Murtha: Flip-flopping is OK, and so was Clinton's Somalia debacle

Murthaholics may want to turn away from this post, because it makes your Jack look like the political opportunist and bumbling idiot that he is. From Expose the Left:

The Media Blog writes about Murtha’s Friday appearence on CNN’s The Situation Room and posts this transcript of the Congressman advocating we “change directions” like “Clinton did in Somalia”:

The thing that disturbed me and worries me about this whole thing is we can’t get them to change direction. And I said over and over in debate, if you listen to any of it, in Beirut President Reagan changed direction, in Somalia President Clinton changed direction, and yet here...

On changing direction:

Here’s what Osama bin Laden said about Clinton’s decision to “change direction” in Somalia, according to the Frontline documentary, “Hunting bin Laden“:

“After leaving Afghanistan, the Muslim fighters headed for Somalia and prepared for a long battle, thinking that the Americans were like the Russians,” bin Laden said. “The youth were surprised at the low morale of the American soldiers and realized more than before that the American soldier was a paper tiger and after a few blows ran in defeat. And America forgot all the hoopla and media propaganda … about being the world leader and the leader of the New World Order, and after a few blows they forgot about this title and left, dragging their corpses and their shameful defeat.“

The Media Blog’s Stephen Spruiell concludes:

The comparison was especially ill-timed, given that Islamic extremists are in the process of taking over the country and some are warning that it could become a new safe haven for al Qaeda.

The next time Murtha makes his pitch for “changing direction” in Iraq, he might want to omit this particular comparison. It only serves to remind us how much we have to lose by turning our backs on Iraq now.

Nicely done, Jacko! You may be the only schmuck I've ever heard who refers to the "Black Hawk Down" incident in Somalia as a good thing and worth repeating. Let's see your party run with that idea to the polls this November! My guess is that your Somalia strategy will be as tightly embraced as a consenting adult female in Scott Ritter's house (for those of you on the left, that means the idea won't be embraced very well, since Ritter digs pre-pubescent girls)!

Jacko then "weighs in" on the most pressing issue of his party today: Karl Rove's posterior.

He’s in New Hampshire, he’s making a political speech. He’s sitting in his air conditioned office in his big fat backside, saying stay the course.

Rove is fat, but Murtha is svelt? Mr. Pot, meet Mr. Kettle.

Finally, Jacko comes up with the brilliant idea of fighting terrorism in the Middle East by redeploying our troops to...Okinawa! How's that for a timely response? I mean, we'd be a mere 4,000 nautical miles away! Jacko, not being used to getting challenged on his lunatic ravings, began stumbling and bumbling when Russert called him on it:

REP. MURTHA: There’s many countries understand the importance of stability in the Middle East. This is an international problem. We, we use 20 million barrels of oil a day. China’s the second largest user. All these countries understand you need stability for the energy supply that’s available in the Middle East. So there’s many, many countries.

MR. RUSSERT: Who?

REP. MURTHA: Kuwait’s one that will take us. Qatar, we already have bases in Qatar. So Bahrain. All those countries are willing to take the United States. Now, Saudi Arabia won’t because they wanted us out of there in the first place. So—and we don’t have to be right there. We can go to Okinawa. We, we don’t have—we can redeploy there almost instantly. So that’s not—that’s, that’s a fallacy. That, that’s just a statement to rial up people to support a failed policy wrapped in illusion.

MR. RUSSERT: But it’d be tough to have a timely response from Okinawa.

REP. MURTHA: Well, it—you know, they—when I say Okinawa, I, I’m saying troops in Okinawa. When I say a timely response, you know, our fighters can fly from Okinawa very quickly. And—and—when they don’t know we’re coming. There’s no question about it. And, and where those airplanes won’t—came from I can’t tell you, but, but I’ll tell you one thing, it doesn’t take very long for them to get in with cruise missiles or with, with fighter aircraft or, or attack aircraft, it doesn’t take any time at all. So we, we have done—this one particular operation, to say that that couldn’t have done, done—it was done from the outside, for heaven’s sakes.

I suggest that Murtha, being the military genius that he is because (like John Kerry) he served in 'Nam, bone up on his current affairs and military matters a bit since, in his old age, it must have slipped his mind that Okinawa wants our troops off of their island. Yessiree, nothing says "I'm a military strategy genius" more than recommending a redeployment of our troops to a place 4,000 nautical miles away that doesn't even want us there!

As with Cindy Shehag, the left will eventually rue the day they hitched their horses to the Murtha Wagon.

Murtha's words before advocating a "Black Hawk Down" repeat