WASHINGTON, 2 December 2005 — The top Democrat in the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, on Wednesday endorsed a proposal by a senior member of her party calling for a quick pullout of US troops from Iraq.
Pelosi backed the withdrawal plan proposed by Representative John Murtha, a staunchly pro-military former marine who shocked the Washington political establishment nearly two weeks ago by saying time had come for US forces to quit Iraq.
Two weeks after Murtha introduced his House resolution calling for a pullout of US troops from Iraq within six months, Pelosi threw her support behind the legislation.
“I’m endorsing what Mr. Murtha is saying, which is that the status quo is not working and that we need to have a plan that makes us safer and our military stronger and makes Iraq more stable,” Pelosi said at a press conference Wednesday.
“I believe that what he has said has great wisdom. While the president is digging a hole, Mr. Murtha is speaking from the light of day about the realities in Iraq,” she said.
Murtha, a decorated Vietnam War veteran who voted for the Iraq war in 2002 and is considered a right-wing Democrat, said that US troops have done everything that has been asked of them, and that the United States cannot accomplish anything further in Iraq militarily.
Pelosi made her remarks on the same day Bush gave a speech on his strategy for Iraq at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis Maryland, in which he rejected calls for a clear timeline for withdrawal. The Democratic leaders said the speech failed to give a clear indication of a White House exit plan from Iraq.
“With more than 2,100 American soldiers killed, thousands more wounded grievously and hundreds of billions of dollars spent, the president owes the American people more than he provided today,” she said.
“We should follow the lead of Congressman John Murtha, who has put forth a plan to make American safer, to make our military stronger and to make Iraq more stable,” Pelosi said.
With his dramatic call for a quick pullout of US troops from Iraq “Mr. Murtha has changed the debate in our country,” Pelosi said.
For their part, Republican leaders, noting that Pelosi earlier withheld her support for Murtha, accused her of “playing politics.” “By flip-flopping on troop withdrawal from Iraq, Nancy Pelosi continues to eschew her responsibility as a congressional leader in favor of playing politics with the most pressing national security issue we face today, said Representative Tom Reynolds, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC).
“This have-it-every-which way attitude exposes Pelosi as a political meteorologist whose principles are dictated by the winds of the day and the gust of ideologues,” Reynolds said, noting that her stance puts her at odds other prominent Democrats — including party luminary US Senator Hillary Clinton.
