 |
Mark Shields is a nationally known columnist and commentator. |
Murtha's law
WASHINGTON (Creators Syndicate) -- "Never in human history," reluctantly concludes Rep. John P. Murtha, D-Pennsylvania, addressing the case made for the United States invasion and occupation of Iraq, "have so many been so mislead by so few."
This is Jack Murtha, who left college during the Korean War to enlist as a private in the United States Marine Corps, and who later, as a 33-year-old husband and father of three, volunteered to fight in combat in Vietnam, where he was twice wounded and received the Bronze Star with combat "V," two Purple Hearts and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry.
Nobody -- not even the most conservative commando with the biggest flag lapel pin in the House Republican leadership -- dares to suggest that Jack Murtha is "soft" personally or politically on communists, terrorists or any enemy of America. He is recognized as the knowledgeable and informed Democratic hawk on defense in the House, whose counsel and support have been highly valued by presidents, national security advisors and defense secretaries in both parties.
Twice Murtha, in the House, voted to back invasions of Iraq by a president named Bush. Today, recently back from a return inspection visit there, Murtha is upset and angry about Iraq, its future and the well-being of this nation's military men and women their civilian leadership have stationed there.
"We're still at 50 percent unemployment (in Iraq)," states Murtha. "We're still -- a year later -- below the prewar levels of energy production."
The Bush administration keeps changing signals in Iraq. "First, Iraq had to have a new constitution before it had elections and no involvement from the United Nations, thank you," notes Murtha. "Then they had to do a U-turn on that to bring in the U.N. and to postpone both the constitution and the elections." But what angers this Pennsylvania Democrat, who Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni has called "a savvy man of action," is the lack of an administration answer to the important question: "Whom are we going to turn it over to in Iraq?"
"Ever since I was a young boy," Murtha has written, "I had two goals in life -- I wanted to be a colonel in the Marine Corp and a member of Congress."
To understand Murtha, you have to understand that he knows firsthand that the Marine Corps is run not by the generals with their drivers and the stars on their shoulders, but by the sergeants. He refuses to settle for PowerPoint briefings from the military and civilian brass. He talks personally and directly to the enlisted personnel and the junior officers whose lives and limbs are on the line. His barely controlled rage over the shortage of bullet-stopping Kevlar vests for the U.S. military in Iraq brought prompt action from the Pentagon.
George W. Bush may want to run for re-election as "the war president," but Washington, D.C., in 2004 is anything but "a war capital." Contrary to the highest American traditions, this war demands from the nation's leadership no equality of sacrifice. The message to those most advantaged and most privileged from this president is clear: "In this war, you will pay no price, you will bear no burden."
Almost alone among Washington officials, Jack Murtha regularly visits Walter Reed and Bethesda Naval Hospital, to comfort and encourage the wounded and crippled veterans and their families. He can tell you, because he knows and he goes to their funerals, that already six residents of his working class Pennsylvania district have been killed in Iraq.
As the ranking Democrat on the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, Murtha is openly furious at the Bush administration's dishonesty in failing to ask Congress to appropriate even the first dime of the millions that must be spent for 30,000 more troops, for the cost of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan -- a budget Murtha brands $60 billion to $70 billion short of what the administration knows it will have to spend this year.
Prospects for the emergence of a stable, peaceful, self-governing Iraq? According to Murtha, "No better than 50-50."
You will not see Jack Murtha on the cable news talk show circuit. On Capitol Hill, he is rightly known as a workhorse, not a show horse. When Jack Murtha speaks, those who care about the men and women of the U.S. military and their mission have learned to pay attention.
