). Murtha (D- Al Qaeda).

To that I politely say, HOGWASH.

While Diana Irey, Murtha's most formidable opponent to date, garnered 39 percent of the vote and fell short of victory, certain circumstances exist today that weren't in play at the time of Irey's candidacy that play well in Russell's favor:

1. Haditha. The truth about Haditha had not yet come to light. There is no longer an argument regarding the fact that the Haditha Marines had *NOT* committed "cold blooded murder," as Murtha had so loudly proclaimed; and to this day Murtha refuses to apologize for and to retract his unfounded accusations.

One of the Marines that Murtha wrongfully accused of cold blooded murder, Justin Sharrat, is in actuality one of PA-12's own constituents. There is a heavy concentration of military personnel, both active and retired, in PA-12. The truth about Haditha, especially after having been brought to light not only by Darryl and Justin Sharrat, but also by the highly decorated candidate, Lt. Col. William Russell, shall sprout some mighty stout legs.

There is no honorable military person who, in good conscience, can vote for an ex-Marine who sold one of their own down the river. Just ask John Kerry.

2. William Russell is retired military.

While Diana Irey was bright, knowledgeable, and in every way competent, Lt. Colonel Russell will add yet another dimension of credibility to the mix that will appeal to PA-12's military voters. Not only is Russell retired military, his record is beyond reproach, and Russell exemplifies all that is honorable in a veteran; a stark contrast to his incumbent opponent.

3. Murtha continues to be corrupt.
His earmarks and other "boss politician" antics, while certainly bringing pork in the area to buy votes (this, being the latest example), at the same time have gotten additional scrutiny that had not been brought to bear, even in local media, until relatively recently.

Due to these factors, do not lose sight of the notion that now, more than ever, the Murtha Machine is a corrupt, and yet vulnerable machine that could well be on life support at this juncture, and that Lt. Colonel William Russell, via his weapon of honor and righteousness, will be the one to put this monster in retirement mode, once and for all.

WIll Murtha Now Apologize?

The investigations have been finalized. There was no "massacre" in Haditha; and none of the Marines involved in the incident will face murder charges.

by Nathaniel R. Helms

December 31, 2007 -- The Marine Corps has now acknowledged that none of the Marines charged with criminal offenses for their actions at Haditha, Iraq committed murder. Lieutenant General Samuel Helland’s decision to dismiss charges of unpremeditated murder against Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich lay to rest specious allegations by Time Magazine reporter Tim McGirk and Congressman John Murtha that a My Lai-style massacre occurred in Haditha on November 19, 2005.

A Marine Corps spokesman said Monday that Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich will face trial on charges of voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, dereliction of duty and obstruction of justice for his role in the debacle that followed an Al Qaeda led attack on a squad of 12 Marines.

Lt Gen Helland, the final arbiter in the matter, dismissed twelve charges of unpremeditated murder, and separate charges of soliciting another to commit an offense and making a false official statement. His decision removes the onus that war crimes were committed by any of the American Marines who fought in the day-long battle for the strategic city.

Attorneys Neil Puckett and Mark Zaid, in Washington, D.C., co-counsels for SSgt Wuterich, responded:

“The good news is that SSgt Wuterich (and all of the Marines, for that matter), have been forever cleared of murder charges. That means that there is (and never was) any evidence to support Congressman Murtha’s and Time magazine’s allegations of these Marines killing Iraqis 'in cold blood.'

“The bad news is that the extensive pretrial investigation and legal analysis conducted by an experienced military judge was essentially ignored. It is always disappointing when professional military prosecutors profess to want to do the right thing by setting up the system to work, and then ignore its results because they refuse to give Marines under attack in combat the benefit of the doubt that they were responding according to their training. We are confident that a military jury will acquit SSgt Wuterich of all remaining charges, because he is, in fact, not guilty.”

Congressman Murtha: All Marines involved in the Haditha incident have been cleared of the charge of MURDER. You, sir, accused them of cold-blooded MURDER; without the benefit of trial, without even having received an official briefing on the matter.

Congressman John P. Murtha:

We, the writers and editors at MURTHA MUST GO!! call on you to apologize for impugning the honor of these Marines. Furthermore, we call on you to resign from the office of trust which you currently hold.

If you hold any shred of dignity as once proudly serving in the Corps, it shouldn't take a call like the one above to lead you to take those actions.

The man who will replace the lying gasbag...

