IRAQ

A Patriot's Call For Redeployment

Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) is "a defense hawk, decorated Vietnam War veteran and retired Marine colonel" who has worked on military issues in Congress for more than three decades. Describing the President's course of action as "a flawed policy wrapped in illusion," Murtha yesterday choked back tears and called for the redeployment of U.S troops from Iraq "at the earliest practicable date," which he said could be six months. Murtha argued that the presence of U.S. troops has now become "a catalyst for the violence," citing a recent poll that found "over 80 percent of Iraqis are strongly opposed to the presence of coalition troops, and about 45 percent of the Iraqi population believe attacks against American troops are justified." Moreover, the extended deployment of more that 150,000 troops in Iraq has put the "future of our military...at risk." Murtha noted that "our military and their families are stretched thin. Many say that the Army is broken. Some of our troops are on their third deployment." He added, "The main reason for going to war" -- to destroy Iraq's weapons of mass destruction -- "has been discredited." Murtha's proposal, while on a slightly more accelerated timetable, echoes the themes of the American Progress plan: a steady drawdown of troops out of Iraq, the redeployment of some U.S. troops to better combat terrorist networks, and a strong commitment to diplomatic and other non-military assistance.

WHITE HOUSE RESORTS TO CAMPAIGN-STYLE ATTACKS: The White House responded to Murtha's thoughtful proposal with clumsy, campaign-style attacks. White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said "it is baffling that he is endorsing the policy positions of Michael Moore and the extreme liberal wing..." They just don't get it. Now that Murtha has called for withdrawal, the White House can no longer claim it's a position only advocated by extremists. Murtha is a conservative Democrat who "has earned bipartisan respect for his work on military issues over three decades in Congress." Rep. John M. McHugh (R-NY), who serves on the on the House Armed Services Committee, said, "When he talks, I listen." Murtha isn't going to take it lying down. Referring to Vice President Cheney's attacks on critics of the administration Iraq policy, Murtha said, "I like guys who've never been there that criticize us who've been there. I like that. I like guys who got five deferments and never been there and send people to war, and then don't like to hear suggestions about what needs to be done."

WHAT IT MEANS TO HONOR THE TROOPS: Last night on the PBS NewsHour, correspondent Margaret Warner asked Murtha if his proposal would "devalue the sacrifice that the more than 2,000 Americans who died made." Murtha responded that "the flawed policy is what's devalued their service," adding, "These troops are disciplined. They can't speak for themselves. It's up to the Congress of the United States." Murtha's position is strongly motivated by concern for the troops. He's been spending time visiting wounded soldiers at military hospitals and reports "what demoralizes them is going to war with not enough troops and equipment to make the transition to peace; the devastation caused by IEDs; being deployed to Iraq when their homes have been ravaged by hurricanes; being on their second or third deployment and leaving their families behind without a network of support."

DISCOUNTING DISSENT: On Thursday, President Bush said, "Listen, it's patriotic as heck to disagree with the president." Apparently, his right-wing allies in Congress disagree. Responding to Murtha, Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ) asked, "Dare we now snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, plagued by poll-driven self-doubt of those who embrace surrender?" Rep. John Carter (R-TX) said, "And I'm here to tell you that the soldiers that are going to war on behalf of this country are the best people on Earth, and they do not deserve to have people bail out on them and take the cowardly way out and say, We're going to surrender." Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) strongly implied that Murtha was not patriotic. "It's easy to be a flag-waver and to be patriotic and to support the troops when you're in the initial attack phase and it looks like you may have only a two-week war."


CONSERVATISM
A Revolt From Within

Conservatives in the House yesterday "suffered an embarrassing and rare defeat when nearly two dozen renegade Republicans teamed with Democrats to shoot down a giant health and education spending bill for the coming year." The vote revealed a growing rift in the House "as conservatives press for lower spending and moderates resist cuts in social safety net programs." The revolt has been brewing for weeks, with the right wing divided over pork-barrel spending, the Bush administration's Iraq policy, and cuts to social programs for the poor. "The conservative coalition," columnist George Will wrote, "is coming unglued for many reasons." Yet hours later, moderates lost their backbone and voted for a budget that slashed Medicaid, student loans, and food stamps to fund more tax breaks for the well-off.

ALL ABOUT PORK: "Historically, the labor, health and human services, and education bill is one of the most project-loaded of the annual spending bills." Yet to the chagrin of some conservatives, "negotiators stripped the bill of special local projects sought by members, a decision that cut into support since House members already unhappy with the cuts had no other incentive to back the bill." "[W]e made the gigantic and controversial step of saying no to projects," said Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. But this move, in combination with cuts in education and health programs, "was too much for them to swallow." The revolt is indicative of the extraordinary growth of pork-barrel spending while conservatives have been in power. "Government," George Will complained, "is more undisciplined than ever."

HOURS LATER, MODERATES FOLD: A few hours after rejecting the Labor-HHS conference report, the House "narrowly approved a broad five-year budget plan...that squeezes programs for the poor, for college students and for farmers." According to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, the bill "would still deny food stamps to 220,000 to 250,000 low-income people each month by 2008, and would cut basic food aid by $700 million over five years." The bill also "would allow states to impose substantial new co-payment and premium fees on millions of low-income Medicaid beneficiaries," "result in an estimated 330,000 children in low-income working families losing child care assistance in 2010," and "slash funding deeply for child support enforcement efforts."

REVOLT OVER LEADERSHIP: Yesterday's events "focused attention once again on the difficulties of a leadership team that has been somewhat off balance since September, when Representative Tom DeLay was forced to step aside as majority leader after he was indicted in Texas." Roll Call reported, "[S]everal lawmakers and leadership staffers suggested that many Members would still want January elections for a variety of reasons: Some are unhappy with [Rep. Roy] Blunt’s (R-MO) performance, some believe he is doing well and want to give him the Majority Leader post on a permanent basis and some simply want to make a statement that the Conference must move on from the DeLay era."

IT'S A DIFFERENT WORLD: In the Senate, conservatives had to drop "one of the centerpieces of Bush's second-term economic agenda" from their five-year $50 billion tax package. The tax bill "did not include an extension of the deep cuts to the tax rates on capital gains and dividends that passed in 2003 and are set to expire after 2008. Instead, the Senate approved a tax measure largely devoted to hurricane relief and the extension of tax measures with bipartisan appeal." Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) withheld her support for the cuts, saying, "The reality is, this is a very different world than where we were even six months ago."

NOT THEIR MOVEMENT ANYMORE: "[W]e have not reduced the size of government, there is no balanced budget amendment, and pork-barrel and self-interest politics have grown," Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) lamented yesterday. He added, "Now is the time for midcourse corrections to ensure the success of the conservative movement." Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) seems to know why conservatives are having problems: "The reason is we're not governing."