Murtha sticks fingers in ears and pretends to not listen

"I dismiss it at as rhetoric," said US Representative John Murtha, a former marine, congressional heavyweight on military matters, and outspoken Iraq War critic.

"I don't know where they were staying. I don't know what they saw. But I know this: that it's not getting better," Murtha said on CNN television.

"It's over-optimist. It's an illusion," the Pennsylvania lawmaker continued.

Now who is the good Congress critter talking about you ask? Why these guys.

A top Democratic lawmaker Tuesday dismissed the findings of two longtime Iraq war critics, who cited a dramatic improvement in the situation there following the infusion of thousands of additional US troops

Independent Brookings Institution analysts Michael O'Hanlon and Kenneth Pollack, who often have criticized US Iraq policy, on Monday said they noted a marked improvement on their last visit earlier this month to the war-torn country.

And to answer the congressman's question in regards to where they were staying, apparentely it wasn't at the al Rasshed or inside the Green Zone.

Pollack and O'Hanlon returned from eight days of meetings with US generals, diplomats and Iraqis saying they were more hopeful than they had expected.

But don't worry regardless of the news coming out of Iraq the Dems have become a one trick pony on this issue. All they want to do is get the troops out and to hell with anything else. They are not concerned about possible genocide, invasion from surrounding countries, or empowering al Queda. This has become the liberals own obsessive compulsive behavior now. They are so fixated on this truly bumpersticker slogan that they are blinded to all of the other realities that exist in the world.
I hope and I pray that Americans will see these liberals and Dems exactly for what they are and will not back a loser when it is time to cast their vote.

Oh yeah Obama, you know those people you have no problem sitting down and talking to in Iran? You might have trouble finding a journalist to report on it.

Two Journalists Sentenced to Death in Iran

TEHRAN, Iran — The Iranian judiciary confirmed that two journalist from the country's Kurdish minority have been sentenced to death, a rare verdict against media people here, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported on Tuesday.

"Adnan Hassanpour and Hiva Boutimar have been sentenced to execution on the charge of Moharebeh," the agency quoted Ali Reza Jamshidi, spokesman of judiciary, as saying. Moharebeh, which literally means "fighting" in classical Arabic, is used in Iran's Sharia law to describe a major crime against the religion and the Islamic state.

The official new agency did not specify what crime the two Kurdish journalists were precisely accused of.

Two GI's Killed in Iraq Base Attack

They're feeling comfort from the aid they're getting from the Democrats.

Insurgents attacked a U.S. combat post on Monday, killing two soldiers and injuring 17, the military said. The assault began with a suicide bomber exploding a vehicle outside the base north of Baghdad, said the statement, which gave no further details. The names of the soldiers killed and wounded were not immediately made public.

A string of bombings killed at least 15 people Monday in the Baghdad area, a day after a massive car bomb attack in a Shiite area market delivered the first major blow to the U.S.-led security crackdown. Attacks in other parts of Iraq pushed the overall death toll near 30.

In the meantime, Mookie has told his goons to lie low since Murtha is busy buying time for them.

Dangerous Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has ordered his fanatical Mahdi Army to stand down during the U.S. security crackdown in Baghdad so that his organization can live to fight another day, The Post has learned.

U.S. officials, citing intelligence gleaned from electronic surveillance as well as informants, said the radical cleric recently ordered top aides to put the civil war with Sunnis on hold, stay out of Baghdad and keep a low profile during the new U.S. effort.

Al-Sadr is believed to be in Iran along with several close advisers.

Meanwhile, Peter Brookes says there's no doubt Iran is supplying the insurgency and says something better be done now.

But in the end, there seems to be three things there is no question about: Iranian weapons are present in Iraq today, and they are killing U.S., Coalition and Iraqi forces. And something has to be done about it - ASAP!

Kenneth Timmerman says Bush need to hangtough against the weasels.

