NO ONE ELECTED YOU!!!

C.I.R. PRESS ALERT

"Since no one elected the New York Times to determine national security policy, the only action I know to register protest for their irresponsible action (treason?) is to withdraw support of their operations by canceling our subscription as many others are doing," Mendell D. Morgan Jr. wrote Wednesday in an e-mail to library staffers. "If enough do, perhaps they will get the point."

Congrats to Mr. Morgan for taking a stand against the NYT. Looks like there are still a few people with their heads screwed on straight.

-md

[UPDATE:]
Morgan announced Friday that he was reinstating the subscription. He also said that he again may cancel the it, but not before engaging the university community in a discussion about the topic and reaching consensus.

Give money to help us lose!

C.I.R. Press Editorial

WASHINGTON, D.C. – I woke up the other morning to one of the funniest emails I have ever read. As from my replies at other blogs and my own postings here I think all know I am not a fan of Representative John Murtha. So, when I received an email from the DCCC (Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee) asking me for money, it was the norm… but this one was written by Murtha.

As if they thought I EVER would, they have now put the nail in the coffin of me ever considering helping out the democratic party. This was just a riot. As the democrats bitch and moan over the republicans playing politics with the war, can someone explain to me what this is:

Subject: Cut the “Traitor” Talk

Dear __________ ,

To all the Republicans who sit in their air-conditioned offices and talk of the courage it takes for them to keep young kids in harm's way - I say enough. Karl Rove talking about "cutting and running" while he sits on his big, fat backside-saying "stay the course." I say enough! That's not a plan! We've got to have a new direction, and it's clear we need more Democrats in Congress to get that done.

No matter how obvious the mistakes in Iraq become, or how many Americans get fed up, Republicans in Congress and the White House will label you a traitor to your country if you stand up and question them.

I'm not naïve enough to think it won't be an issue in the election year but accusing people of being unpatriotic cheats good Americans out of any chance for a real resolution to the mess in Iraq. And while this issue of war is neither a Democratic nor a Republican one, the need for new leadership in the House is clearly an issue.

While the Republicans have been busy name calling, the situation in Iraq has only gotten worse. The insurgency has grown exponentially. IED attacks, where our troops are sitting ducks for an enemy they can't even see, have increased steadily. And the patience of the American people for this flawed policy is running out.

We need to put an end to these outrageous attacks on people who disagree with Bush and his Rubber Stamp Republican Congress's "sit and watch" plan for Iraq. My colleagues in the House Democratic leadership are so committed to winning a Democratic majority that they have offered to match all contributions that come in from before midnight on June 30th.

With a Democratic majority, we would have an honest debate about the war. The American people's concerns and opposition would be recognized.

Double Your Impact Now With a Matched Gift and Help Win a Democratic Majority. (link to give $$$)

Last week, during the House floor debate, I hoped the Republicans would have realized that the majority of the American people do not support this war. I hoped that they would have recognized that the American people need more from their government than a Republican Congress that asks no questions and demands no answers. But that didn't happen, and it's clear we need a Democratic majority to chart a new course.

When I offered a concrete plan to get our troops out of harm's way, where they have become the target, I didn't expect every member of Congress or every candidate to agree with my specific proposal in this debate. But I did expect them to acknowledge that there is more to be done than sitting and watching.

Double Your Impact Now With a Matched Gift and Help Win a Democratic Majority. (link to give $$$)

Thank you for all your help, it's so important.

Sincerely, Jack MurthaMember of Congress,
Pennsylvania's 12th District

P.S. I hope you will join me in my fight. Our candidates have to be able to fight back against the Rove Machine's traitor
talk in order to start getting Congress to move towards finding real solutions. We need a Democratic majority to change the direction in Iraq. Contribute before midnight on June 30th and your contribution will be matched, doubling your impact towards winning a Democratic majority. (link to give $$$)

Ok, I get an email criticizing the war effort, saying republicans need to be booted out of office (even though he says it is not a republican or democrat issue). During the course of the email there are three links allowing me to donate money to the democrats. While I am sure people will try to counter this with the fact that “republicans are doing the same thing.” Well, the democrats are saying give us money because we think we are losing and want to retreat from Iraq.

