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Sunday, June 18, 2006

Murtha: Let’s Redeploy Our Troops From Iraq To Okinawa

The guy has lost it...

MR. ROVE: Congressman Murtha said, “Let’s redeploy them immediately to another country in the Middle East. Let’s get out of Iraq and go to another country.” My question is, what country would take us? What country would say after the United States cut and run from Iraq, what country in the Middle East would say, “Yeah. Paint a big target on our back and then you’ll cut and run on us.” What country would say that? What country would accept our troops?

(End videotape)

MR. RUSSERT: What’s your response?

REP. MURTHA: There’s many countries understand the importance of stability in the Middle East. This is an international problem. We, we use 20 million barrels of oil a day. China’s the second largest user. All these countries understand you need stability for the energy supply that’s available in the Middle East. So there’s many, many countries.

MR. RUSSERT: Who?

REP. MURTHA: Kuwait’s one that will take us. Qatar, we already have bases in Qatar. So Bahrain. All those countries are willing to take the United States. Now, Saudi Arabia won’t because they wanted us out of there in the first place. So—and we don’t have to be right there. We can go to Okinawa. We, we don’t have—we can redeploy there almost instantly. So that’s not—that’s, that’s a fallacy. That, that’s just a statement to rial up people to support a failed policy wrapped in illusion.

MR. RUSSERT: But it’d be tough to have a timely response from Okinawa.

REP. MURTHA: Well, it—you know, they—when I say Okinawa, I, I’m saying troops in Okinawa. When I say a timely response, you know, our fighters can fly from Okinawa very quickly. And—and—when they don’t know we’re coming. There’s no question about it. And, and where those airplanes won’t—came from I can’t tell you, but, but I’ll tell you one thing, it doesn’t take very long for them to get in with cruise missiles or with, with fighter aircraft or, or attack aircraft, it doesn’t take any time at all. So we, we have done—this one particular operation, to say that that couldn’t have done, done—it was done from the outside, for heaven’s sakes.


Video of his comments here.

Yes, you read that right. Rep. Murtha would like us to redeploy our troops from Iraq to Okinawa. See, his plan is that we'll "withdraw to a safe distance" with our forces ready to "swoop back in" should Iraqis need us. That way we're not really cutting and running from Iraq, just "getting the troops out of harm's way."

I'm no military expert, but here's something that might present a problem with that scenario:

iraqokinawa.jpg


Kind of hard to "swoop back in" from all the way across Asia.

If I didn't know that saying such a thing would do nothing but cause me to be riddled with scorn by the left for belittling Jack Murtha's three+ decades of service in the Marine Corps I'd tell you all that I don't think the doddering old fool knows what the hell he's talking about.

(via Michelle Malkin)

Comments

Avatar for Bat One

In late 2003, William F. Buckley’s National Review magazine ran a cover with a cartoon of Howard Dean and the now-infamous title, “Please Nominate This Man.”

If Ken Mehlman wants to build on his record of success at RNC, he’ll send out a special fund-raising appeal to the GOP faithful to buy Jack Murtha all the TV and radio time he could possible want from now til the November election.

Nothing could be more helpful to GOP electoral efforts than to have the Democrats’ foremost “expert” in military affairs out in public making more idiot statements like these.

This is almost as good as having William Jefferson doing seminars on international trade with Nigeria.

Bat One on June 18, 2006 at 10:21 pm
Avatar for TwoHotel9

Yep, and add to this the fact that the people of Okinawa don’t want more US military on their island, they want fewer.

TwoHotel9 on June 19, 2006 at 05:11 am
Avatar for Bat One

Looks like the Left has found their poster boy for losing in Iraq.  Jack Murtha’s idiot proposal to withdraw US troops from Iraq and base them halfway across the globe in Okinawa not only makes no sense strategically, but it flies in the face of recently negotiated reductions of US forces there… reductions which the Okinawans themselves have been demanding for years.

Worse yet for Democrats, Murtha’s proposal is now all over the internet, derisively posted with appropriate maps for the geographically challenged by gleeful conservatives intent on making Democrats own up to and answer for their chosen military expert’s lunatic pontification.  And it’s only Monday morning.  The swarm is continuing

Obviously Murtha knows as much about military strategy and tactics as he does about micro neurosurgery or quantum mechanics. 

In the words of Froggy from Blackfive, Jack Murtha is (http://www.blackfive.net/main/2006/06/the_zarqawi_ope.html)

...a man who has clearly become intoxicated with his own notoriety.

Murtha is about to become even more notorious.

Bat One on June 19, 2006 at 05:40 am
Avatar for LoadTheMule

Can you say, “Murtha is an idiot.”?

I knew that you could.

Regards…

LoadTheMule on June 19, 2006 at 05:47 am
Avatar for Gene Redlin

LTM
I CAN say it.