THERE'S a new myth being pumped by the anti-Bush crowd, that somehow the president is once again "hyping" intelligence to make the case for war.

This time it's Iran and the allegedly hyped intelligence concerns Iran's involvement in Iraq, as well as the administration's interpretation of Iran's motives and intentions.

The anti-Bush crowd is concerned that Bush's new, hard-headed approach to Iranian terrorists operating in Iraq is actually beginning to show results, and it is desperate to sabotage any political benefit the president might derive from this success.

Any success for Bush means bad news for the Democrats, who are far more interested in scoring political points than actually winning in Iraq, to their eternal shame.

Finally, Allahpundit opines on a NY Times report saying Al-Qaeda is reinforcing in Waziristan. Just great.

UPDATE: Jules Crittenden has Tet for Tat?

Unhinged Murtha and His Plan for Defeat

For a while last year, John Murtha was looked at as the kooky uncle people tolerated at Thanksgiving. Pretty annoying, seemingly a bit senile, but not in any position to cause much harm, outside of clearing the dining room pretty quickly while he goes on some insane rant nobody can comprehend.

Well, times have changed and the political landscape has given him far more power than he deserves or knows how to handle. Now he's dangerous and threatens our military future in Iraq and elsewhere. The crazy uncle has brought some unwanted guests to dinner in the form of a slew of anti-American groups and it's time to take this guy on.

The Washington Times notes in Murtha's Plan for Defeat that his words are on tape for all to hear.

When the House votes today on the resolution denouncing Mr. Bush's plans for additional troops to combat al Qaeda and other terrorist groups in Iraq, members should be under no illusions about what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the rest of the Democratic Party leadership are trying to do: to make it impossible for American troops to properly do their job in Iraq. In an interview yesterday with MoveCongress.org, a Web site for a coalition of anti-war groups, Mr. Murtha, who chairs the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, explained that by placing conditions on $93.4 billion in new combat funds, he would make be able to effectively stop the troops in their tracks. "They won't be able to continue. They won't be able to do the deployment. They won't have the equipment, they don't have the training and they won't be able to do the work. There's no question in my mind," Mr. Murtha said.

"We will set benchmarks for readiness," a top Democratic leadership aide told the nonpartisan Politico.com Web site, which summarized the Democrats' strategy this way: "If enacted, these provisions would have the effect of limiting the number of troops available for the Bush surge plan, while blunting the GOP charge that Democrats are cutting funding for the troops in Iraq."

Aside from doing severe damage to the war effort in Iraq, the Democrats' political strategy to cripple the war effort by attaching thousands of legislative strings to war funding may also be unconstitutional. Noted attorney and constitutional scholar David Rivkin makes a strong case that Congress cannot act like a "puppet master" appropriating and authorizing funds while attaching conditions that would effectively transform the president into a marionette. If Congress wants to cut off funding, it must do so honestly and directly, rather than dishonestly through micromanagement. In addition to paving the way for a geopolitical catastrophe for this country, the Democratic leadership may be setting the stage for a constitutional confrontation with the White House.

The Democrats appear to want to relive history, when they doomed millions to death and tyranny under Communist rule in Southeast Asia, a shining moment for the anti-war left. They really were proud of their actions and oblivious to the misery and human suffering they enabled. Now they want to do it all over again, but it will present this country with a grave future if we do not defeat the enemies abroad. Remember that come election time.

Sneaky Democrats' New Strategy

This is really disgusting.

Top House Democrats, working in concert with anti-war groups, have decided against using congressional power to force a quick end to U.S. involvement in Iraq, and instead will pursue a slow-bleed strategy designed to gradually limit the administration's options.

Led by Rep. John P. Murtha, D-Pa., and supported by several well-funded anti-war groups, the coalition's goal is to limit or sharply reduce the number of U.S. troops available for the Iraq conflict, rather than to openly cut off funding for the war itself.