The republicans want to win, to send a strong message to the enemies of the United States. We are trying to help the war effort and keep the fight overseas as opposed to on the streets of cities in CONUS. But the democrats want to raise money to essentially stop the war and make us out to be the laughing stock of the world by having us perceived as sticking our tail between our legs and scamper off like a punished pet.

-md

PS – On a small side note, were you all aware that ONLY republicans have air conditioning? (note first line of the email) As I have said before, Murtha declares the temperature in Iraq is 130 degrees. Well does he keep his office at THAT temperature to make sure his “ex-Marine ass” makes the correct decisions?

Other pieces on Murtha:
Meet the Murtha
Tip of the Sword
Leader Murtha?
Attention People... and Salute!
(Some older posts, replies were lost when CIR switched to Haloscan.)

[UPDATE 20060628:] Murtha's Anti-War Role Could Imperil HimAt Home

No WMDs?

C.I.R. PRESS ALERT

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Just recently at around 1730hrs Senator Santorum and Representative Hoekstra had a press conference where they revealed their long time struggle to be able to declassify documents showing that Saddam Hussein did NOT destroy all of his WMDs. Some were found and it is believed more exist. These chemical weapons were a violation of resolutions and sanctions. Showed the UN monitoring was a joke. And they could have been used or sold on the blackmarket.

However, I waited for a while to see what would happen. Now an hour and a half later CNN and MSNBC proudly display “Murder charged against Marines.” Since this doesn’t fit their mold, I guess they decided to opt-out of carrying the story which relates to the main argument regarding the decision to go to war. Pathetic. And oddly Fox News still is carrying the Marines charged story, but atleast they reported on air of the conference.

[UPDATE: 0028hrs 7 hours later, Fox News has added the story on the site. BUT the other two continue to go with "Marines Charged." I can't even find anything about the WMD story on the other 2 networks sites.]
[UPDATE: 0930hrs, 6/22; 16 hours later, The other two continue to go with "Marines Charged." I can't even find anything about the WMD story on the other 2 networks sites.]
[UPDATE: 24 hours later, CNN continues to go with anything but the story. MSNBC is now running the headline: Officials: U.S. didn’t find WMDs, despite claims, even though the first line is "Senior U.S. intelligence officials said Thursday they have no evidence that Iraq produced chemical weapons after the 1991 Gulf War, despite recent reports from media outlets and Republican lawmakers." The lawmakers clearly said they were pre-1991 WMDs! ]

Record time!

C.I.R. Press Alert

WASHINGTON, D.C. --Last week it was "The redeployment of U.S. combat troops out of Iraq by the end of 2006", this week word is [UPDATE: The new press release 6/19]that Senator Kerry adjusted his timetable to next summer. Barely a week, this might just be a record time flip-flop for Senator Kerry. They want reasons why the Republican's want to "stay and win." We knew Kerry wanted out, well now he wants out... later. Why?

-md

(Note: I am interested to see how long they leave that 6/12 press release up for.)

Additional:
The war in Iraq is increasingly looking more like a showdown with Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda followers...

Meet the Murtha

C.I.R. Press Editorial
(Larger text used so your don't get a headache reading.)

UNDISCLOSED, U.S.A. – One statement that Congressman Murtha made was an important one. It spoke to the type of war we are fighting. We are fighting on the ground but it is in whole a war on terror which is more of a mindset. He speaks truth when he says “we are fighting a war of ideas and ideals.” Yes, but it goes both ways. The fight is also at home for the support of this war on terror. Everyone is focused on Iraq as part of this war, so I’d wonder how Murtha explains the positive results that can be achieved in this “war of ideas” when he earlier said, “If you’re not winning, if you’re losing … and that’s what’s happening.” And yet even earlier he says “all of us know how important it is internationally to win this war.” Later he discusses how America is in the dump with the rest of the world and we need to change that. Well he wants to leave the war zone, to gain support in the world. Well which is it: Win the war, or leave?

