Murtha clarifies remarks on Iraq ‘surge’

House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee Chairman John Murtha (D-Pa.) has taken the unusual step of publicly clarifying his remark that the “surge is working” in Iraq.

Murtha, a former Marine and top adviser to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on military matters, had often said previously that the surge is not working.

{mosads}The clarification came after House Republicans circulated an article about Murtha’s comments written in Friday’s edition of his home-state Pittsburgh Post-Gazette after a teleconference from Murtha’s  Johnstown, Pa., office. In addition to saying that the surge is working, the Post-Gazette reported, Murtha called the Iraqi government “dysfunctional” and said, “The thing that has to happen is the Iraqis have to do this themselves. We can't win it for them.”

That put him in line with the current position of the House Democratic leadership that the extra troops have done a good job of reducing violence, but the Iraqi government has been squandering the  opportunity.

This morning Murtha issued the following statement through his spokesman:

“The military surge has created a window of opportunity for the Iraqi government. Unfortunately, the sacrifice of our troops has not been met by the Iraqi government and they have failed to capitalize on the political and diplomatic steps that the surge was designed to provide.

“The fact remains that the war in Iraq cannot be won militarily, and that we must begin an orderly redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq as soon as practicable.

“The House of Representatives has passed a $50 billion funding bill that provides the president, our troops and our nation with a responsible plan for bringing our troops home. The president should heed the advice of the American people and allow this funding bill to become law.”