My Name is William T. Russell. I am running for Congress against John Murtha as a Republican in the 12th Congressional District of Pennsylvania in the November 2008 election.

I would like to introduce myself to you. I am a family man, a husband, as well as a father. I am also a small business owner and entrepreneur, as well as an American Soldier.

My wife, Kasia, is one of my heroes. For some strange reason, she saw fit to marry me eight years ago. She was born and raised in Poland where her father was one of the local leaders in the Solidarity movement against the communist government in the 1980s. We met and married while I was stationed in Germany. She moved to the US with me after we married, learned English and became a US Citizen. After surviving the attack on the Pentagon on 9/11 (while six months pregnant with our son), she continued to raise our children by herself for 19 months while I was deployed to Kosovo and then Iraq.

Until August 31st of this year, I was a fulltime Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army Reserve, stations at the Pentagon and a little over 2 years short of full, active duty retirement. Until March of 2007, Kasia and I were simply looking forward to finishing out my Army career and moving to southern or southwestern Pennsylvania. We have been attracted to this part of the country since our first visit to the state in 2000. We were attracted to the people and lifestyle of the state as well as its natural beauty. We recognize it is a great place to raise our children and I saw it as a great place to begin a second career in business after retiring from the Army.

But last March I had the opportunity to meet with some of our Wounded Warrors during their visit to the Pentagon. I have always been impressed by the spirit and good cheer of so many of these wounded heroes but also understand the sullen responses from some. Seeing these Soldiers, Marines, and Airmen with missing and shattered limbs, two with missing eyes and wounded faces, I found myself wiping away the teas as I walked back to my office. I was both saddened and angered that the sacrifices these brave service men and women, like the others I have served with in combat, make for this country and the thought of how they are betrayed by the actions of politicians such as John Murtha.

I grew up in the shadow of the US defeat in Vietnam. On an intellectual level, I have long understood that a war may be lost politically, in spite of military victories. But seeing those Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Airmen who have given so much to this nation, both enraged and saddened me. It also forced me to recognize that the United States is now engaged in a great political battle to determine whether this nation, founded in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal, can maintain the political resolve in its fight against a totalitarian political system, cloaked in religion, which is dedicated to the destruction of our liberty. I believe I must stand up and make a difference in this fight and not wait for two more years until I retire.

Congressman Murtha’s actions have done more to lead us toward political defeat in this war than the enemy could ever hope to accomplish by their own devices. His calls for withdrawal of our forces and limiting the authority of the Commander-in-Chief in executing this war, plays directly into the hands of our enemy. He is undermining our Soldiers in the fight and encourages the enemy to kill or maim a few more of our Soldiers and kill large numbers of Iraqi civilians on a weekly basis.

The Islamic extremists, just like the communists in Vietnam, see his weakness of political resolve as the reason to keep fighting in spite of their military losses. He must be replaced with a candidate who understands the importance of an integrated political, military, and economic strategy that does not pit political ends against military and economic, but synchronizes and orchestrates them with the recognition of the imperative to achieve the victory that this war demands for the safety of our children and grandchildren.

Perhaps the best illustration of the importance of this issue is the story of US Marine Lance Corporal (L/CPL) Justin Sharratt, from Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania (part of the 12th district). For those not familiar with him, L/CPL Sharratt is an American Hero. On 19 November 2005, Justin’s convoy was attacked by an improvised explosive device (IED) killed his friend and squad mate L/CPL Miguel Terrazas. This ambush included not only the bomb but also sniping and rifle fire at the Marines as they secured and evacuated the wounded out of the vehicle in which L/CPL Terrazas had been killed. L/CPL Sharratt assisted in the security, recovery and offensive efforts to capture or kill the enemy combatants who initiated the complex ambush. When he moved into a building with some of his squad mates, Justin found himself in a close fight with four armed insurgents. When his machinegun jammed, he was forced to engage them with his 9mm pistol.

Justin and the other members of his unit were facing an enemy who fights by a different set of rules in which there is no such thing as atrocities when committed for their cause. This enemy hides behind civilians in order to protect themselves and to create propaganda opportunities by accusing Americans of atrocities when innocents are caught in the crossfire. The enemy does this because they are seeking to create My Lai type incidents for propaganda use on the Arab street as well as the anti-war movement in the US. Innocents were caught in the cross fire in the heat of combat that day. But those who were identified were safe guarded and protected by the Marines.

