Here's looking at you, kid.

I'll admit that before Friday, I'd never heard of John Murtha, Democratic Congressman from Pennsylvania, retired Marine Colonel and hawkish military ally of the Reagan, Bush I, and Bush II Administrations. He's certainly remained relatively obscure for someone who could generate such an immediate hurricane of reaction, both pro and con (see links below), to his opinion concerning Iraqi operations.

And I'm glad he's finally on the enlightened side of the street.

The Congressman's demand for an end to military involvement in Iraq is just one more welcome sign (in a week filled with them) that Congress and the American people are recognizing, at long last, the counter-productive nature of Mr. Bush's reprehensible misuse of military resources, federal dollars, and most importantly, American lives. The unwarranted invasion of Iraq was a coldly calculated diversion from the real "War On Terror" which has actually exacerbated terrorist animosities toward the U.S., placing us all in greater peril than we were three years ago - and at the unconscionable price of almost 2,100 of our sons and daughters.

How typically sad that one of the most immediate Republican reactions, courtesy of Congresswoman Jean Schmidt of Ohio, was

[to quote] an Ohio legislator who had called her to protest Murtha's stance. "He asked me to send Congress a message: Stay the course. He also asked me to send Congressman Murtha a message, that cowards cut and run, Marines never do," she said.

And they're the ones saying Liberals have no sense of manners?!

Mr. Murtha definitely has nothing to prove when it comes to questions of bravery or patriotism or sound military experience. It should be literally embarrassing to all Americans that the Party of Lincoln has been hijacked by petulant children, whose first reaction to criticism is to personally attack the one who offers it. This Marine, however, may be a bad choice of opponent for the Bushies. John Nichols wrote yesterday,

In another clear reference to Murtha, Cheney said, "The president and I cannot prevent certain politicians from losing their memory, or their backbone -- but we're not going to sit by and let them rewrite history."

Of course, it is not Murtha but Cheney who is rewriting history -- or, at least, attempting to obscure it.

As Murtha noted, he's the one who put on a Marine uniform, took his shots in Vietnam and went on to a long career of working with and defending the military, while Cheney is the one who did everything in his power to avoid serving in southeast Asia and has never been seen as a friend of the men and women who actually fight the wars the vice president so shamelessly -- and disingenuously -- promotes. "I like guys who got five deferments and (have) never been there and send people to war, and then don't like to hear suggestions about what needs to be done," said Murtha.

So welcome back to the fight, Congressman. As Rick Blaine famously said on that foggy tarmac in North Africa, "This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship." And maybe soon we can return to the real task at hand, the one that should have been the focus of a competent post-9/11 Administration all along - working intelligently, surgically, and (as much as possible) diplomatically to protect against the threat of Islamic terrorism both at home and around the globe.

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news links

PRO: A, B, C, D, E, F, G
CON: 1, 2, 3, 4