House Democrats Move Away From Bush's War

Murtha signals Dem sea-change on Iraq
Respected hawk says conflict may be now ‘unwinnable’

The dean of the House, Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), said that he sensed a fundamental shift in the Democrats’ thinking as a result of the images of prisoner abuse, coupled with Murtha’s willingness to ask fundamental questions about the war.

“What friends the White House had on this matter [the war] are outraged, and those who didn’t support the war are even more outraged,” said Dingell.

House GOP Leadership Refuses To Investigate Military Contractors In Iraq Prisons

House Democratic leadership refuses symbolic endorsement of troops without investigation and criticism of abuse.

Meanwhile, partisan rancor shifted into shrill pitch yesterday as Republicans sought to counter charges of senior Democrats on the Iraq war. Earlier this week, The Hill reported that Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), a former Marine and appropriator, privately told his colleagues that the war is “unwinnable.”

Late Wednesday morning, Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) quickly arranged a press conference to rebut that assertion.

“To say this morning, while our troops are under enemy fire - while American blood is flowing on the battlefield - that this war is unwinnable is an insult to every man and woman who has ever fought and sacrificed under the flag of this nation,” DeLay said.

In another development yesterday, some Democratic lawmakers called on Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to resign.

“The Secretary of Defense has been inattentive and perhaps negligent at great cost to our reputation and our security, and the call for the Secretary of Defense resignation is growing stronger day by day. At the very least, the Republican leadership in this House should convene bipartisan, bicameral congressional hearings to examine this urgent matter,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.).

The War is Lost - Pitt

Thus fails the "War on Terror." September 11 did not demand of us the lowest common denominator, did not demand of us that we become that which we despise and denounce. September 11 demanded that we be better, greater, more righteous than those who brought death to us. September 11 demanded that we be better, and in doing so, we would show the world that those who attacked us are far, far less than us. That would have been victory, with nary a shot being fired.

Our leaders, however, took us in exactly the opposite direction.

Every reason to go to Iraq has failed to retain even a semblance of credibility.