War critic Murtha does a '180' on troop surge

In April, Congressman John Murtha (D-Pennsylvania) told CNN "the surge has failed" and "there was no possibility that it was going to work." The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette now reports that Murtha said he saw signs of military progress during a recent trip to Iraq over the Thanksgiving break. The congressman, chairman of the powerful Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, is quoted as saying, "I think the 'surge' is working," but the Iraqis "have got to take care of themselves."

Gulf War veteran Steve Robertson is legislative director for the American Legion and has a son in the Army who is on his second tour in Iraq. He says the Pennsylvania lawmaker saw "a clear difference between perception and reality" during his visit.

"What he perceived initially was that the surge would not work," Robertson notes. "The reality is, once he got on the ground and visited with the troops and saw for himself, the stark reality came true -- that the surge was effective."

Robertson says Murtha's comments may make it harder for Democrats to continue rejecting President Bush's war funding request for next year. "The leadership is going to have to take a hard look [at itself]," he says. "One of the things that they were concerned about was the change of military strategy. Well, now that the military strategy was changed and it is working, I think that the leadership needs to seriously think about changing its views on how to approach the war."

Murtha stated that although the troop surge is helping improve security, the central government in Baghdad is "dysfunctional."