In fact, we can find out that Rep. John Murtha (D-PA), who has previously insisted that we could not win in Iraq (2004), and has more recently stated that we must leave Iraq at the earliest practicable date, has said nearly the same thing about a decade ago.
The time: 1993
The place: Somalia. The US had sought to bring Somali warlord Aidid to justice, but instead gets caught in a raging gunbattle that becomes known as the Black Hawk Down incident. Shortly thereafter, the US withdraws from Somalia without having reached its objectives.
The end result: One Osama bin Laden notes the withdrawal from Somalia as a vindication of the strong horse/weak horse analogy and believes that he could simply beat the US into submission by attacking US targets at the time and place of his choosing.
Rep. Murtha's stance in 1993:
“There’s no military solution. Some of them will tell you [that] to get [warlord Mohamed Farrah] Aidid is the solution. I don’t agree with that.”Keep this in mind next time you think that we should listen to politicians who have records. Check the records first. It might be an enlightening endeavor.
"Our welcome has been worn out," Murtha told NBC's "Today" show in Sept. 1993, a month after 4 U.S. Military Police had been killed in Somalia by a remote-detonated land mine...
The Pennsylvania Democrat announced that President Clinton had been "listening to our suggestions. And I think you'll see him move those troops out very quickly."
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