Jack Murtha and Nancy Pelosi have come up with a new way to stop the surge in Iraq. Worried about being accused of not supporting the troops, Murtha has a plan he thinks will get around this problem. Murtha’s plan would prohibit the redeployment of units that have been at home for less than a year, it would stop the extension of tours beyond 12 months, and it would prohibit units from going to Iraq if they do not train with all of their equipment. By limiting the number and length of deployments to Iraq, Murtha is trying to make it harder for the Pentagon to come up with troops to replace units that have to leave Iraq.
Tom Mazzie of Americans Against Escalation of the War in Iraq, says, "What we have staked out is a campaign to stop the war without cutting off funding" for the troops. An editorial in The Washington Post says Murtha’s plan "would stop the surge by crudely hamstringing the ability of military commanders to deploy troops."
Obviously, those who support President’s new strategy, or at least what he is trying to achieve in Iraq, will oppose this plan. On the other hand, Democrats who did not want to go into Iraq originally or who have changed their minds since Iraq has been a harder fight than they originally thought, will probably support it.
The question then is how this plan will look to the people in the middle, the average Americans who don’t like how things are going in Iraq but do support our troops and appreciate the job they do for our country. When it comes to people such as this, is John Murtha’s plan clever – or is it too clever by half?
The Americans in the middle really do support our troops. Maybe they know somebody in the Army or Marines, or maybe they remember what it was like when they had a relative or a friend in the Armed Forces. They don’t like what is going on in Iraq, but they want to make sure our troops are equipped and ready and supported. How will these people feel about John Murtha’s plan?
Will they see this plan as an effort to make sure our troops are properly trained and outfitted when they go to Iraq? Will they see this plan as an effort to make sure our troops don’t have to stay extra in Iraq and to make sure they get a chance to rest when they get home?
Or will they see a plan that, by limiting the number of troops the President can send to Iraq, makes the job harder for those that are still there? Will they see a plan that makes it more dangerous for the men and women in Iraq by not letting the President send the number of troops he thinks we need to do the job? Will they see a plan that masquerades as a "readiness strategy" but is really aimed at trying the President’s hands while our troops are in harm’s way.
At a time when our soldiers and Marines in Iraq are putting their lives on the line for us every day they are there, will the Americans in the middle see John Murtha’s plan as a principled stand to do what’s right for our country, regardless of the cost to one’s own political future? Or will they see a cynical bunch of politicians putting our troops at unnecessary risk because they have don’t have the political courage to take an honest stand?
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