Breaking: Resolution for Rummy Resignation

Posted by Evan Derkacz at 9:50 AM on September 13, 2006.

As early reports suggest that Jack Murtha (D-PA) will introduce a resolution (full text below the jump) calling for Rumsfeld's resignation, we thought it'd be handy to look at the military records of Murtha and Rumsfeld, whose handling of the U.S. military can only be called dangerous and abominable.

Murtha (via Wikipedia):

Murtha left Washington and Jefferson College in 1952 to join the Marine Corps and was awarded the American Spirit Honor Medal for displaying outstanding leadership qualities during training. Murtha rose through the ranks to become a drill instructor at Parris Island and was selected for Officer Candidate School at Quantico, Virginia. Murtha was then was assigned to the Second Marine Division, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

...

In 1959, Murtha, then a captain, took command of the 34th Special Infantry Company, Marine Corps Reserves, in Johnstown. He remained in the Reserves after his discharge from active duty until he volunteered for service in the Vietnam War, serving from 1966 to 1967, serving as a battalion staff officer (S-2 Intelligence Section), receiving the Bronze Star with Valor device, two Purple Hearts and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry. He retired from the Reserves as a colonel in 1990, receiving the Navy Distinguished Service Medal.

Rumsfeld served in the United States Navy from 1954 to 1957 as a Naval aviator and flight instructor. In 1957, he transferred to the Ready Reserve and continued his Naval service in flying and administrative assignments as a drilling reservist until 1975. He transferred to the Standby Reserve when he became Secretary of Defense in 1975 and to the Retired Reserve with the rank of Navy Captain in 1989.

When the shooting started in Korea Rummy here was either 18, or about to turn 18. Not to worry for him, though — he spent the war at Princeton, wearing a ROTC uniform. Once the war was over he flew jets for the Navy for a few years. Defenders of Rumsfeld will say he’s no chickenhawk — he served, and it’s not his fault the war ended before he got his commission. To which others answer, "plenty of farmers and mechanics and kids just out of high school served. Anyone as full of whatever that stuffing in him is, could have tried out for a battlefield commission."

H. Con. Res. __________

Expressing the Sense of Congress that the President should
immediately replace the Secretary of Defense, Donald
Rumsfeld

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 13, 2006


Mr. Murtha introduced the following resolution, which was referred to the committee
on___________

Whereas ----

After 9/11, the United States government had unprecedented support from international
allies as well as the American people for military action against al Qaeda and the
Taliban in Afghanistan

The initial phase of the war in Afghanistan was successful in dismantling al Qaeda
operations, removing the Taliban authority which was harboring al Qaeda, and allowing
for the Afghani people to establish a representative government

The Secretary of Defense imposed a cap on the number of ground forces in Afghanistan
prior to the war in Iraq

The Bush administration concluded in April 2002 that Osama bin Laden was in Tora
Bora, Afghanistan during the battle for Tora Bora in December of 2001 and that the
failure to commit the sufficient number of ground forces directly resulted in the failure to
capture him

A resurgence of Taliban influence and violence is now occurring in Afghanistan

In the months prior to the war in Iraq, The Secretary of Defense repeatedly and forcefully
asserted to Congress and the American people that there was no question that there were
weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and that they were a threat to the United States,
which is now known to be false

The Secretary of Defense rejected estimates from top military commanders regarding the
troop strength that would be required to secure Iraq, failed to anticipate the level of
violent opposition among Iraqis to US occupation, and publicly doubted the war in Iraq
would take [longer than] six months

The Secretary of Defense expressly forbade his staff to develop a plan for post-war Iraq
and threatened to fire anyone who raised the issue

The Secretary of Defense failed to ensure that US troops had adequate protective gear
for their mission at the start of the Iraq war, including a shortage of 40,000 protective
body armor units, radio frequency jammers to thwart remote detonation of improvised
explosive devices, and up-armored high mobility multi-purpose wheeled vehicles
(HMMWVs)

Failure of the Secretary of Defense to anticipate the troop strength needed to secure Iraq
or to develop a post-war plan resulted in foreign fighters entering the country who have
incited attacks against US soldiers and fomented sectarian violence, the latter of which
has precipitated a civil war between Sunni and Shia Iraqis
The Secretary of Defense asserted at the start of the Iraq war that Iraqi oil production
would pay for the war yet US expenditures in Iraq now exceed $8 billion per month and
Iraqi oil production is still below prewar levels

The Secretary of Defense failed to provide the necessary training, supervision, personnel
and guidelines for the management of prisoners and detainees which directly led to the
abuses at Abu Ghraib prison, severely undermining US efforts to win hearts and minds of
the Iraqi people critical to securing Iraq

The Secretary of Defense has failed to address the flagging readiness of US ground
forces, in particular the US Army, whose preparedness for war has eroded to levels not
witnessed by our country in decades, thus hindering the ability of the US to respond to
other potential threats to national security

US armed forces cannot sustain the current operational tempo in Iraq and a large
percentage of US troops have done over three tours in Iraq

With 130,000 troops, key measures of success in Iraq have not been met and in some
cases are worsening, including: the level of employment; the level of oil production; the
level of electricity production; the training of Iraqi security forces; and the number of
violent incidents, which have increased from an average of 400 per week before the
establishment of an interim Iraqi government in the spring of 2004 to almost 800 per
week this year

The Secretary of Defense has failed to ensure adequate accounting of billions of dollars
of expenditures of the Coalition Provisional Authority

At the time of the introduction of this resolution, 2,672 US service members have died in
Iraq and 337 have died in Afghanistan, exceeding the number of people who died on
9/11; in addition, over 20,000 US service members have been wounded

Terrorism incidents around the world have increased since the US entered Iraq

A survey of 116 top national security experts indicates that eighty-seven percent of them
believe the Iraq war has had a negative impact on the war on terrorism while ninety
three percent of them believe that the war in Afghanistan has had a positive impact on the
war on terrorism

Democrats and Republicans are united against terrorism; Democrats and Republicans
are united for a strong military; Democrats and Republicans are united for a strong
America

Therefore, be it resolved that --------

It is the sense of the Congress that, for the good of the country, the United States of
America must restore credibility both at home and abroad and that the first step toward
restoring that credibility must be to demonstrate accountability for the mistakes that have
been made in prosecuting the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq by immediately effecting the
resignation of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and replacing him with someone
capable of leading the nation's military in a strategy to resolve our deployment in Iraq,
prevent regression in Afghanistan, reconstitute our military readiness, and refocus on the
threats to national security posed by diffuse and proliferating terrorist cells as well as
belligerent states.


__________________________________
JOHN P. MURTHA
Member of Congress


(Huffpo, NHG)

Evan Derkacz is a New York-based writer and contributor to AlterNet.