MTP Transcript for Mar. 4, 2007

REP. MURTHA: Well, what, what I prefer to do is to make sure that our troops are prepared, make sure they have what they need when they go into combat. That’s what I say. And if they break their guidelines, then, then obviously it’s a different story. I say they, they shouldn’t be reducing the guidelines to go into the service, they shouldn’t have stop-loss, they shouldn’t send troops overseas if they don’t have a year at home, and they shouldn’t extend troops over—that’s what affects the families, that’s weeks—what affects the morale. And, and I was just out at Bonhomme Richard, which is an aircraft carrier out, out, out in the Pacific. I opened a door of a seven-ton truck, the seat fell out. The seat was—the, the—all the foam rubber fell out from under the seat. I, I talked about the humvees. They said, “These humvees are inadequate because they’re fixed up, but they don’t have the suspension system, the engines they need.” Now they’re not going to Iraq, but that’s the type of equipment we have in the United States, which they’re working on. They’re not working with the same equipment they go overseas with, which makes them unprepared when they go into combat and that’s—they can’t do that.

MR. RUSSERT: When you were on this program in 2006, you predicted a significant number of troops would come home by Election Day 2006. That did not happen. Do you believe a significant number of troops will come home from Iraq this year?

REP. MURTHA: Yeah, I, I think the president’s beginning to finally recognize that this is not working. This policy, the military side of it’s not working. He’s starting to use the diplomacy which the bipartisan commission recommended. He’s starting to talk to Syria, he’s starting to talk to Iran, he’s starting to talk to North Korea. This is a worldwide problem. What happened internationally, the Chinese have bought 23 submarines they’ve built in the last four years. They’re increasing their defense spending to $90 billion. We don’t have to worry only about Iraq. We got to worry about Afghanistan. We got to wa—long-term future of this country. And we got to address the fact that we have no ground reserve to take care of those strategic problems.

MR. RUSSERT: And Democrats will go on the record for the next few weeks that troops must be trained and the president must certify that and that our troops should come home within six months.

REP. MURTHA: Absolutely.

MR. RUSSERT: Congressman John Murtha, thank you for your views.

REP. MURTHA: Nice to see you, Tim.

MR. RUSSERT: Coming next, the view of the Republican senator, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Then, our political roundtable with John Harwood and Eugene Robinson. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama both in Selma, Alabama. Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Mitt Romney courting the conservative Republicans, coming up on MEET THE PRESS.

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MR. RUSSERT: Iraq through the eyes of Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. Then our political roundtable, Obama and Clinton in Selma, Alabama, after this station break.

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MR. RUSSERT: And we are back. Senator Lindsey Graham, welcome back to MEET THE PRESS.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): Thank you, sir.

MR. RUSSERT: Let me show you some latest polling data on the war in Iraq with the American people.

SEN. GRAHAM: OK. Mm-hmm.

MR. RUSSERT: The war in Iraq, the president’s proposal for more troops, 32 percent support it, 67 percent—two out of three Americans—oppose. And look at this, was the war worth the fight? Thirty-four percent say yes; not worth fighting, 64 percent. Can the president continue the war in Iraq when two out of three Americans are against the war?

SEN. GRAHAM: Yeah, and I think those polls also say that two out of three Americans do not want to cut off funding. What do—what are the polls telling us? I’m no expert, but here’s what I think’s going on, based on conservation talks in South Carolina, is that people are frustrated. They’re beginning to doubt whether the Iraqis can get their act together among themselves. Are we’re in the middle of a group of people, no matter how long we stay and how much money we spend and how many Americans are killed, are they capable of pulling this off? I think people doubt that. And they’re frustrated that—based by our own expectations. The biggest mistake we made early on was underselling how hard it would be. I think people have lost sight due to frustration, that it’s part of the overall war on terror.

The president’s going forward based on an assumption that a failed state in Iraq is a mighty blow in the overall war on terror. He’s going forward based on the assumption that, if you put military reinforcement, political and economic reinforcement, you can turn it around. You’re never going to have democracy with this much violence. General Petraeus has come up with a plan that requires more troops. The goal is to surge on all fronts—militarily, politically and economically—to give the Iraqi government the capacity and the breathing space to make these hard decisions. Americans don’t want to lose in Iraq. That’s why they don’t want to cut off funding. But Americans are not so sure we can win. And I can’t guarantee that we win, but the best chance we have left is to follow General Petraeus. Eighty-one-to-nothing, the Senate confirmed him. And all these resolutions and all this talk about what to do, if you don’t cut off funding, the Congress is getting itself in a dangerous situation Constitutionally, and every resolution has the effect of delivering a death blow to General Petraeus’ plan, which I think is our last, best chance to win.

MR. RUSSERT: Well, the—but the Democrats are saying we should spend only a year in Iraq; and if you complete your service you shouldn’t be kept in the service, you should be allowed to come home; and that you should be ready, prepared to go over there with the proper equipment. How could you be opposed to that?

SEN. GRAHAM: The truth is that Jack Murtha’s a wonderful fellow. He is using the readiness issue to stop the surge. And I want to work with Jack on readiness, but this is not about the readiness issue. He said publicly this is about stopping something he’s against. The Democrat Party is the dog that caught the car. What do you do now? The left is saying get out yesterday. The reason we don’t have a vote on cut off funding is because the American public understand that’s responsible. So all of these efforts to micromanage the war—I’ve been a military lawyer for 20-something years. Some of these resolutions are just nightmares for a commander. You can fight al-Qaeda, but you can’t fight people involved in sectarian violence. You can go here, and you can’t go there. The Congress cannot—there’s a reason there’s only one commander in chief. So, if you’re not willing to cut off funding, which is the Congress’ responsibility, then everything else really hampers General Petraeus. It’s really a signal to him that, “We have no faith in you.” Either stop him from going or give him the resources to do their job. Everything is else is just political theater. That’s dangerous.

MR. RUSSERT: Well, the Democrats are also going to propose, according to Congressman Murtha, that the troops come home in six months if the Iraqis do not stop the violence. And here’s where the American people are on that. Should U.S. withdraw troops? Yes, 42; 56 percent, a solid majority, say withdraw the troops.

SEN. GRAHAM: All I can tell you is that we’re not going to win this war through polling, and we’re going to learn through our mistakes or we’ll lose this war. The biggest mistake we made early on is not having enough troops, letting the situation get out of hand. Assuming the best, never planning for the worst. Now we’re adjusting, late in the game. Whether it works, I don’t know, but I can promise you this: This is our last, best chance. General Petraeus has a plan that makes sense to me. It’s not more of the same. Thank God there’s not 535 commander in chiefs, there’s only one.

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