John Murtha Quotes (28 Quotes)

Now even the hawks say that Iraq is lost. The U.S. cannot accomplish anything further in Iraq militarily, ... It is time to bring them home.

That's why I say it's civil war.

They're subdued compared to normal morale of elite forces. Obviously, it was a very difficult battle. A lot of Somalis were killed, but it was a brutal battle.

I did not consider that any money was offered, and certainly none was taken. The FBI who taped the entire conversation knows damn well no money changed hands.

They lost my trust when they did that, ... By not telling us, they lied.

The military has done everything that was asked of them. It is time to bring the troops home.

Appearing Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press, ... I'm very hopeful that my proposal of a four-step plan to get U.S. forces out of Iraq is something they'll take seriously, that Bush will get a few of us to the White House and talk to us about this very difficult problem which the whole nation wants to solve with a bipartisan manner.

The public turned against this war before I said it. The public is emotionally tied into finding a solution to this thing, and that's what I hope this administration is going to find out.

The guys in Congress are scared to death to say anything because they might be vilified, ... The soldiers can't speak for themselves. We sent them to war and, by God, we're the ones that have to speak out.

The public has turned against this war. And when the public turns against the war, Congress reacts to that.

People are unhappy about it, Republicans and Democrats. They all realize that the Iraqis aren't going to do any fighting until we decide that they're going to take over. As soon as the elections are over and the constitution is ratified, you're going to find American forces drawn down. The public's against it. The military's overextended. There's no place else to go.

American public is way ahead of us.

You have hit it on the head.

All of us want to support the president when he's at war, ... But you can't support him when he won't change directions, won't listen.

You know, we do business for a while, maybe I'll be interested, maybe I won't.

It'd be a terrible mistake. It sends a bad message to our troops, and it sends a bad message to our enemy, and it sends a bad message to the Iraqis.

I have never seen such an outpouring in the 32 years I've been in Congress of support and people with tears in their eyes, people walking along clapping when I'm walking through the halls of Congress, saying something needed to be said,

This war is destroying our ability to meet the threat down the road,

Questions about my record are clearly an attempt to distract attention from the real issue, which is that our brave men and women in uniform are dying and being injured every day in the middle of a civil war that can be resolved only by the Iraqis themselves.

When I talk to the troops, I get a different story (than from those who call for continued military involvement). I get a story that we need to have a plan. And from the families, an outpouring from the families,

I volunteered for a year's duty in Vietnam. I was out in the field almost every single day. We took heavy casualties in my regiment the year that I was there. In my fitness reports, I was rated No. 1. My record is clear.

... Since they're attacking our troops, and we have destabilized the area, I've changed my mind and I've come to the conclusion that now is the time to start to redeploy our troops to the periphery and let the Iraqis take over,

The Iraqis are not against democracy, they are against our occupation.

Ms. Backus said that comment was based on news reports and the general tone of an initial statement released by the office of Mr. Hastert, Republican of Illinois. It said that America must not cower ... want us to wave the white flag of surrender.

We're overextended worldwide, ... We have too small an Army for the job that we're doing, yet we can't increase the size of the Army because it's volunteer and we can't enlist anybody.

an untimely exit could rapidly devolve into a civil war, which would leave America's foreign policy in disarray as countries question not only America's judgment but also its perseverance.

hotbed of patriotism and they've lost confidence in this effort.

Our troops have become the primary target of the insurgency, ... They are united against U.S. forces and we have become a catalyst for violence. The war in Iraq is not going as advertised. It is a flawed policy wrapped in illusion.