Murtha: Let’s Redeploy Our Troops From Iraq To Okinawa
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:
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) Tags: Asshats, Letters, National Heritage Area
