No End But Victory on Representative Murtha

NoEndButVictory.com - First peace. Then withdrawal.

Well said.

Congressman and Col John Murtha, USMCR - Ret. is by all accounts a bonafide American Hero. He has bled for this nation in a foreign land and shown great courage. He has now called for the establishent of a rapid timetable for the withdrawal of US Troops from Iraq, stating that we “have done all we can do.” Colonel, I could not disagree more. Unlike the mudslingers in Washington D.C. and the Media, I don’t believe that Col. Murtha has anything but the best of intentions and the welfare of the troops at heart, so I will not slight the man’s character in the least. I do, however, believe he is making a critical error. The case has been made many times, and well, by others that establishing a timetable for withdrawal merely tells our enemies how long they need to go underground to conspire and train their thugs before unleashing them on the people full-scale. I will not bother with repeating that argument. I wish to explore a few other points instead.

We are far from having done all we can do. Part of the US Military Culture that makes us so effective is our qualitative approach. This is especially the case in combat units. In my 13 years in the service, I have heard: “We work to a standard, not to a schedule” a countless number of times. Quitting times comes when the task is accomplished to standard, which is almost never 5pm. We have our objectives to meet:

-Kill or capture terrorists
-Restore Infrastructure and Services
-Establish and protect a functional Iraqi version of Democracy
-Establish better respect for individual human rights
-Train the Iraqi Security Forces to do/facilitate the same

Read the rest . . .

UPDATE: Citizen Smash's reaction to REP Murtha on NoEndButVictory.com.

FOR an immediate military withdrawal from Iraq to make sense, the following must be true:

- Current U.S. military operations are not achieving objectives.

- The ongoing effort to train the Iraqi military is futile.

- The strategic benefits of withdrawal outweigh the costs.

I have yet to hear an informed, convincing argument that any of the above are true.

Read the rest . . .

- Eric