Tim Russert brought up a very good point. He quoted Murtha, “You did say on ’05 "our military has done everything asked of them. The US cannot accomplish anything further in Iraq militarily" … the killing of Zarqawi was a military accomplishment, so the military could do more.” Of course Murtha tried to downplay it in many ways.

There was this argument that it was done from the “outside”, which is an important argument to make in order to support his “re-deploy” concept. However a flag went up in my head when he said that, and later he confirmed it in a quick low voice manner saying how no one knows where the planes came from. The F-16 Falcons could have very well taken off from a base inside the country. Later he wandered into the realm of non-sense by listing countries to “re-deploy” to. One of the places was Okinawa! When Russert seemed to be speechless Murtha replied with “our fighters can fly very quickly.” Holy cow, I was unaware that fighter aircraft are able to fly “quickly.” Anyone that wants to support someone that says “re-deploy” from Iraq, but still be able to respond with fighter and attack support in Iraq, and on the list (I don’t care that it was last) has Okinawa… is sorely wrong!

As for his contention over and over that doing things from the outside is the best way, his main proof is that of the Zarqawi killing. As much as he contends that it was all Iraq and we just dropped the bombs, the military had been working hard to track them in coordination with the Iraqi government. I wonder if we were “re-deployed” if the 11 man unit would have been able to be on scene in 29 minutes post bombing? My personal belief is no. Why is that important? You need people at a site like that ASAP to gather remaining intelligence before it is blown away by wind, burned or destroyed by other terrorists, or consumed by any remaining fire resulting from the bombs.

“Even in Somalia Clinton made the decision to change direction,” Murtha. Yes he did and since then every terrorist and enemy of the US feel they only need to kill a few and entire military will run from the fight and the US will leave them the hell alone. Terrorists use that horrible incident as a blueprint to fight their wars. Murtha wants more examples like that to the rest of the world? His contention that the stress and heat is too much for our troops, this war is just too harsh. We need to get out because he goes to the hospitals and sees the families, they can’t take anymore. He is very good at coming up with examples of other wars, I challenge him:

Find me one war in the past, any war at all, that was “easy” and not “hard” on the families. I need not wait for an answer because there is not a single war that was not harsh on troops, families, and the country. And as for his concern for the lack of equipment. Why is he not on the floor of the House demanding that the GM factories stop making cars and switch to making tanks and HMMWVs for a period. Make LL Bean manufacture BDUs (fatigues). Nike can switch to making boots.

What Gates retiring and giving his personal money to charity has to do with Murtha’s new and improved slogan “stay the course, is stay and pay” I have no idea. Yes we are all aware 1%, or such a small number are actually fighting in this war. We know it is hot in Iraq. We know military equipment is heavy. Where the hell did his perception come from, that all Americans think the troops are going to Disney World? I am sorry the War on Terror has an expensive price tag Mr. Murtha, but without it all this security and education you want to throw out as an excuse to end the war would not be safe.

Although I think I figured out why Hollywood is so mad about the war. Murtha of course feels we must now raise taxes to pay for the war (and all the other stuff he wants to pump money into) and who does he want to raise taxes on… of course that upper evil percentage of the rich. So logic says that the faster the Hollywood elite can go about ending the war, the better their bank accounts will be. While of course they produce and profit from war movies and shows about war and the military. Wow. Hypocritical?

Of course we have Murtha with his normal lines, in response to a clip of Rove:

“He’s in New Hampshire, he’s making a political statement. He’s sitting in his air conditioned office, on his big fat [long awkward pause] backside. Saying stay the course, that’s not a plan. I don’t know what his military experience is, but that’s a political statement. This is a policy difference between me and the White House.”

Newsflash, the way our system works is that policy comes from our political system (dictionary definition: activity within a political party or organization that is concerned with debate and the creation and carrying out of distinctive policies rather than merely the administration of the state).

