The Devil's in the Details

The devil is in the details, other than that removing ourselves from the quagmire of Iraq is a piece of cake says Congressman Murtha.

Froggy :
at Black Five weighs in on the logistics:

This morning on Meet the Cuomo aide, Tim Russert's guest was firebrand Congressman and Congressional Cowardice Caucus Chairman, John Murtha. In addition to reiterating his invocation of the Clinton evacuation from Somalia in 1993 as the example the US should follow in Iraq, he described his plan to take out Zarqawi from bases outside of Iraq.

Russert played an interesting quote from Karl Rove to the effect that: if we bailed out of Iraq to leave it in shambles, what Persian Gulf nation would paint a target on its back by allowing us to operate from their soil with the implicit acceptance that if things went bad for them, the US would turn tail and run? Following that assertion, Russert queried Murtha on just how we could have taken out Zarqawi under such conditions. Without missing a beat Murtha accepted Rove's premise by claiming that the entire Zarqawi operation could have been run out of... Okinawa. Yeah, that's right, Okinawa. The basis of this claim is that Zarqawi was bombed (ostensibly from aircraft that could have come from outside Iraq) and therefore why not just pull chalks and slink back to Oki where we could comfortably launch bombing missions at will.

Of course this ignores the six week 24/7 Taskforce 145 "Unblinking Eye" intelligence and surveillance operation that led to having a Delta SR team with eyes on target and designating it with a laser. Apparently Murtha thinks that somebody called 1-800-ZARQAWI with 10 digit grid coordinates and voila! an F-16 launches from Okinawa and 10-12 hours later... poof, no more Zarqawi.

That is right, the man said Okinawa. Really. This is sad, just sad.

I wonder if it occurs to people like Murtha that they are one of the driving forces behind the socalled resistance? The enemy knows that if someone like Murtha is running the show we will run, just like we ran from Somalia. Look at Somalia today. In fact that was one of the reasons Osama came after us, we ran from Somalia. But retreating was the advice that Murtha gave Clinton in 1993. This man has quite a track record.

Osama Bin Laden's fatwa against the United States in 1993 is a bizarre and rambling statement, but it does have a few practical observations:

“Few days ago the news agencies had reported that the Defence Secretary of the Crusading Americans had said that ‘the explosion at Riyadh and Al-Khobar had taught him one lesson: that is not to withdraw when attacked by coward terrorists.’

“We say to the Defence Secretary that his talk can induce a grieving mother to laughter! and shows the fears that had enshrined you all. Where was this false courage of yours when the explosion in Beirut took place on 1983 AD (1403 A.H). You were turned into scattered pits and pieces at that time; 241 mainly marines solders were killed. And where was this courage of yours when two explosions made you to leave Aden in lees than twenty four hours!

“But your most disgraceful case was in Somalia; where- after vigorous propaganda about the power of the USA and its post cold war leadership of the new world order- you moved tens of thousands of international force, including twenty eight thousands American solders into Somalia. However, when tens of your solders were killed in minor battles and one American Pilot was dragged in the streets of Mogadishu you left the area carrying disappointment, humiliation, defeat and your dead with you. Clinton appeared in front of the whole world threatening and promising revenge , but these threats were merely a preparation for withdrawal. You have been disgraced by Allah and you withdrew; the extent of your impotence and weaknesses became very clear. It was a pleasure for the ‘heart’ of every Muslim and a remedy to the ‘chests’ of believing nations to see you defeated in the three Islamic cities of Beirut , Aden and Mogadishu.”

Let's hope Murtha is never again in a position to be giving Presidents advice on how to deal with Islamic terrorism. Thanks to people like Murtha we can not know what might have happened if Clinton had gone after AlQaida in it infancy.

Maybe asking himself that question drove Murtha out of his mind, because this man is not doing too well.