Congressman Murtha Responds to Bush Speech

by Jim Kouri, CPP Want to know how popular Representative John Murtha (D-PA) is these days? Well, guess who the news media run to like school kids whenever the big, bad President George Bush gives a speech? You guessed it: they scamper over to their hero, John Murtha. And it's not like he's saying anything he hasn't said before. And it's not like the media isn't reporting anything about Murtha's statement they haven't reported before. It's merely an exercise the media undertakes to make certain an antiwar icon gets equal time, even if that antiwar icon is a Washington insider suspected of ethics violations. However, following Bush's speech yesterday morning, Murtha did have some new rhetoric included with his usual diatribe about a sanctimonious surrender -- or, as the Democrats now call surrender, "strategic redeployment." And it's his latest statement that deserves further analysis. During Murtha's latest tirade yesterday, he criticized the President for having such a small military. Murtha worried that in an unsafe world -- as a result of the North Koreans and Iranians, as well as terrorists, Syrians and other dangers -- the United States military is too tiny to respond to emergencies. We're bogged down in Iraq and we don't have a big enough military thanks to Bush. He even went as far as advocating a draft, as if conscription was so successful during the Vietnam War and on the American homefront. Yes, Murtha suddenly realizes on December 12, 2005 that America's military is too small. And it's all George Bush's fault, too. Well, not really. Does Rep. Murtha recall President Bill Clinton's so-called Peace Dividend? I know the news media don't remember -- or perhaps they do remember but hope we've forgotten. Clinton's well-known dislike for the military led to his intentional neglect of his primary responsibility: the protection of the American people. During the Clinton Administration, in less than three years, deployments for humanitarian missions increased while manpower decreased from 2.1 million to 1.6 million. The decrease in armed forces was called "reinvention" of government. While telling Americans that Clinton was making deep cuts in the federal bureaucracy, the media failed to inform Americans exactly what part of that "bureaucracy" was being cut. It was the military who suffered the cuts in order to make Clinton a hero. Of the 305,000 employees removed from the federal payroll, 286,000 (or 90%) were military cuts. The statistics for America's defense during the Clinton years reveal the true feelings of the administration toward those who served in the military. The Army was cut from 18 divisions to 12. The Navy was reduced from 546 ships to 380. Air Force flight squadrons were cut from 76 to a mere 50. There were reductions in tanks, armored vehicles, rocket launchers, special forces units, etc., etc., etc. In addition, President Clinton loosened America's ban on the export of supercomputers and other high-technology products to Communist China; this allowed Beijing to improve the accuracy of its intercontinental missiles. A prime American beneficiary of this Clinton policy was Loral Space & Communications chairman Bernard Schwartz, the single largest contributor to the Clinton campaign and to the Democrat Party. In 1996 it was discovered that Chinese spies had stolen nuclear design secrets from the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the most damaging security breach in American history -- giving China the ability to produce and deliver nuclear warheads via submarines, mobile missiles, and long-range missiles. A 1998 Senate Governmental Affairs Committee concluded that foreign campaign contributions Clinton had received "were facilitated by individuals with extensive ties to China." There's much more, but the point here is not to reexamine the Clinton military and national security record, but to question Congressman John Murtha's allegation about Bush's military. While all of this stripping away of America's military establishment was being carried out by Clinton and his flunkies, where was Murtha? Did Murtha stand in front of the TV cameras and microphones and proclaim his utter disgust at what was happening to the US Armed Forces? Did the news media go running to Murtha to get his opinion on Clinton selling US national security for campaign contributions? Did Murtha fear for the safety of Americans when the military budget allowed only the maintenance of military equipment and weapons systems? And where was Murtha when many career soldiers found themselves on the unemployment lines? Did Murtha complain when Clinton used our meager forces to conduct his humanitarian expeditions? The truth is, Murtha said nothing. He went along with his party's leadership, the same way he's going along with them now. His audacity is colossal. He blames George Bush, who's actually improved the military, for what Bill Clinton did during his scandal infested administration. But don't hold your breath for the mainstream news media to ask the right questions when they interview John Murtha. And so, apparently, in December of 2005, Representative John Murtha discovered that America's military is too small. Now that's some kind of epiphany. Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police. He's former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed "Crack City" by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations. He's also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country. He writes for many police and security magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer and others. He's a staff writer for New Media Alliance (thenma.org), and he's a columnist for TheConservativeVoice.Com, AmericanDaily.Com, MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.Com, and he's syndicated by AXcessNews.Com. He's appeared as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc. His book Assume The Position is available at Amazon.Com, Booksamillion.com, and can be ordered at local bookstores. If you wish to sign up for his intelligence reports, write to JimKouriReports@aol.com. Kouri's own website is located at http://jimkouri.us