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September 18, 2007
Gannon Gets Murtha To Denounce MoveOn.org Ad
Rep. John Murtha's (D-PA) media bubble burst at the National Press Club today when I confronted him during a press conference. Murtha chose the usually friendly venue to discuss the latest iteration of his "cut and run - slow bleed - surrender at all costs" proposal.
First up, a question about the Haditha incident for which Marines are on trial for their lives:
JEFF GANNON: In May 2006, you said that Marines killed innocent Iraqis citizens in cold blood at Hatitha. A year later, some of them have been exonerated. At some point are you going to apologize to these men?
REP. MURTHA: The trial's not over yet.
JEFF GANNON: You've spoken out before. You went on national television and called these men "cold blooded killers."
REP. MURTHA: The trial's not over yet.
After waiting for some other reporter to ask about the MoveOn.org ad that accused Gen. David Petraeus of treason, I decided to give it a shot:
JEFF GANNON: Did you think the MoveOn.org ad was inappropriate and would you distance yourself from those remarks?
REP. MURTHA: Yes.
Don't look for this Q & A to find its way into the liberal media. Only The Hill reported the MoveOn.org comment as an aside in the last paragraph its story, but wouldn't touch Murtha's stonewall on the U.S. Marines who were cleared of charges in the deaths of Iraqis in the much publicized incident at Haditha.
C-SPAN has a clip: Rep. Murtha on the Petraeus Report
Hadita comments at 39:25, MoveOn.org at 47:40
After the program, fawning reporters gathered around the bloviating Murtha. We had an exchange that went something like this:
JEFF GANNON: Is the war lost?
REP. MURTHA: It's not lost, but it's a complicated...
JEFF GANNON: Harry Reid said the war is lost. Is he wrong?
REP. MURTHA: I don't know what Senator Reid said...
JEFF GANNON: He said "The war is lost", do you agree?
At this point Murtha is all red-faced and leaning forward until he is about a foot from my face and to begin angrily bellowing:
REP. MURTHA: I quit college to go to Korea, I volunteered to go to Vietnam...
Our exchange ended when another reporter chimed in with a peacenik question about Democrats' strategy to betray our troops in the field.
The Hill's coverage of the press conference:
Conservative writer Jeff Gannon, who was in the audience, challenged Murtha on another statement he had made, that Marines in Haditha had killed Iraqi civilians “in cold blood.” Charges have been dropped against several Marines, though others remain charged with murder. Gannon asked Murtha if he would apologize, and Murtha refused.
“The trials are not over yet,” Murtha said, reddening slightly in the face.
Also in response to Gannon, Murtha tersely deemed inappropriate the newspaper advertisement taken out by the liberal group MoveOn.org criticizing commanding Gen. David Petraeus as “General Betray Us.” Without elaborating, Murtha said “Yes” when asked if he would distance himself from the ad.
Note to Mr. Murtha: I thank you for your military service to our country. You were a Marine too, how can you accuse other Marines of murder and refuse to apologize for wrongly accusing them or even acknowledge that they've been vindicated?
Posted by jeffgannon at September 18, 2007 06:21 AM
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