If I hear that stupid “air condition” line one more time! Am I to assume that the good Congressman keeps the heat in HIS office at 130 degrees to make sure his “policy” is correct? I doubt it. Now he clearly states this is between him and the White House. I thought it was for the troops, or is it as it seems, really some kind of personal issue he has? Of course we are confronted with the idea that you have to have served in the military to have any say. Then some on the left go further. If you are a veteran and support the war, are you a “war” veteran? Each time a little further, why don’t they come clean and just say “if you are not Murtha we think you are wrong and shut up.”

As he continues he went in to the topic of the White House promoting people who made mistakes as opposed to firing them. He needs to re-read his history, I think all would say that Fleet Admiral Nimitz was a great man, and military officer. After the attack on Pearl Harbor he was sent to take command and rebuild for the fight. When he arrived all expected him to court-martial, demote, or re-assign those already there during the attack to build a new command. The point is the answer to everything is not “start over.” Instead:

“…the extreme loyalty he received from his staff, much of which he inherited at Pearl Harbor from Admiral Kimmel, and who he neither blamed for, nor replaced, after the disaster. This was typical of the man. Once, when asked about not relieving a captain whose ship had run aground, he reminded his audience that he had been almost cashiered for the same offense.” - Wikipedia

In conclusion, a few of his claims. Such as the Administration is trying to find a way to get out, but they don’t want to have to admit they are wrong. The Congressman is essentially accusing the President of being willing to allow US men and women to die just so he doesn’t have to say he was wrong? Come on, if you believe that, well… I don’t know what to say. If he says Iraq is the number one issue in the polls, why does the new democrat plan avoid any mention of Iraq?

Do to the polls, Congressman Murtha has a message to the American public (yes this is in quotes):

“Well I think the public would have to be portrayed as cut and runners.”

-md

Addtional:

A must read additional resource on Chickenhawk Express.

Additional opinions at Mike's America.

"Cut-and-Run, Retreat-and-Defeat" Strategy Vs. "Staying and Paying the Course"

C.I.R. Press Note

UNDISCLOSED, U.S.A. – I have heard it a bit in the past and Chris Wallace brought it up this morning. “This year we will have been in Iraq for as long as we were in WWII.” That may very well be true, the problem is that the length of time will be used to compare the two wars and make people think of what a great loss was suffered during WWII. Every life is important; every troop that sacrifices their life for their country deserves a place at the highest seat of honor.

But for those who are mathematically challenged I’d like to point out something. During WWII 407,300 brave men lost their lives. With the death toll in Iraq now passing 2,500… we have lost .006 in the same time frame as we did in WWII. So before you allow yourself or anyone to make the false assumption that life is lost proportionate to time, it is not.

God bless those who have been injured or lost their life.

-md

Tip of the Sword

C.I.R. Press Editorial

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oh the Irony. M.u.r.t.h.a. (aka Military Undermining Rhetoric Tactically Helping Adversaries) might just be schooled again in how the Marines are the “tip of the sword”, a sword that cuts both ways. I am sure in combat he learned that (I mean that with all sincerity). But now he will learn after his retirement. Everyone should know how risky being a Marine is, they are “first in.” Murtha sure did jump on the chance to accuse the Marine’s in Haditha of being “cold blooded killers.”

Well now the story in the Washington Times states:

“A criminal defense attorney for a Marine under investigation in the Haditha killings says he will call a senior Democratic congressman as a trial witness, if his client is charged, to find out who told the lawmaker that U.S. troops are guilty of cold-blooded murder.”

I am sure the calls will come that this is unfair, or improperly targeting a long time Marine and war veteran. Too bad, if Murtha wanted to jump out there and use details that may or may not be correct, prior to the end of the investigation, for political reasons he should be held to task for it. I am fairly certain “cold blooded killers” are his own words.

Before the left jumps all over this maybe they should remember how much they say they believe in justice and fair trials. If there is possible evidence that could convict or exonerate a person that should be brought forward without any significant effort or required force. The left got it’s pants all wet over figuring out “who leaked what” during Plame, well don’t you feel the same now? It was a leak, or made up by Murtha. He best put up or shut up.

