OT - Rather unusual article in the NY Times

[Steve Scott]

Toensing's bio is pretty impressive.

[Oscar_Lives]

I am so ashamed, so utterly ashamed to call this man a Marine:

Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) plans to introduce legislation designed to halt the Bush administration's troop "surge" in Iraq by restricting military deployments - a move he is painting as one that will "support" U.S. forces.

"The legislation I'm putting together ... puts restrictions on the president, on the administration, saying you can't send people back into battle until they've had a year at home," Murtha, a vocal critic of the Iraq war, who chairs the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, said Thursday.

He says this is to stop "the surge" but we all know what this is. It's a way to turn tail and run. This is a Marine saying this!

It gets better: If passed, he said, the provision would be "the most important vote in changing the direction of this war," because it would "limit the options of the president and should stop the surge."

[...]"Now, if they can't extend people, if they can't send people back that don't have equipment and so forth, they can't continue the surge," he said.

"If this resolution passes the House and the Senate, the president could veto it, but then he wouldn't have any money," Murtha noted. "What we're trying to do is make sure people understand we're supporting the troops, we're protecting the troops, but on the other hand, we're going to stop this surge.

"The other thing we're doing is saying, no permanent bases," Murtha said.

Why would we want permanent bases in the middle of the Middle East? I mean that's not strategic positioning to defeat radical Islam is it?

Sigh.....

Then the winner:

He did not elaborate but went on to talk about services enjoyed by U.S. troops in Iraq but denied to many Iraqis.

"Let's take, for instance, Saddam Hussein's palace - that's where our troops are living," Murtha said.

"They have everything they need. They have electricity, as they should. They have warm water. They have all the things that you need and we provide for our troops, and I agree with that," he said.

He agree's with it but doesn't like it. We all know how high on the hog our troops are living right? They live in luxury inside Saddam's palaces.....damn them!

Again, this is a Marine saying this.....how friggin disgusting.

Finally he should be so proud to be honored by Code Pink:

While he has been criticized by Republicans for advocating a "cut and run" strategy, Murtha has also received praise for his stance on the issue. In January 2006, he was given a "pink badge of courage" by the anti-war group Code Pink, and he received the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award later that year.

All this is on the heels of the cowardly resolution from the House, which passed 246-182, which said "we don't like the surge, but we ain't going to do anything about it." They don't even have the balls to do what they really want to do, which is cut and run. No, instead we get non-binding resolutions and threatened restrictions on troop deployment. Put up or shut up would ya?

What these nimrods fail to understand is they are just setting themselves up for failure once again. Murtha and gang cannot, CANNOT, tell the President how to conduct a war. They have the power of the purse, so if they feel that strongly then put up a resolution to pull the funds. Trying to conduct a war via resolutions and bills is a violation of the separation of powers explicitily stated in the Constitution.

[Geoman]

No, its a LIBERAL saying this!!! It was so long ago that he forgot he was a Marine!