WASHINGTON (AP) - New Jersey Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen is among eight Republican congressmen targeted by a liberal advocacy group for criticizing a call for American troops to immediately withdraw from Iraq. Television ads featuring the congressmen were to begin airing nationally on Thanksgiving Day, and then will run in each of the lawmakers' home districts a few days later.Frelinghuysen and the other congressmen are out of step with the American people, who want a change of course in Iraq, Tom Matzzie, the Washington, D.C., director of MoveOn.org Political Action, said Tuesday. "Frelinghuysen basically said Murtha was helping the terrorists," Matzzie said. "The debate that day was about repudiating John Murtha."
But Frelinghuysen said his comments were not about Murtha, whom he described as a friend and an ally. The two, both Vietnam War veterans, serve on the Defense Appropriations subcommittee. "My comments had everything to do with how we look after our troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan," Frelinghuysen said. "I did not invoke his name in any way, and nothing was aimed at him. My feeling is we need to reach some sort of common ground on how we support our troops and get them home after we accomplish this good work."
In his remarks last Friday on the House floor, Frelinghuysen called the immediate withdrawal of troops "a recipe for disaster, a dangerous defense policy, the wrong message for our soldiers and Marines who are truly doing the work of freedom."
"Frankly, I am concerned that such talk will only embolden the terrorists and demoralize our war fighters," he added. "Our only exit strategy from Iraq should be victory," Frelinghuysen said. "Anything less than that virtually guarantees the next battleground may be closer to home!"
| Bravo! Keep it up! |
| Might be a good time to get them a call, if you live in their district, and tell them that you stand with them against the MoveOn idiots. |