I heard Kerry's Hardball remarks about Murtha and about what Murtha said ... i thought Kerry's comments were respectful and i've previously said so ...
if Kerry is speaking about Murtha today on the Senate floor, here is what i would like to hear him say ... most of the following are direct quotes from Murtha ... i have removed those statements that draw conclusions (included at the end of this post) about "what the policy should be" and retained statements that provided facts or assessments about what was happening in Iraq or in this country regarding the war ... if Kerry is sincere in defending Murtha, he should clearly state exactly where he agrees with him ... before we debate what the policy should be, we should decide whether we agree or disagree on the facts ...
Here are the statements Murtha made yesterday that led him to the policy position he advocated - I would like to know whether Kerry agrees or disagrees with these statements ... it would be unfortunate if Kerry chose to hide from discussing the foundation of Murtha's position and instead focussed primarily on his conclusions ... my point, btw, is not to suggest Kerry hasn't commented on some of these issues previously ... my point is, out of respect for Murtha and those who agree with him, Kerry should specifically state whether he agrees or disagrees with the following:
1. "the American public is way ahead of the members of Congress" ...
2. he quoted General Casey who stated that "the American occupation of Iraq is a major driving force behind the insurgency" ...
3. "the future of our military is at risk" ...
4. "recruitment is down even as the military has lowered its standards" ...
5. "the war in Iraq has caused huge shortfalls in our bases at home" ...
6. "over 2079 confirmed American deaths and over 15,500 have been seriously injured ... and it's estimated that over 50,000 will suffer from what i call battle fatigue" ...
7. "oil production and energy production are below pre-war levels - you remember they said that was going to pay for the war" ...
8. "unemployment is 60%" ... "clean water is scarce" ...
9. "and most importantly, this is the most important point - incidents have increased from 150 per week to over 700 (a week) in the last year" ...
10. "attacks have grown dramatically" ... "since Abu Ghraib, American casualities have doubled (i.e. the rate of casualties)" ... "if you look at the timeline you'll see one a day (i.e. American deaths) before Abu Ghraib; after Abu Ghraib you'll see two a day" ...
11. "i sent a letter to the President last September and i got an answer back five months later" ... "i believe the same today; they don't want input" ...
12. "our troops have become the primary target of the insurgency" ... "they are united against US forces and we have become a catalyst for violence" ... "US troops are the common enemy of the Sunni, the Saddamists and the foreign jihadists" ...
13. "over 80% of Iraqis are strongly opposed to the presence of coalition forces and about 45% of the Iraqi population believe attacks against American troops are justified" ...
Here were the conclusions Murtha reached based on the above observations ... i intentionally separated the conclusions from the "facts" shown above to see if we could at least agree on a starting point ...
"it is evident that continued military action in Iraq is NOT in the best interests of the US, the Iraqi people or the Persian Gulf region"
"i believe, and i have concluded, the presence of US troops in Iraq is impeding this progress" ...
"i believe with a US troop redeployment, the Iraqi security forces will be incentivized to take control" ...
"i believe we need to turn Iraq over to the Iraqis" ... "i believe before the Iraqi elections, scheduled for mid-December, the Iraqi people and their emerging government must be put on notice - the US will IMMEDIATELY REDEPLOY" ... "IMMEDIATELY REDEPLOY" ... "no schedule which can be changed; nothing that's controlled by the Iraqis; this is an IMMEDIATELY REDEPLOYMENT of our American forces because they have become the target" ... "all of Iraq must know that Iraq is free; free from US occupation" ... "and i believe this will send a signal to the Sunnis to join the political process" ... "my plan calls for IMMEDIATELY REDEPLOYMENT of US troops consistent with the safety of US forces, to create a quick reaction force in the region, to create an 'over the horizon' presence of Marines, and to diplomatically pursue security and stability in Iraq" ...