John Murtha

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John Patrick "Jack" Murtha, Jr. (b. 1932) is a controversial United States Representative from Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district. A Democrat, he has gained national attention for his strong opposition against the Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Views on the Liberation of Iraq

Murtha is well known for his stance against the war in Iraq. Although he voted for the 10 October 2002 resolution that authorized the use of force against Iraq, he has now changed his mind and supports "a premature withdrawal of our troops based on a political timetable." On November of 2005, while standing behind seven American flags and a portrait of the late President John F. Kennedy, Congressman Murtha touched off a firestorm when he called for the redeployment of U.S. troops in Iraq, saying, "The U.S. cannot accomplish anything further in Iraq militarily. It is time to bring them home.” On Meet the Press in June 2006, Murtha said that the United States should redeploy troops from Iraq to Japan's southernmost prefecture, Okinawa.

Criticisms of the U.S. military

Not only has Murtha been a critic of Operation Iraqi Freedom, he has frequently criticized military leaders and U.S. troops. 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 scandal

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 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 Murtha was very confrontational. [1]

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 as the chairman of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee.

References

  1. House Defeats Bid to Reprimand Murtha, Charles Babington, Associated Press, May 22, 2007.