Rep. Murtha on Hardball - 'Hardball with Chris Matthews' for Nov. 30th - Hardball with Chris Matthews - MSNBC.com

'Hardball with Chris Matthews' for Nov. 30th - Hardball with Chris Matthews - MSNBC.com:

"MURTHA: I‘ve heard estimates up to 25 years. Now we‘ve already spent $277 billion in Iraq and Afghanistan. Let me give you a figure from Vietnam. Secretary McNamara said in 1963 that it would take us two years to win the war in Vietnam, two years.

In 1965, we had lost 2,100 people in Vietnam. From 1965 until 1972, we lost 55,000 Americans. What I‘m saying is, we‘ve lost 2,100 people now and we have become the enemy. Our troops are the targets for the insurgents.

And we‘re not making progress from every measurement that I see. What I hear the president say is not something you can measure. What I‘m looking at is the things you can measure. And that‘s the unemployment, the energy supplies and so forth. So, we have gotten to the place where we‘ve got to stop the rhetoric. We‘ve got to sit down and figure out a new strategy. Now let me tell you the four strategies that...

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I‘m saying redeploy to the surrounding areas so that we can go back in if there‘s a terrorist buildup. Now, define Iraqi insurgency versus a terrorist buildup. If the terrorist camps do come into Iraq, then we could go back in if they threaten our allies or us. There‘s no other plan that makes any sense to me. The biggest vulnerability we have in Iraq ...
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MATTHEWS: Is George Casey, the American commander in the Army, is George Casey telling the truth? Is he one of the guys giving the president positive vibes when there‘s no reason for them, or is he telling people like yourself the truth? Or both?

MURTHA: Chris, you know, I deal with these guys all the time. I know how they feel. They—even if they don‘t say it, I know exactly how they feel. And I know that he said, for instance, one of the problems in this insurgency is the American occupation. And he‘s saying in so many words, we‘ve become the enemy. That‘s what General Casey said.

Abizaid said basically the same thing. One of our policies will be to start to withdraw. I mean, they‘re all saying what I‘m saying, but they won‘t admit—the sooner we get them out, the better it will be for Iraq, the better it will be for the ...

MATTHEWS: The president just—last point. The president said today that if any general in the field over there needs more troops, he merely has to ask me. Is that an honest statement?

MURTHA: That‘s not an honest statement. Let me tell you something. I talked to one of the generals, he said he doesn‘t have enough troops to protect the Syrian border, and that‘s one of the missions that he‘s been given. So, you know, I know how discouraged they‘ve been.
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MURTHA: I tell you, Chris, this has been a problem from the very start—the dishonesty of the people that are speaking for the administration. It‘s so frustrating for me, knowing the figures are not accurate. I mean, I should have spoken out much earlier. I waited way too long and too many people are continuing to be killed. I‘m very frustrated by the dishonesty of the people speaking for the administration. "