No one reading this account would argue that Justin and his family deserve our deepest thanks for his actions that day at a town called Haditha.

Congressman Murtha’s thanks to Justin and his comrades for their risks and sacrifice was to publicly accused them of “cold-blooded murder” of innocent civilians.

By publicly stating that the US Marines committed murder and denying that there was a firefight and roadside bomb (specifically, the bomb which killed L/CPL Terrazas), United States Congressman John Murtha endorsed the enemy’s propaganda effort and confirmed in the minds of millions of Arabs, as well as many Americans, that US Marines had committed atrocities against Arab civilians as an extension of US Policy.

By making such inflammatory statements of guilt against the bravest of Americans when the investigation had just begun, Congressman Murtha not only denied the Marines the rights that he and his colleagues so adamantly want to bestow on the terrorists at Guantanamo Bay, he helped the enemy fabricate a lie which has done more damage to our efforts in this war than any other politician.

Mr Murtha not only threw a local hero under the bus for political expediency, he helped the terrorists create a lie that has been repeated by Al Qaida and other terrorist organizations for recruiting purposes throughout the Arab World. It has also been repeated by Code Pink, KOS and other anti-war elements in their effort to undermine the US efforts in the Middle East.

I am entering this race because I believe it is imperative to our nation’s security and its future. The small economic sacrifice of leaving a secure, well-paying job, two years short of a guaranteed pension with health care for life, is nothing in comparison to the sacrifices of our Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Airmen who are on extended tours in active contact with an enemy and who are being undermined by politicians who are too corrupt, cowardly, or incompetent to recognize the nature of the war we are in. Surrender on the political, military, and economic fronts is not an option.

When I was looking at moving here to start a business career after retiring from the military, I knew that it was economically challenged area. But after moving here due to the imperatives of our national security, I have come to recognize the depth of the economic crisis facing this area also. Its economic future is at stake.

To Mr Murtha’s credit, he has attempted to protect the jobs of this community with Congressional earmarks for a long time. But in trying to protect the economic past, we have lost sight of some economic realities and the future. The end results of the last 30 years of directed congressional spending has not produced the intended results.

After many years of congressional earmarks, southwestern Pennsylvania’s greatest export is young college graduates. Young people looking to start their careers believe they must travel to other areas to start their careers. This region has lost approximately 59,000 people in the last two years. I have heard stories of churches that are conducting 40 funerals for every baptism. While I recognize this region as a great place to raise my children, I want my children to grow up and see this as a great place to raise their children.

We must build an embraceable future for our children to raise their children. In order to do so, we must establish the national security framework to allow for our economic growth. Our economic growth must spring from a resurgence of market driven small businesses – we must relight the spark of entrepreneurial fire and raise the next generation of entrepreneurs. We must build businesses which derive their purpose and profits from the demands of the market in keeping with the laws of supply and demand.

The United States economy is booming (in spite of what we constantly see in the press). There is no reason for southwestern Pennsylvania to not share in our national prosperity. We have great resources and people. We can leverage our empty buildings, available housing, and wealth of natural beauty to build an economy that is attractive to future college graduates to begin their careers and to raise their families.

To help accomplish this, I have already started working with entrepreneurs and business leaders who want to build businesses which are market driven, have applications outside the defense industry and not dependent on congressionally directed budgets. These are the people who will build our economy. I believe the role of government is to establish the framework for growth (provide security, law enforcement, laws to safeguard fair business and contract enforcement, and road networks and certain levels of infrastructure) and to allow the spirit of entrepreneurialism to grow and bear fruit.

It is not the role of government to substitute for the forces of the free market. Excessive government involvement in the market produces a continual cycle of dependence, drives out naturally developing small businesses, and suppresses the development of new industries.

But I am also entering this race with the recognition that I am the out of town kid who wants to join the local team which has some long time players. I hope the communities of the 12th District will welcome a new and unknown player who would like to try out for the team. Throughout this campaign, I will be visiting with people of every county and township in this district to listen and learn so that I can better understand how this team functions. The economic ideas, plans, and solutions that become part of this campaign must answer to the needs of the communities in the district.

I hope the people of the 12th District are willing to consider this career Army transplant who grew up as an Air Force brat and has lived in 11 different states and seven foreign countries. I believe I have a unique background as a soldier, small businessman, and student of international relations to help build an embraceable future for our children and their families.

I thank you for your time, interest, and support.

Very Respectfully,

William T Russell