Murtha Says U.S. Presence in Iraq Benefits Iran and al-Qaida

Democratic Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania said yesterday (March 5th) that the U.S. presence in Iraq is hurting the war on terrorism and benefits only Iran and al-Qaida. Murtha is a defense hawk who has turned against the war in Iraq after initially supporting it, and drew widespread attention after calling in November for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

Appearing on CBS' Face the Nation Sunday, Murtha said, "The only people who want us in Iraq are Iran and al-Qaida. And I talked to a top-level commander ... and he said China wants us there also. Why? Because we're depleting out resources ... our troop resources and our fiscal resources." He continued, "We have a situation where our military is in such bad shape, it couldn't deploy to a second front. And the Iranians know this. North Korea knows it. China knows it. We're depleting our resources in Iraq."

Murtha characterized the conflict in Iraq as a civil war that must be settled internally, saying that the U.S. role in fighting global terrorism is being subverted by our involvement. Murtha is a decorated Vietnam veteran who retired from the Marine Corps Reserve as a colonel in 1990.

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