Murtha Flipping At Bigger, Better Baghdad Surge

RUSH: The Democrats are out there with their, now seventeenth, resolution on getting us out of Iraq with a date certain, and they are making an absolute joke of themselves. Meanwhile… (laughing) This is from the Associated Press: “U.S. President George W. Bush’s troop buildup in Baghdad apparently will be bigger and more costly – and perhaps will last longer – than it seemed when he unveiled the plan in January as the centerpiece of a new Iraq strategy. … The Bush plan called for sending 21,500 extra U.S. combat troops to Iraq – mainly to Baghdad – with the last of five brigades arriving by June. The estimated price tag was $5.6 billion. Officials have refused to say exactly how long it would last, but Defense Secretary Robert Gates had suggested that it could be over by fall. In recent days, a different picture has emerged. The total number of troops required for the plan, while still uncertain, is climbing.”

What are these poor Democrats going to do? What are their kooks going to do? The kooks are coming out of the woodwork. They’re beside themselves. They’re starting protest at Democrat offices and on Capitol Hill. “When Bush announced the boost of 21,500 combat troops, the Pentagon said still others would be required to go with them in support roles. Its initial estimate of 2,400 support troops has doubled and may go higher still. … When asked about the duration of the buildup, Gates has noted that funds for this purpose are only budgeted through September, which marks the end of the government’s budget year. This week, however, it was disclosed that Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, a top commander in Iraq, has recommended that the buildup stretch into 2008.” (Laughing) I’m laughing only because the Democrats can’t stop it. No matter what they do, no matter how much they caterwaul and bellyache, they can’t stop it.

On the Today Show, they had Jack Murtha, author of the ‘slow bleed.’ He appeared with Meredith Vieira, who said, “Congressman, General Petraeus also said that it’s going to take months, not weeks, to see if the surge is working, which would fight against this notion that you can remove all the troops by 2008.”

MURTHA: Months! Months is two months away! I believe we’ll be able to tell if this surge is working within a couple of months. Everybody in Iraq [sic] says we ought to be out of there! We’ve become occupiers! Everybody on the periphery says we ought to be out of there! The American public spoke at the last election!

RUSH: Well, if they did, Congressman Murtha, why in the hell are you having so much trouble getting the Congress to go along with your 17 resolutions? I take it back. That’s 17 in the Senate and House combined. But if that’s what the election was about, and if the polling data that you think you have is so accurate, why are you having so much trouble? It seems like the American people would be storming the gates in Washington themselves to get us out of Iraq if what you believe to be true is true. Also, it is not accurate to say that ‘everybody in Iraq says we ought to be out of there.’ There are countless many in Iraq who want us nowhere but there. Ditto Afghanistan. Meredith Vieira then said, “The White House has already said that if this bill ever reaches the president’s desk he will veto it. So how is it different from the purely symbolic, nonbinding resolution that was passed a few weeks ago?”

MURTHA: It forces the president to certify that they’re making progress in Iraq. Well, people say he’ll certify anyway. That’s not true. He’s not going to certify the troops are not trained and not equipped before they go into combat. So this is a very tough bill, and then we’ll work our way through the committee, we’ll work through the House, and then — then we’ll negotiate with the Senate for a bill that is — that will reduce the — the cost of this war and reduce the war itself.

RUSH: It’s pipe dream. It’s not going to happen. The Senate is it not going to go anywhere near this. So, at any rate, it’s just great news here. The troop buildup is going to be larger; it’s going to be longer and the Democrats can’t do a thing to stop it — which is only going to drive ’em crazier. You have to understand this in context here. The Democrats have all these resolutions. They think they have this electoral mandate from last November. They’re out there and they’re huffing and puffing. They’re going to get us out and they’re going to paper this president with resolution after resolution after resolution! They’re going to isolate George W. Bush!

And they’re having no impact at all on the substance of all this! They’re getting nowhere near getting troops out of there. They’re getting nowhere near de-funding or even partially funding. Nowhere near it. The have defections in their own caucus. The Blue Dog Democrats, the conservative Democrats are giving Pelosi fits on this. They did have some Republicans that were peeled off to support them. then Murtha leaked the plans of his slow bleed and a bunch of Republicans said, “Oh, we can’t be part of that.” So they don’t even have some of the Republicans votes that they had.