The legislative strategy will be supplemented by a multimillion-dollar TV ad campaign designed to pressure vulnerable GOP incumbents into breaking with President Bush and forcing the administration to admit that the war is politically unsustainable.

As described by participants, the goal is crafted to circumvent the biggest political vulnerability of the anti-war movement -- the accusation that it is willing to abandon troops in the field. That fear is why many Democrats have remained timid in challenging Bush, even as public support for the president and his Iraq policies have plunged.

So they don't support he troops, but are too cowardly to admit it. They are beneath contempt.

UPDATE: Bryan at Hot Air calls it a new low.

This is the strategy of a corrupt, dishonorable man. Yes, I realize I’m talking about a former Marine. I’m also talking about the unindicted co-conspirator of Abscam. I’m talking about the coot who thinks we can fight a war in Iraq from Okinawa. I’m talking about a man who is a tool for various subversive anti-war groups.

And who are these well-funded groups with whom Murtha is working? Are they International ANSWER, the Stalinist hardliners who have been patiently building the anti-war movement since 9-12-01? That’s a question Murtha must answer. Who besides the blame-America-first Win Without War Coalition is he working with?

Air Pelosi: Waste and Arrogance

It's for the children.

THURSDAY morning, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stepped out of her Georgetown home and into a government-owned black Chevy Tahoe SUV. That gas-guzzler truck took her directly to the Rayburn House Office Building - where she was the lead witness at a Science and Technology Committee hearing on global warming.

This, the day after word broke of Pelosi's request for regular use of a U.S. Air Force C-32 - the same plane that flies the vice president and first lady.

She wants to travel in luxury. The Air Force jet is the same size and airframe as the Boeing 757-200, which carries about 300 passengers. The C-32 boasts 42 business-class seats - plus a wood-paneled state room, big-screen TV, full-size bed and crew of 16, including uniformed stewards who bring drinks and meals on request. Oh, and an open bar.

Cost to taxpayers? Some $15,000 an hour.

Read the rest.

Meanwhile, her hatchetman, John Murtha, issues thuggish threats. I'm not sure if I have the right to question him since, you know, I didn't serve in Vietnam. But what the hell.

Perhaps the flap over Speaker Nancy Pelosi's plane wouldn't be so bad - had she and her trusty sidekick, Rep. Jack Murtha (D-Pa.), not reacted so obnoxiously.

When the Pentagon didn't immediately honor the request of the self-proclaimed "most powerful woman in America" for a top-of-the-line Air Force passenger jet, Pelosi deployed the "s"-word: sexism.

"As a woman, as a woman speaker of the House, I don't want any less of an opportunity than male speakers when they have served here," she said.

Pelosi then implied that the Pentagon was getting even with her:

"Why are they [the Pentagon] feeding the flames? Of course, I have been a constant critic - for nearly three years, I've called for the resignation of Donald Rumsfeld, who still has a desk at the Department of Defense . . ."

Then the thuggish, ethically challenged Murtha weighed in - saying it would be a "mistake" to deny her request, "since she decides on the allocations for the Department of Defense."

He'd be the expert.

Murtha's history of manipulating defense appropriations for personal gain is long and distinguished. In a 1989 defense bill, then-Speaker Tom Foley was shamed into redlining a Murtha-authored provision requiring the speaker have a C-20 jet available at all times.

What a pair, these two.

Blinky Does Baghdad

I'm sure the troops are thrilled to see Working Grandmother Pelosi visit them today. Also tagging along is Moonbat Murtha.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and three other Democratic House members are now in Iraq and will meet with the country's prime minister.

A senior congressional source told CNN that Reps. Tom Lantos of California, Ike Skelton of Missouri, and John Murtha of Pennsylvania are part of the fact-finding trip. They will be meeting with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

Lantos is chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Skelton is chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, and Murtha -- a major critic of the way the Iraq war has been conducted -- is chairman of the appropriations subcommittee that oversees the military budget.

The delegation is scheduled to return to Washington on Monday.