Murtha Called For Iraq Exit In a Snit?

Newsweek tries to paint a picture of an aloof and noncommunicative Bush Administration -- well, perhaps they have a point there -- but John Murtha perhaps says more than he intended with this juicy quote:

...when Murtha tried to write George W. Bush with some suggestions for fighting the Iraq war, the congressman's letter was ignored by the White House (after waiting for seven months, Murtha received a polite kiss-off from a deputy under secretary of Defense). Murtha, who has always preferred to operate behind the scenes, finally went public, calling for an orderly withdrawal from Iraq. In the furor that followed, a White House spokesman compared the Vietnam War hero to "Michael Moore and the extreme liberal wing of the Democratic Party." When that approach backfired, President Bush called Murtha a "fine man... who served our country with honor." The White House has made no attempt to reach out to Murtha since then. "None. None. Zero. Not one call," a baffled Murtha told NEWSWEEK. "I don't know who the hell they're talking to. If they talked to people, they wouldn't get these outbursts. If they'd talked to me, it wouldn't have happened."

What wouldn't have happened? You wouldn't have taken the drastic step of calling for immediate withdrawal if the WH had been more prompt about returning your phone calls? Your call for withdrawal came because you weren't getting stroked enough, Hero?

I'm having trouble understanding what else he could possibly have meant. In his mind, perhaps he believes that if only the WH had listened to his scary-important suggestions, we wouldn't be losing (supposedly) the war, and no talk of withdrawal would be necessary.

But that seems pretty unlikely -- his ideas would win the war? -- and even if that were true, that means that he must still believe the war is winnable, if only someone would listen to him. So why would he call withdrawal in a war that he believes is still winnable (were his genius strategems executed, of course)?

It seems unfathomable to me that someone could make such a dramatic announcement out of such petty egotism... but then, I'm not a Congressman.

posted by Ace at 04:32 AM

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