Contradicting Mr. Murtha

I knew there was a reason I was holding off commenting on the latest round of pronouncements from Rep. Murtha. Today, Mark Steyn shines with his usual wit:

Sen. Joe Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, came out with a big statement on Iraq last week. Did you hear about it? Probably not. Everyone was still raving about his Democrat colleague, Rep. Jack Murtha, whose carefully nuanced position on Iraq is: We're all doomed unless we pull out by next Tuesday! (I quote from memory.)

Also, the United States Army is "broken," "worn out" and "living hand to mouth." If the reaction to Murtha's remarks by my military readers is anything to go by, he ought to be grateful they're still bogged down in Iraq and not in the congressional parking lot.

In case you missed them, Senator Lieberman's WSJ Op-Ed is still a must-read, while Rep. Murtha's speeches, statements and press conferences tend toward poor logic and incoherence. [Some people have wondered why, if the Army's broken, hasn't Rep. Murtha done anything about it since he sits on the House Appropriations Committee and Subcommittee on Defense? He does seem to be a master at procuring military spending for his district. ]

Major John Tammes posted his rebuttal, An Army Broken? (Hat tip NRO Corner & Instapundit):

With all the eagerness of a dog returning to something it has vomited up, the conventional media has latched onto Rep. Murtha's rambling discourse about the Army being "broken" and "has done all they can."

Unmitigated crap. And I don't say this out of defensiveness or service pride - I'll tell you about how far we have had to come in a bit. [snip]

What really infuriates me is that someone like Rep. Murtha knows better. Ask any veteran who served between 1975-1982/3 what the Army (or the rest of the Armed Forces for that matter) were like. Drugs everywhere, low pay, morale was non-existent, equipment was falling behind or scarce, there was no great sense of mission or purpose. Only the heroic measures of a few dedicated officers and NCOs saved us from absolutely bottoming out.

Read the whole thing. And for more Milblog opinions, see Who elects these idiots?, Everything You Need To Know About The Murtha Vote, and Pulling out early and other lunacy, all courtesy of Mudville Gazette "Dawn Patrol".

Also at Mudville Gazette, Greyhawk gives us News From Iraq:

A vision of post-war Iraq: peace, prosperity, and a population grateful for the freedom and opportunity given them by the United States. A prewar neocon pipedream?

No - it's the reality of the country's northern provinces.The fact that you rarely see news from northern Iraq is an indicator of the phenomenal success there - it runs counter to the carefully crafted "failure" narrative regarding the rebuilding and future of that land. But Kevin Sites is now in that Kurdish north, and provides a detailed look (with video) at the Peshmerga (translation: "those who face death." ) - the Kurdish militia. Don't miss it.

On a related note, go read Police Training Tightrope in Iraq - Watch Out at The Counterterrorism Blog. (Yup, another h/t to Mudville Gazette.)

Related posts: Rep. Murtha Complains Again, Winning the War — At Home (w/update)