Moran and Murtha Asked about Impeachment in
Packed Forum
American Chronicle
By David Swanson
January 6, 2006
A town hall forum hosted by Congressman Jim Moran and featuring Congressman
Jack Murtha packed a large room in Arlington, Va., Thursday evening, and filled
an overflow room, and had to turn away another 500 people. The media was well
represented.
Both Moran and Murtha spoke strongly in support of ending the war as quickly
as possible and pulling all U.S. troops out of Iraq. Murtha complained
repeatedly that the Bush Administration contributes only "rhetoric" and no
"substance" to this debate.
"Sixty to eighty percent of Iraqis want us out," Murtha said. "And 45 pecent
say it's justified to kill Americans. The State Department's own polls say the
same thing. It's time to let Iraqis take over this effort. Let them solve their
own problems, as we did in the revolutionary war."
"A number of senators running for president called me," Murtha added. "I
told them there were two policies. One is redeployment. The other is the
President's 'stay the course.' And they're in between. I told them they're
missing an opportunity to show leadership. They're so hesitant to take a
position."
Two long lines formed behind two microphones through which members of the
audience could pose questions. One man asked what the real reason had been for
the war. Murtha replied that he himself had believed there were WMDs, that he
had been misled by the CIA, that Bush ought to have fired George Tenet, and
that at this point it doesn't matter what the reason was for the war.
Moran said that he did not support the war because he didn't trust the
intelligence about the WMDs: "It was not verifiable. It wasn't even current."
Also, Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with the attack on the U.S., Moran said,
and "There were no terroirist operations going on in Iraq.... And you don't go
to war without a plan to win the peace."
Someone asked: "Are we building permanent military bases in Iraq?" Murtha
said no. Moran said no, but we have spent $700 million on an embassy.
In response to another question, Moran addressed the idea that withdrawal
would result in chaos. "The insurgents are primarily Iraqis," he said. "And
foreign terrorists will be booted out once it's not in the Sunnis' interest to
have them there."
A veteran of the war asked "How come there hasn't been an investigation of
the fraudulent lead-up to the war by this administration? Murtha gave a
nonanswer.
Another vet asked "Why not impeach Bush-Cheney?" That question resulted in
by far the loudest and longest applause of the evening -- an extended period of
foot-stomping, hooting, and hollering. Murtha gave a nonanswer. Moran replied
that "impeachment is inconsistent with the democratic process." When this led
to boos and hisses and shouts of "It's in the Constitution!" Moran added that
impeachment "is not going to happen" in the current Congress, as if he were
watching from the stands and not himself a Member of Congress.
Another member of the audience asked whether either congressman supported
Congressman Dennis Kucinich's bill to create a cabinet-level Department of
Peace. Both gave non-answers.
At one point, Murtha said, "I support what we did in Fallujah, because we're
saving American lives."
Another questioner asked about the Downing Street Memo and whether Democrats
might consider making a lot of noise about the fact that "the intelligence
wasn't wrong, it was a lie." According to this person, "people might then back
the Democrats."
Murtha agreed, and said "The Democrats need to get off their hind legs and
not be afraid to speak!"
136 Events Like This One All Over Country on Saturday:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/event
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