Comments on: HAC-D Chair Murtha Dies

By: Hitch Hiker

Hitch Hiker — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 01:06:17 +0000

These comments say all that needs to be said. As a student of politics, a retired military officer and an ex-Marine, I lost respect for the man and the congressman a long time ago.

By: BobinPa.

BobinPa. — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 02:07:00 +0000

As a Retired Marine, Murtha is the only former Marine I know of that I would not say Semper Fi To. I have no respect at all for him. What he did to those Haditha Marines was criminal. A lot of us remember what a lot of dirtbags said about us in the Nam.

By: robertro2

robertro2 — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 18:45:40 +0000

HE MIGHT HAVE BEEN A GOOD MARINE WHEN HE WAS IN THE SERVICE,BUT WHEN IN THE “GOVT“THIS MAN SAYING OUR MARINES KILLED IN COLD BLOOD AND THEN NEVER APOLOGIZE FOR THIS,IN MY OPINION , HE IS NOT FIT TO BE CALLED A “FORMER MARINE” AND GIVE HIM THE RESPECT THAT WE GIVE OUR BEST.……

By: William L. Sasman

William L. Sasman — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 17:32:34 +0000

Like Ted Kennedy he is gone and forgotten. Yes he was a Marine at one time and i bet he was a good one, but going to Washington sure made a change. That happens alot.

By: A Vietnam Veteran

A Vietnam Veteran — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 01:14:00 +0000

The Man served his Country and he is dead now, let him rest in piece. He did not have to go to Viet Nam, but he did and was wounded twice. As an Intelligence Officer and Battalion Staff Officer, he did not have to expose himsefl to Enemy Fire, but he did. He might have been an Officer in the Reserves, but the bullets and sharpnel were real. Crooked Politician ? Yes, guilty of bringing in Pork Barrel Contracts for his District he represented, never found guilty of lining his own pockets. No I did not vote for him, but respect his Service to his Country and think he should be allowed to rest in piece.

By: Kennth Rice

Kennth Rice — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 17:56:38 +0000

MarSgtMajor30____ As a 30 year active duty Marine, been in many many combat situations, and knowing

what the congressman has said and done, to me he dose not rate the name Marine. He should be ashamed of
what he has said (jn past) and this in itself stops him from being an Officer or a Marine. No Never.

By: Chief Houston

Chief Houston — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 17:37:23 +0000

Aside from all the comments above, my concern is that we did not listen to this man as he told the House Sub Committees time and time again about the disengagement from Afghanistan. Why is it that we were so tired of Afghanistan? Does being tired of something justify the total dismissal in assets to the detriment of national security and war assets as we have spent in these current conflicts?

You can criticize this man till kingdom come, but he was right on this grave issue of lack of Congressional
responsibility. Lt. Col. Paul Yingling wrote a compelling argument for the Constitutional responsibilites that Congress has left behind while allowing this country to be absent of any recognizable war footing. His article is in the Armed Forces Journal, FEB2010 edition, entitled,” The Founder’s Wisdom.”

By: Willy, Retired USAF

Willy, Retired USAF — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 13:31:40 +0000

He was an EX-Marine

RIP, sorrow to his family. But he ended his life as a corrupt politician making nice with Code Pink at the expense of his brothere-in-arms.

By: cannon12pdr

cannon12pdr — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 11:21:25 +0000

Good ridence to bad smellly rubbish.

By: steve linta

steve linta — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 05:33:25 +0000

WHY PUBLISH THIS IN ANY MILITARY PAPER? HE FOREFITTED ALL OF HIS RESPECT IN THE LAST 10–15 YEARS BEING A CORRUPT POLITICAN, WHO EVIDNETLY DISLIKED THE MILITARY AS THE CLINTONS DO.

steve, retired

By: Old391

Old391 — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 21:18:29 +0000

If anything it should be a Reserve Unit Honor Guard as he was in the Reverses when he was in Nam, kind of like Kerry

By: Old391

Old391 — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 12:33:55 +0000

Say what you want to about Murtha, at least he was fair in the idea of splitting the Tanker Buy. If you use the Japanses and Italian tanker as a baseline for Boeings tanker production, the tanker will be overbudget and over schedule. But “Dick” will cover for them.

By: William C.

William C. — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:00:11 +0000

He doesn’t deserve that Marine honor guard at his funeral after describing those Marines as “blood thirsty killers.”

By: Albert James

Albert James — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 22:06:30 +0000

So much for the Tanker Split Deal to get the economy going. With Norm Dicks and his corupt Boeing ties you will see the tanker go to them. If I were NG, I would sue in Federal Court as why can’t they get the same data on costs that Boeing got from DOD. This too will be a stain on Gates when he leaves allowing this corruption to take place on his watch. The split is now 6 ft under with Big John and now Norm Dicks and Boeing have a green light to the Tanker and also watch for more C-17 and F-22 as Boeing is going to want to be a PIG at the govt trough…

By: macman1138

macman1138 — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:48:08 +0000

I, for one, will not miss him.

By: Albert James

Albert James — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:08:22 +0000

Split Tanker is 6ft under with Big John and will not even be a thought as Dicks will push Boeing’s agenda. I see more C-17 and F-22s and Gates will not be able to stop a thing…

By: Aurora

Aurora — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:51:43 +0000

Like many in Congress, Murtha probably stayed on too long. To this day, I still have trouble with his characterization of the Marines involved. Doesn’t the presumption of innocence apply to those in uniform as well?

On another subject, it appears Norm Dicks will move up to Murtha’s vacated chairmanship. Split tanker is dead–for now.

By: TMB

TMB — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 03:38:01 +0000

Regarding Haditha, as Christian reported, he didn’t just call for an investigation. He called the Marines in question cold blooded killers before the investigation was over. Every one of those Marines was either acquitted or charges were dropped.

By: TMB

TMB — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 03:32:13 +0000

Do you actually know anything about the case? Let me enlighten you. Four Marines grunts and four officers were charged after the investigation into the killing of 15 civilians and 8 insurgents. Charges for the shooters were various degrees of murder or manslaughter, and charges for the officers were making false statements, dereliction of duty, and obstruction of justice. So far, charges against 3 of the 4 shooters were dropped, charges against 3 officers were dropped, and another was acquitted of dereliction of duty. One shooter is still pending trial. Contrary to your assertion, not one of them was acquitted of shooting anyone. That they shot unarmed civilians isn’t in question. Whether it constituted murder or just bad luck is the question. If they followed the Rules of Engagement then they were innocent of murder.

By: Jason

Jason — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 02:15:45 +0000

Acquitted — doesn’t mean they didn’t shoot the unarmed Iraqi civilians as described. They just had good lawyers and poor jurists.