John Murtha Quotations

When I talk to the troops, I get a different story (than from those who call for continued military involvement). I get a story that we need to have a plan. And from the families, an outpouring from the families,

... Since they're attacking our troops, and we have destabilized the area, I've changed my mind and I've come to the conclusion that now is the time to start to redeploy our troops to the periphery and let the Iraqis take over,

I did not consider that any money was offered, and certainly none was taken. The FBI who taped the entire conversation knows damn well no money changed hands.

Our troops have become the primary target of the insurgency. ... We have become a catalyst for violence. It's time to bring them home.

Our troops have become the enemy. We need to change direction in Iraq.

You know, we do business for a while, maybe I'll be interested, maybe I won't.

Torture scars not only its subject, it scars those who perpetrate it and those who are witnesses to it.

We're the targets ... we're uniting the enemy against us,

The public has turned against this war. And when the public turns against the war, Congress reacts to that.

We cannot win this militarily. Our tactics themselves keep us from winning,

The public turned against this war before I said it. The public is emotionally tied into finding a solution to this thing, and that's what I hope this administration is going to find out.

There's no way we can win a war when you've lost not only the hearts and minds of the people (of Iraq), when you become the enemy.

I volunteered for a year's duty in Vietnam. I was out in the field almost every single day. We took heavy casualties in my regiment the year that I was there. In my fitness reports, I was rated No. 1. My record is clear.

Questions about my record are clearly an attempt to distract attention from the real issue, which is that our brave men and women in uniform are dying and being injured every day in the middle of a civil war that can be resolved only by the Iraqis themselves.

People are unhappy about it, Republicans and Democrats. They all realize that the Iraqis aren't going to do any fighting until we decide that they're going to take over. As soon as the elections are over and the constitution is ratified, you're going to find American forces drawn down. The public's against it. The military's overextended. There's no place else to go.

That's not the point. We want to protect our guys. This is all about our guys, and our moral standards and our moral standards in the world.

They're subdued compared to normal morale of elite forces. Obviously, it was a very difficult battle. A lot of Somalis were killed, but it was a brutal battle.

All of us want to support the president when he's at war, ... But you can't support him when he won't change directions, won't listen.

Absolutely, we're the target. We're the enemy, ... (The Iraqis) are a proud people, they've been around a lot longer than we have. They've going to win this themselves, they're going to settle this themselves. They have to, there's no alternative.

They lost my trust when they did that, ... By not telling us, they lied.

The military has done everything that was asked of them. It is time to bring the troops home.

I like guys who've never been there who criticize us who've been there,

hotbed of patriotism and they've lost confidence in this effort.

You can't spin this. You've got to have a real solution, ... This is not a war of words, this is a war.

The guys in Congress are scared to death to say anything because they might be vilified, ... The soldiers can't speak for themselves. We sent them to war and, by God, we're the ones that have to speak out.