Much of the media treated U.S. Rep. Jack Murtha's call for an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq as something of a major defection of a once-staunch war supporter. That's not true, of course; Mr. Murtha has been a critic of the prosecution of the war for at least two years, as a look at the record of the Pennsylvania Democrat shows.
n "U.S. and coalition troops have done all they can in Iraq. It's time for a change in direction."
— Murtha at last week's Capitol Hill news conference. j
n "We cannot prevail in this war as it is going today.... We either have to mobilize or we have to get out. ... I know what affects (our troops). They want to be taken care of and they're not being taken care of."
— Murtha, at a May 6, 2004, news conference.
n "You can't fire the president ... but somebody recommended this policy to him and he took the recommendation. Somebody has to be held responsible and (the president) has got to make the decision who it was."
— Murtha, speaking about postwar planning,
on Sept. 15, 2003, as reported by The New
York Times the next day.