Murtha criticizes Bush Administration on five years of Iraq war

Congressman John P. Murtha (D-PA), chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, discussed the five years of violence in Iraq after President Bush declared “Mission Accomplished” in 2003, in a discussion at the Center for American Progress today.

Murtha talked about the wars in Vietnam, Lebanon, Beirut and Somalia and compared them to the current situation in Iraq. Similar to the military actions taken in those countries, in Iraq the U.S. went in without an exact strategy, the mission remained undefined and the U.S. military ended up becoming nation builders without a clear exit strategy.

“We learned throughout the last century that political, economic and diplomatic challenges are equally, if not more, important to achieving stability on the ground,” Murtha said. “And as we’ve learned over the past five years, we must ultimately win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people.”

Iraq is facing crippling problems today with a government “riddled with corruption and paralyzed by incompetence,” sectarian violence, Iraqi refugees, ethnic zones and unemployment at 50 percent in certain areas, said Murtha. The United States is dealing with oil production remaining at pre-war lows, thousands of military deaths and poor military readiness levels.

Murtha concluded his remarks by urging the Bush Administration to look to the future at threats down the road the U.S.’s “faltering economy, skyrocketing energy prices, rising food costs and a significantly weakened dollar.”

Leader Hoyer holds weekly pen and pad session

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) today held his weekly pen and pad session. During the session, Hoyer both reflected upon the progress made by the House of Representatives this week as well as the future bills they are hoping to pass.

Hoyer criticized the “exploding” job market and noted that “whether our economy is in recession or on the brink of it” the financial problems facing our nation need to be quickly corrected. Leader Hoyer said that the passage of President Bush’s stimulus package was “a good first step” to saving the economy, but stressed that more still needs to be done to help those losing homes and spending the money they have received from the package on high gas prices.

Hoyer said that we have to become less dependent on foreign nations who are “holding us hostage” and making record setting profits from oil sales, and that legislation to move our country toward better energy usage is necessary to ensuring future economic prosperity.

Hoyer noted that the surge in Iraq has “not brought about the political reconciliation” that the Iraqi’s need, and that we have to take away government subsidies from oil companies to help taxpayers. Hoyer said that tax money that should be spent on things such as rebuilding infrastructure (in order to do things like create jobs), has been wasted on funding for oil companies.

Hoyer said that presidential candidate Barack Obama’s comments regarding his controversial Reverend, Jeremiah Wright, were “forthright and decisive.” Leader Hoyer explained that voters should be more concerned with putting a democrat in office than the incendiary comments of a troublemaking pastor.

Gas prices making us reach for change

Consumers are being tipped upside down by the big oil companies, with money being shaken out of their pockets at the pump. This statement made by Chairman Edward Markey (D-MA), was widely echoed by all members of Congress present at the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. President Bush, he said, refuses to use our oil reserves, and not only is that something that can be done, it is something that should be done. Congressman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) echoed that by adding that they need to put aside bipartisanship and releasing the reserves was essentially paying attention to Economics 101.

Congressman Jay Inslee (D-WA) made an even stronger statement, saying ‘when your house is on fire it is more important to get the hose instead of take out another insurance policy.’ Why is it, he said, that we regulate wheat but not gas? Speculation is driving up prices, and the administration has refused to help us.

And that speculation of world condition is 1/3 of the price per barrel, according to Dr. Mark Cooper, Director of Research at the Consumer Federation of America. America uses 1/4 of the oil in the world, and that 1/3 price is actually $38 dollars a barrel [as of today]. A side effect of high gas prices, is that trucks deliver almost all the consumer goods in the United States, Dave Berry, Vice President of the Swift Transportation Company, Inc, added. The high prices of gas and/or diesel are causing prices in consumer goods to go up, since they are trucked from place to place.

Kevin Book, Sr. Vice President & Senior Analyst for Energy Policy, Oil, & Alternative Energy, summed up the crisis as follows: We need to save energy on a daily basis and quit our oil addiction. This element was not expanded on, and instead all the questioning reverted to whether or not the panel thought that President Bush should deploy the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The answer was a very enthusiastic “yes” from Dave Berry. We’d like the President to stop filling the SPR, he said, and consumers at the pump will see the benefit.

Happy Anniversary? For Many in Iraq, Bush Thinks Five Years of “Operation” Means Just That

Today’s five year anniversary of the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom provided President Bush with an opportunity to reflect upon the successes his administration has had in restoring democracy, securing America, and championing terror in the Middle East.

The President spoke before a room packed with high ranking military officials with a speech focused on thanking the armed forces, defending the tough decisions he has made as Commander-in-Chief since the terrorist attacks of September 11th, and his insistence that the battle that currently rages on in Iraq is one we “must win.”

Citing the fact that Iraqi’s now hold free elections, Bush noted that Iraqi citizens are able to enjoy freedoms they could only dream of under the brutal Sadaam Hussein, a dictator Bush noted, “We got.”

Bush acknowledged that winning in Iraq has been longer and more expensive than his administration initially assumed. Should we leave now Bush maintained, we would risk “emboldening” yet-to-be-found terrorists, obsessed with harming the American people. Bush also noted the success the “surge” US forces working to combat terror has had. Today, said the President, more than 90,000 Iraqi’s fight for their country alongside the United States.

Bush explained that criticisms about the cost of the war have been “exaggerated.” “Men and women,” Bush said, “who love liberty, can defeat the terrorists.” Hopefully, when the 10 year anniversary of Operation Iraqi Freedom is reached, American’s can reflect upon a war finally over, not one still raging on.

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Hearing on Polar Bear Threats and Protection

Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) chaired an investigation this morning questioning the “timing and reasoning” behind the United States Fish and Wildlife Service’s delay in their decision on whether or not to include polar bears under the Endangered Species Act.

The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works devoted significant attention to delay in the decision to include polar bears under the ESA because such a decision on the bears' inclusion will now not be made until after the Minerals Management Service has issued leases for risky oil and gas development set to occur in “almost 30 million acres of polar bear habitat.” Such leases could further threaten polar bear life.

Boxer and the Committee questioned Dale Hall, director of the USFWS, and each party agreed that due to factors such as climate change, the development and transportation of oil and gas, pollution, and even human interaction, polar bear habitat, prey, reproduction, and chances for survival has diminished. As Margaret Williams, Managing Director of the Kamchtka/Bering Sea Ecoregion Program of World Wildlife Fund noted, “We need to closely scrutinize and prevent all actions that may add further stress to the polar bear, including conducting oil and gas leasing in prime polar bear habitat.”