Patrick Stands Up On Iraq

Note to Mikey...this is called leadership (dated yesterday).

Bristol Twp., PA – Patrick Murphy, former captain in the U.S. Army, Iraq war veteran, and Democratic Nominee for Pennsylvania's 8th congressional district, today unveiled an updated version of his Iraq plan at the Joseph Schumacher VFW Post 1597. Joining him were soldiers from the district and the country, including Koby Langley, a veteran of the 82nd Airborne Division in Iraq, and Kevin Emore, an 8th District native and captain currently serving in Iraq with the 1st Armored Division.

Last December, Patrick Murphy released "A Soldier's Promise" which outlined a phased withdrawal of our troops from Iraq. If his plan had been implemented last December, 50,000 troops would be home with their families, and another 50,000 would be scheduled to come home by this Christmas. Unfortunately, the situation in Iraq has gotten progressively worse, not better. Patrick Murphy's plan, drawn from his experiences as a soldier with the 82nd Airborne Division in Iraq and from the experiences of countless other veterans, is a comprehensive plan to redeploy our troops to focus on winning the real War on Terror:

1) Redeploy our National Guard and Reservists within 6 months;
2) Redeploy our regular armed forces by the end of 2007;
3) Keep a strategic strike force in theater to aid in training Iraqi troops;
4) Commence an aggressive, Dayton accords style summit to reach peace in Iraq;
5) Fully fund redevelopment with real accountability and oversight;
6) Fire Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

"It's time to start changing course in Iraq, because 'stay the course' is no longer a strategy for success," said Murphy. "Our troops in Iraq deserve a real plan, and Congressman Fitzpatrick just stands with President Bush, offering more of the same. We need a change in direction in Iraq and Congressman Fitzpatrick has shown he's not going to bring about that change."

"My troops and I have been blindly sent into war without a plan for withdrawal, or a plan to win," said Kevin Emore, Captain in the U.S. Army. "It's time for a change in leadership, and that starts by electing Patrick Murphy who is a step forward for our military and our country."

Koby Langley, who served with Patrick in the 82nd Airborne Division, said, "While serving in Iraq with Patrick Murphy, we experienced the failure of the 'stay the course' Republican strategy. We need leaders in Washington who have seen war, who know what soldiers need and who will stand up and make the tough decisions -- not leaders who serve as a rubberstamp for the Bush agenda. I trusted Patrick Murphy with my life while in Iraq, I now trust that he is the man to change the direction in Iraq."

The Bucks County Courier Times covered Patrick’s announcement in its issue today, and featured this illustrious quote from our current 8th district U.S. Congressional representative (who also tried to blindside Patrick here):

“Every time Pat Murphy wants to draw attention to his campaign, he draws up a different plan for Iraq,” Fitzpatrick said. “Essentially, Pat wants to play secretary of defense, second-guessing generals in the field. His newest plan still wants to give terrorists the precise date of U.S. withdrawal, which is dangerous.”

Fitzpatrick, who has not given his own plan for the end of the war, said Murphy's plan was essentially unnecessary.

“What the generals don't need is a gaggle of politicians filling the air with a bunch of plans,” Fitzpatrick said. “Should every member of Congress have their own plan? And every candidate have their own plan? That's 1,070 separate plans.”

And by the way, in addition to that gem from Fitzy, the Courier Times published a Guest Opinion this morning from one of Mikey’s acolytes questioning Patrick’s religion again (so tired…).

After I read those quotes from Fitzpatrick, I found myself asking this question: why exactly is he leading by any margin whatsoever in this campaign (I think IPSOS had him up by 6 percent).

As I said before, Fitzpatrick is a cunning political animal (possibly answering my own question here). He has a knack for turning up on the right side of innocuous issues and acting in as obsequious a manner as possible, more often than not in front of a T.V. camera; pinning a medal on a military veteran here, sticking his nose in a dispute involving Boy Scouts when the headquarters isn’t even in his district there, advocating some legislation allowing extra tax credits for open space on another occasion…all nice, feel-good stuff, most of which will slowly disappear once the media focuses elsewhere like so much cotton candy.

And it's funny in a way to read Mikey's criticism of Patrick on this because trying to hide unpopular votes on appropriations or other issues (in this case, the "bridge to nowhere" in Alaska) is something Mikey tried once before and was called on, as Josh Marshall notes here.

I hereby assign the following to myself: I will provide a compilation of my posts on Mikey and try to summarize them in an effort to show who he has really served in his two years in the U.S. Congress (there are also links in the right column to detailed posts by other more worthy individuals providing this information also – this Inquirer story about the abuse of the congressional “franking” privilege by Fitzpatrick and Jim Gerlach references Mikey’s mailing on the environment that I posted on here). I will tend to this as soon as I can.