THE HILL
 
comment
Print

Rep. Murtha compares surge to Vietnam

By Tony Romm - 09/14/09 02:33 PM ET

Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) on Monday lambasted his fellow lawmakers and the White House for considering additional troop deployments to Afghanistan.

Murtha, the chair of the House Defense Appropriations subcommittee, even compared the proposed "surge" in Afghanistan to Vietnam, concluding that the Obama administration needed a better strategy if it hoped to succeed.

"In Vietnam it took 500,000 troops and that didn't solve the problem. So we have to take a different approach," Murtha told Foreign Policy magazine in an interview. "I think that's what [Gen. Stanley McChrystal] is trying to do."

The debate over whether to send additional U.S. forces to Afghanistan is slowly reaching a fever pitch, with Republicans advocating for an increase and Democrats signaling their skepticism. The White House has mostly remained quiet, awaiting a formal request by McChrystal, but the administration's official silence has not stopped many lawmakers from voicing their own positions.

In his interview, Murtha questioned whether a massive troop surge was possible, given the logistics of such a deployment.

"Look how long it took us to get 22,000 more troops, it took 18 months! Jesus Christ!" Murtha said. "When they talk about more troops they act as if you can send them in immediately."

The congressman also railed on NATO countries for lukewarmly supporting the U.S. mission in Afghanistan.

"At the same time, the American people are supporting this and the Europeans aren't supporting this," Murtha told FP. "The Europeans aren't doing a damn thing."


Source:
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/58609-murtha-talks-tough-on-afghanistan-
Blog Briefing Room Twitter - Click to follow
bloglogo

More Briefing Room »

More Congress Blog »

More Pundits Blog »

More Twitter Room »

More Hillicon Valley »

More E2-Wire (Energy) »

More Ballot Box »

More On The Money »

More Healthwatch »

More Floor Action »

More Transportation »

More DEFCON Hill »

Briefing Room Blog Roll

The Hill
ABC News: The Note
AMERICAblog
Barack Obama
Beat The Press
Bill Press
BuzzFlash
Capitol Briefing
Capitol Games
The Caucus (NYT)
Clive Crook
Comments From Left Field
CNN Political Ticker
The Corner (NRO)
Crooks and Liars
The Daily Beast
Daily Caller
Daily Kos
DCCC: The Stakeholder
DNC: Kicking Ass
DSCC: From The Roots
Drudge Report
Eschaton
Extreme Mortman
Ezra Klein
firedoglake
FishbowlDC
The Fix (WashPost)
The Foundry
Gateway Pundit
Glenn Greenwald
Hendrik Hertzberg
Hillary Clinton
Hot Air
Hotline on Call
Huffington Post
Human Events
Instapundit
James Fallows
John McCain
Judicial Watch: Corruption Chronicles
Kaus Files
Left Coaster
Lefty Blogs
Lucianne
Majority AP
Marc Ambinder
Matt Lewis
Matthew Yglesias
Megan McArdle
Michelle Malkin
Minority Report
The Moderate Voice
MSNBC First Read
MyDD
The Nation
National Review
The New Republic
NewsBusters
Newsmax
The NRCC Blog
NRSC Blog
Open Left
Page (Mark Halperin)
The Plank (TNR)
Political Animal
Political Wire
Politicker
Politico's Ben Smith
Politico's Jonathan Martin
Politico's The Crypt
Power Line
Reason
RedState
Right Wing News
RNC Blog
Ross Douthat
Rush Limbaugh
SCOTUSblog
Senate Guru
The Stump (TNR)
The Swamp (Tribune)
Swampland
Swing State Project
Talk Left
TalkingPointsMemo
TAPPED
Tech Policy Summit
techPresident
TechRepublican
The Right Angle
Think Progress
Top of the Ticket (LA Times)
Townhall
TPMCafe
TPMMuckraker
The Trail (WashPost)
Truthdig
USA Today On Politics
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Blog
VF Daily
Washington Wire (WSJ)
Weekly Standard
Wonkette
Yeas and Nays

Briefing Room Blog Topics

 Blog Summaries » Day's End Round-Up »
 Energy & Environment » Midday Blog Roundup »
 Morning Read » News »
  Campaigns »   Administration »
   Civil Rights »   Congressional Campaigns »
   Corporate Governance »   Defense »
   Economy & Budget »   Foreign Policy »
   Healthcare »   Homeland Security »
   Immigration »   Labor »
   Law and Courts »   Lobbyists »
   Presidential Campaigns »   Technology »
   Telecom and IT »   Trade and Agriculture »
  Energy & Environment »  Lawmaker News »
   Administration »   Campaigns »
   Civil Rights »   Corporate Governance »
   Defense »   Economy & Budget »
   Energy & Environment »   Foreign Policy »
   Healthcare »   Homeland Security »
   Immigration »   Labor »
   Lobbyists »   Technology »
   Telecom and IT »   Trade and Agriculture »
  Legislation »   Administration »
   Campaigns »   Civil Rights »
   Corporate Governance »   Defense »
   Economy & Budget »   Energy & Environment »
   Foreign Policy »   Healthcare »
   Homeland Security »   Immigration »
   Labor »   Lobbyists »
   Technology »   Telecom and IT »
   Trade and Agriculture »  Lobbying »
   Administration »   Campaigns »
   Civil Rights »   Corporate Governance »
   Defense »   Economy & Budget »
   Energy & Environment »   Foreign Policy »
   Healthcare »   Homeland Security »
   Immigration »   Labor »
   Lobbyists »   Technology »
   Telecom and IT »   Trade and Agriculture »
  Other »   Administration »
   Campaigns »   Civil Rights »
   Congressional Campaigns »   Corporate Governance »
   Defense »   Economy & Budget »
   Energy & Environment »   Foreign Policy »
   Healthcare »   Homeland Security »
   Immigration »   Labor »
   Lobbyists »   Presidential Campaigns »
   Technology »   Telecom and IT »
   Trade and Agriculture »  Oversight »
   Administration »   Campaigns »
   Civil Rights »   Corporate Governance »
   Defense »   Economy & Budget »
   Energy & Environment »   Foreign Policy »
   Healthcare »   Homeland Security »
   Immigration »   Labor »
   Lobbyists »   Technology »
   Telecom and IT »   Trade and Agriculture »

Get latest news from The Hill direct to your inbox, RSS reader and mobile devices.