Murtha pushes new troop withdrawal plan

[oberliner]

Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON - A leading Democratic House Iraq war critic said Wednesday he'll soon push legislation that would order U.S. troop withdrawals to begin in two months and predicted Republicans will swing behind it this time.

A vote on Rep. John Murtha's proposal likely will come in September, when Iraq commander Gen. David Petraeus delivers a long-anticipated assessment on the war and members of Congress weigh some $600 billion in defense spending requested by President Bush.

Under his plan, Murtha, a close ally of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, said that he envisions troop withdrawals to start in November and take about a year to complete





Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070725/ap_on_go_co/us_iraq

[Lerkfish]

1. one wonders if Murtha had pelosi's job, if impeachment would be on the table

[rodeodance]

2. looi-he wants to split the Defense stpending bill:

.....Murtha counters that he thinks Bush and GOP members will have no choice. To maintain current troop levels through 2008, Murtha predicted that combat tours would have to be extended from 15 months to 18 months — a politically unsavory position to take on an already deeply unpopular war.

The Defense Department has said that extending combat tours of troops would be a last resort.

Murtha said he will propose his measure as an amendment to the $460 billion annual military funding bill, which the House will begin debating next week and probably finish in September. The bill does not include the $142 billion that Bush requested for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which the House plans to consider separately.

Dividing military spending into two bills leaves open the possibility that Congress could withhold all or portions of the combat funds.

"We may decide in September we're not satisfied with what Gen. Petraeus says and we may hold it up," Murtha said.

In addition to the anti-war measure, Murtha said he also wants to add a provision that would require troops meet certain standards before being deployed and cut in half the $225 million budget for the Guantanamo Bay military prison.

Murtha's proposals keep with the Democratic strategy of taking an all-or-nothing approach on Iraq — a tack that leaves the party's members empty-handed for now but keeps it in lockstep with demands by anti-war groups.

[mzmolly]

4. "Dividing military spending into two bills leaves open the possibility that Congress could ...

... withhold all or portions of the combat funds."

[mzmolly]

3. Like many have said "September" is the month to watch.

Should be interesting.