To Military Families of America: Jack Murtha Speaks for the Military and Deserves a Presidential Medal Of Freedom

Huffington Post
Brent Budowsky
To Military Families of America: Jack Murtha Speaks for the Military and Deserves a Presidential Medal Of Freedom

I consider these words the most important I have ever written on this site because of the enormous implications they suggest.

I know far more than I can say publicly, about what our commanders and our intel people really believe, because I was told things in confidence and unlike most in Washington I honor confidences.

I have posted what I know from public sources,
far more is emerging in the news today, and still more will be public soon.

I will add, that Jack Murtha was around when I worked for the Congressional Leadership, he would probably laugh if he reads this, but we always considered him a solid guy but a pain in the ass because of the number of times he supported President Reagan and Republicans in the House. At the whip meetings there was always a moment when someone would say: "OK, who wants to talk to Murtha?" Not many hands would be raised.

In Washington today there is a hard time in distinguishing between the truth and the lie. Lying is epidemic. But the good answer to the Big Lie is the Big Truth, and the Big Truth is this: Congressman Jack Murtha is a man of staggering honor and integrity, a man of enormous physical and moral courage, a United States Marine of the first order of magnitude and he speaks for the overwhelming majority of active duty American commanders who cannot speak publicly for themselves.

In a city of moral midgets, Jack Murtha is a giant. I repeat this for emphasis because it is the heart of the matter with Iraq today: if the active duty commanders in the Unites States Marine Corps, the United States Army, and our Guard and Reserves were permitted to say publicly what they believe privately, in my estimation at least 80% to 90% of them would say they fundamentally agree with Jack Murtha, and have time and time again been beaten down and disresepcted by civilians when they tried to turn in the policy in a Murtha-like direction.

Additionally, Jack Murtha has spent a lifetime speaking for and fighting for our troops. This is not new for Congressman Murtha, nor is it politics. This is in Jack Murtha's blood, in his personal history, in his life, in his heart, in his soul, in his spirit and in the depth of his being with a passion and honor that others in the Congress would do well to emulate.

Whether it was defying the Democratic Leaders often when I worked for the Leadership, or now defying the President and Secretary of Defense Jack Murtha always did what he believed was right and true, and always did what he believed was in the interests of our commanders and troops, and was always seen as their truest authentic voice in either the legislative or the executive branches.

When Jack Murtha opposes torture, he is speaking for them.

Jack Murtha leads the fight for body armor and the whole list of protections for our troops in combat, he is speaking for them, and he is fighting for them.

When Jacik Murtha leads the fight for new policies towards Iraq that would redeploy forces to places where they would be more effective and more safe at the same time, he is speaking for them, and fighting for them.

And the honest truth is, because the stakes are so high this truth must be told: when George W. Bush accuses Jack Murtha and others using various phrases, George W Bush is lying through his teeth, because he knows damn well what the commanders really think, and what the overwhelming majority of them think, is what Jack Murtha says, not what George W. Bush falsely claims they think.

Finally, for now, this is the truth:

George W. Bush knows that the policy is failing. He knows that the overwhelming majority of commanders believe the policy is failing.

He knows that the commanders want major changes in the policy.

He knows that Senator Warner speaks for the commanders as Jack Murtha speaks for the commanders, when they both state major changes are needed.

He knows that major changes in the policy are mandatory and inevitable yet the man who brags about being a wartime President is committing two historic sins that are unworthy of the Presidency, which are these:

He is lying about his political opponents such as Jack Murtha when he knows they speak and fight for commanders and troops, and;

George W. Bush is delaying the changes in the policy so he can use the issue for personal and partisan politics, while troops risk and give their lives today for the political benefit of a morally decayed Republican Party and a President who knows the policy must change, maneuvers the decision for political reasons, in a way that no commander in chief has ever done except Nixon and Kissinger in Vietnam.

If there is one man in America who deserves the Presidential Medal of Freedom it is not George Tenet, and not Paul Bremer, but Congressman Jack Murtha who stands like a tower of honor, in a Republican Congress of Shame.