"But since Congressman Murtha has already judged these guys in public and folks have alleged a Marine Corp cover-up, I'm afraid that the Marine Corps will feel compelled to put these guys on trial to prove the Marine Corps hasn't done anything wrong in terms of a cover-up." -Mr. Puckett

I don’t want garbage about he can’t disclose it because it is politician-constituent communication. Actually why not get a special prosecutor to track down who leaks this material to Murtha? Oh, that is right, because the left can’t stand leaks of any kind UNLESS they come from the NSA or Pentagon. Then they are ok, as to preserve our society. (While at the same time destroying our National Security, but I don’t want to digress.)

Here is his chance to prove what he touts. Is he a “Marine” willing to aid his brothers in arms, or is he the ex-marine political hack that we have all come to know and disdain (See lefties out there, make note I did not say hate… so don’t accuse me of saying I hate Murtha.). Actually, I suppose you can.

Regardless of what comes of the situation, I hope at a minimum this will get some people who have loose lips to maybe keep them shut. I would not be surprised if his glorious oasis of Pentagon contacts thinks twice before providing information (GOOD). Not so much in the past, it would seem he used such information in a fashion to champion the military. Now I can only assume the way he began using information in recent years, was not how expected from his sources. How many times does he need to insult the military as “broken” or “cold blooded killers” before people in the five-side realize he is no friend?

-md

Apologize for the loss.

CIRDeputy suggested trying Haloscan. Not having the time, I told him to go ahead and add it. Well as you can see basically 4 months of replies are gone. I apologize to those who took time out to comment, and now no longer see their replies. I will see if there is any way to get them back.

"Oh no! Not again!" thinks the left.

C.I.R. Press Alert

Forget the poll numbers, the book sale numbers, the box office numbers, and TV ratings for a moment and sink your teeth in to some numbers that really matter... The recruiting numbers for the United States Armed Forces once again looking good:
USA: 108%; USN: 100%; USMC: 105%; USAF: 100%

[Scroll down (2 posts) if you are looking for the email adress to the Italian Embassy.]

Leader Murtha?

C.I.R. Press Alert

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- We thought it was bad enough to worry about Pelosi. Well, something new everyday. After yesterday being in rare form and throwing a compliment the military's way Murtha stuck to his guns, pardon the pun... no really pardon. He is still all about cutting and running and using anything to support it.

But then today, ta-da! He wants to lead the house if the Democrats win. While the whole battle would be quite a pay-per-view event, it would be disastrous for our country. But should they win, and he in turn win, well I think that would close the book on the debate if the Democrats are weak during a time of war. After what he has said if they allow him to lead the party in the house, oh boy.

-md

CIR calls for action.

C.I.R. CALL TO ACTION

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- This is a call to action requested by CIR. I read the article in Stars and Stripes but didn't think about this until I read the post on NewsBusters (h/t) suggesting that we all express our thanks to the Embassy.

They picked up the slack after Hilton decided to be pricks and end the lease of Fran O'Brien's. The Italian Ambassador deserves a HUGE thanks and it is very easy for any of us with email!

CIR asks that you send a polite note thanking the Ambassador for his support of injured troops and families:

culturale.washington@esteri.it

Also adding to the story and support:

Mike's America - Italian Embassy in DC Shows Support for US Injured Soldiers

A Soldier's Perspective - Italian's Care for Wounded

Black Five (How it started) - Have you ever been to Fran O'Brien's on a Friday Night?

-md

History repeating???

C.I.R. Press Editorial

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- I saw an interesting documentary (real version, not Moore Style) on the History Channel about George Washington. At the surrender of Yorktown they showed the above painting. They always say history repeats itself, but this is just comical. In that split second I noticed a white flag flying on the left side (the side surrendering), and the US flag on the right... very interesting. Later on in the documentary they tell of Washington having to address possible rebellious troops and saying:

You are not a friend of this Army, you are not a friend of this Country, you are not a friend of mine, if you want to turn on our Government...

I think some on the left side of our political spectrum may have something to learn in that.

-md