Murtha: Kerry Flap ‘Just Distracting From The Real Issue, The War On The Ground’

Today on MSNBC, Rep. John Murtha (D-PA), a 26-year Marine Corps veteran, talked about the media flap over remarks by Sen. John Kerry (D-MA). Murtha said there is “no question in my mind that John Kerry supports the troops,” and that right-wing attacks on Kerry are “just distracting from the real issue: the war on the ground.” Watch it:

In September, Reps. Murtha and Dave Obey (D-WI) released a report finding that the U.S. Army’s preparedness for war has “eroded to levels not witnessed by our country in decades.” Some key facts:

– As of today, the Army has only one unit in reserve for every unit deployed – a ratio that history shows cannot be sustained for any length of time without serious adverse consequences to the force.

– Of the 16 active-duty, non-deployed combat brigades in the United States managed by the Army’s Forces Command, the vast majority of them are rated at the lowest readiness ratings. These ratings are caused by severe equipment shortages.

– The situation facing the Army Guard and Reserve is comparatively worse. Of all the Guard units not currently mobilized, about four-fifths received the lowest readiness rating.

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Full transcript:

COPPEL: What do you think about what John Kerry said yesterday? You know the man. Was this just a gaffe? Should he have apologized? Should he have fought back? What should he have done?

MURTHA: Well, Andrea, it was a mistake, an unfortunate mistake, but that’s just distracting from the real issue, the war on the ground. That’s the thing we have to worry about. You know, he’s got to handle this himself. But most of the Democrats voted against this war in the first place, yet they all support the troops. There is no question in my mind that John Kerry supports the troops. All the Democrats voted for the defense bill except for a very few, so that’s just a distraction. The war on the ground is the thing that worries me, and has worried me for the last year and a half, and there’s no alternative but to redeploy our troops. Our troops have become occupiers, our troops are caught in the middle of a civil war, even though nobody wants to admit there’s a civil war. Those are the things that effect where I — I have been all over the country, and let me tell you something. People want us out of Iraq. Now, they don’t immediately want us out of Iraq, but they want a timetable where we can say, ok, redeploy the troops. Don’t desert Iraq, but redeploy the troops. Even the Iraqis are saying the same thing. They want us out of there.