Gene Redlin on June 19, 2006 at 05:52 am
Avatar for WOOF

Kuwait’s Qatar, Bahrain.
All those countries are willing to take the United States.

Murtha

The fourth country mentioned is Okinawa.

WOOF on June 19, 2006 at 06:14 am
Avatar for Rob B.

Take Bahrain off that list. They have nothing against the US personally and they have a very modern and liberal lifestyle compaired to most of the middle east but thh draw enough Islamic criticism as it is. I don’t see them accepting operational US troops being stationed the so as to effectively paint a bulleye on their back and draw the terrorist to them.

Rob B. on June 19, 2006 at 06:24 am
Avatar for LoadTheMule

WOOF,

So what’s your point?  Since he mentioned it 4th it doesn’t count?

Get a grip.

Regards…

LoadTheMule on June 19, 2006 at 06:32 am
Avatar for WOOF

Any draw down is going to necessitate redeployment all over the region.
Okinawa can’t accomodate 130.000 thousand troops, though now that the N Koreans are about to lob a missle over the Japanese, they might want them.
Okinawa’s relationship to Japan is like ours to Puerto Rico, Tokyo is in charge.

WOOF on June 19, 2006 at 06:51 am
Avatar for LoadTheMule

WOOF,

Wanna try answering the question for a change? (No, of course not.)

Regards…

LoadTheMule on June 19, 2006 at 06:53 am
Avatar for WOOF

Load wrote:

Can you say, “Murtha is an idiot.”?

Wanna try answering the question for a change?

You demean yourself twice.

Cordially…

WOOF on June 19, 2006 at 08:11 am

Facts are facts, WOOF.

d I’m very glad Murtha’s on your side.  I couldn’t imagine a worse spokesperson for the DNC, except maybe the chairman of the DNC…

I blame Karl Rove, naturally.

Carrick on June 19, 2006 at 08:14 am
Avatar for Bat One

Might as well remove Qatar from the list as well.  Their entusiasm has cooled markedly since the ports deal got shut down.

Bat One on June 19, 2006 at 08:27 am
Avatar for larry fisher

IM WRITING A BOOK ON JOHN MURTHA, CANT DESIDE ON TITLE, NARROWED DOWN TO 2, WHICH ARE

HERO TO TRAITOR

OLD FOOLS NEVER DIE, THEY JUST RUN FOR CONGRESS

larry fisher on June 19, 2006 at 08:59 am
Avatar for LoadTheMule

Actually, WOOF, what I wrote was:

So what’s your point? Since he mentioned it 4th it doesn’t count?

Then you went on to obviate your own point about Okinawa.  Did Murtha call you--and you alone--to let you know he listed the countries in orde of how many troops they were going to house?  If not, I still ask the above question, which you have yet to answer.

I’ll say one thing for Murtha, though...Okinawa certainly is over-the-horizon.

Regards…

LoadTheMule on June 19, 2006 at 09:39 am
Avatar for Okinawa

I feel bad for our troops and what they are going through, how many years has it been, 7 or 8? Man...most are on second or third tours…

Okinawa on February 7, 2008 at 06:00 am

And now a Tourism Japan spambot. Ain’t that special!?!


Una Salus Victus Nullam Sperare Salutem

2Hotel9 on February 7, 2008 at 06:37 am
Avatar for Okinawa

Except I am a former Marine photographer in Okinawa Japan, Camp Foster--what’s wrong with that?

Okinawa on February 8, 2008 at 07:02 am

Okinawa - people come to years old threads all of the time to post their spam. 2Hotel9 is quick to call it out when he thinks he sees it.

likwidshoe on February 8, 2008 at 07:19 am

With Clinton’s delivery of multistage missile and Neutron warhead technology to North Korea and Red China, being in Strokinawa isn’t a terribly great idea, nor are our troops terribly welcome there in the first place (Schwab alum).

Even our traitors have less class, education and panache than in the early years of Benedict Arnold—at least he was a hero before he became a traitor.

Murtha is just a drooling Cindy Sheehan with a prostate.


...for great justice

Move_Zig on February 8, 2008 at 07:22 am

Oki, your usename links to a tourism webpage. That is considered spamming, there are even companies that will spam comment threads for a fee. Check it,out.

And yes, we here are fully aware of the exigencies of the current combat and support operations around the world, including Iraq and Afghanistan. Many of us are veterans and the majority of the regulars here have family and friends AD right now. And had the military been allowed to operate in the manner needed to deal with these situations from the start, instead of being whipsawed by the political assholes in our government(Murtha being one of the primary culprits in that nightmare) things would be considerably different at this point in time.

Add to that the minor fact that our military is all volunteer, and anyone joining, Officer or EM, since September 2001 was fully aware of the ongoing situation and the distinct possibility of doing multiple combat tours, and I don’t see your point.


Una Salus Victus Nullam Sperare Salutem

2Hotel9 on February 8, 2008 at 04:40 pm
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