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==Criticisms of the U.S. militaryIraq War Views==Not only has Murtha been a critic of was well known for his stance against the war in [[Operation Iraqi FreedomIraq]]. Although he voted for the October 10, 2002 resolution that authorized the use of force against Iraq, he has frequently criticized military leaders later changed his position and supported a premature withdrawal of U.S. troopsbased on a political timetable. <ref>[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13296235/ "Meet The Press" MSNBC 11 June 2006. Transcript accessed 25 December 2007.]</ref> In November of 2005 Murtha claimed that touched off a firestorm when he called for the redeployment of U.S. Marines had killed innocent Iraqi civilians troops in Haditha. Iraq, saying, "They killed innocent civilians The U.S. cannot accomplish anything further in cold blood"Iraq militarily. It is time to bring them home.” On Meet the Press in June 2006, Murtha said about that the United States military. Sgt. Frank Wuterich filed a lawsuit against Murtha for character defamation during an ongoing investigation. Congressman Murtha has also publicly stated that "We [American should redeploy troopsfrom Iraq to [[Japan]]'s southernmost prefecture, [[Okinawa]] have become the enemy.<ref>" Meet The Press" op cit.</ref>
In November of 2005 Murtha claimed that U.S. Marines had killed innocent Iraqi civilians in [[Haditha]]. "They killed innocent civilians in cold blood", Murtha said about the United States military. Sgt. Frank Wuterich filed a lawsuit against Murtha for character defamation during an ongoing investigation. Congressman Murtha has also publicly stated that "We [American troops] have become the enemy." ==Abscam scandalScandal==
Abscam was a major national scandal in 1980 that ultimately led to the conviction of a United States Senator, six members of the House of Representatives, the Mayor of Camden, [[New Jersey]], members of the [[Philadelphia]] City Council, and an inspector for the [[Immigration]] and Naturalization Service. The investigation entailed [[FBI]] operatives posing as intermediaries for [[Saudi Arabia|Saudi]] nationals hoping to bribe their way through the immigration process into the United States. Murtha met with these operatives and was videotaped, where he said "I'm not interested... at this point. [If] we do business for a while, maybe I'll be interested, maybe I won't" to $50,000 of cash. He was never indicted or charged.
==Resolution reprimanding Murtha==
On 21 May 2007 Congressman [[Mike Rogers ]] (R-PA) offered a resolution reprimanding Murtha for threatening Rogers' earmarks. Murtha made the threat after Rogers offered a motion to recommit the Intelligence Authorization Act to remove one of Murtha's earmarks. They had an argument about it on the House floor and where Murtha was very seen as confrontational. <ref>[http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=3200474 House Defeats Bid to Reprimand Murtha], Charles Babington, ''Associated Press'', May 22, 2007.</ref>
==Run for Majority Leader==
After [[Democrats]] won control of Congress in the 2006 midterm elections for the first time in fourteen years, Representative Murtha made a run for [[House Majority Leader]] and was supported by incoming [[Speaker of the House]] [[Nancy Pelosi]] (D-CA). Despite Murtha claiming that he had enough votes to win the leadership position, he was defeated by former [[Minority Whip]] [[Steny Hoyer]] by a margin of 149-86 within the caucus. He now serves would go on to serve as the chairman of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee.
==References==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Murtha, John}}
[[Category:Former United States Representatives]]
[[Category:Democratic Party]]
[[Category: Anti-war movementMovements]][[Category: 110th United States Congress]][[Category:Pennsylvania]]
