Is Jack Murtha really a superduper warmongering hawk, the sort of sober, pro-war, been-there-done-that ex-Marine the Dems so badly need as an antidote to their usual weak-on-defense box office poison?

Well, I guess you could say that — by their lights, anyway, which as we know from the standard set by Superspook Valerie Plame and the Agent Mom 007 debacle ain’t all that high. But you’d have to curl your lip and squint one eye when you said it:

After terrorists attacked U.S. troops in Mogadishu, Somalia 12 years ago, anti-Iraq war Democrat, Rep. John Murtha urged then-President Clinton to begin a complete pullout of U.S. troops from the region.

Clinton took the advice and ordered the withdrawal – a decision that Osama bin Laden would later credit with emboldening his terrorist fighters and encouraging him to mount further attacks against the U.S.

“Our welcome has been worn out,” Rep 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.

“Welcome”? WTF does “welcome” have to do with it? Are the Democrats so hard-wired to pussified touchy-feelyism these days that this is their idea of “strong on defense” — wringing their hands with Matt and Kewpie Katie about whether Rangers and Marines feel “welcome” in some Third World scumpit where they’re charged with facing down an entire shit-city filled with khat-tweaked crazies who have little to no regard for human life, including their own — all of whom have AKs and RPGs pointed squarely at our guys’ heads? This is the Democrats’ stern warrior-surrogate talking?

Figures.

Boy, did we ever. And look what it got us a few years later. Thanks, Bill. And, knowing this now, Jack.

Two weeks later, after 18 U.S. Rangers were killed in the battle of Mogadishu, Murtha visited U.S. forces in Somalia.

Upon his return he proclaimed to the world that the Mogadishu defeat had a devastating impact on the Rangers’ morale.

“They’re subdued compared to normal morale of elite forces,” Murtha said. “Obviously, it was a very difficult battle. A lot of Somalis were killed, but it was a brutal battle.”

They were “subdued” because they knew, having found out in the hardest way imaginable, that they were being jerked around for no good reason by a clownish bunch of over-politicized hacks that couldn’t lead a sick whore to a toilet seat, a passel of cheap Arkansas grifters that knew little and cared less about either soldiers, soldiering, or waging war. Once again: thanks, Bill and Jack, for all you and your Democrat colleagues have done for US security and respect for our country abroad. Thanks a pantload.

Rep. Murtha, your every word as a Congressman is being debited against an account balanced by the respect due you as an ex-Marine, which is undeniably substantial. Unfortunately, having twice now advocated retreat and surrender in the face of adversity, you’re rapidly going broke. Congrats, Congressman: you have now officially become a politician.

Murtha said the U.S. had no choice but to pull out now, explaining, “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.”

The comments were eerily similar to Murtha’s assessment of U.S involvement in Iraq last week, when he declared, “the U.S. cannot accomplish anything further militarily. It is time to bring [the troops] home.”

Taking Murtha’s advice back then, however, turned out to have deadly consequences for U.S. security.

And somehow, the Dems just don’t seem to care. They keep right on hoping to convince us to repeat the same mistakes, suffering through the same failures, then turning around and calling them “victories.”

Uhh, thanks, but no thanks, guys; we appreciate your concern, we really do. Why don’t you just sit back and have a nice glass of STFU. The grownups’ll take it from here. Or, as Judith puts it:

What struck me when I saw Murtha’s teary bathos on TV is how similar his schtick is to Cindy Sheehan’s. They are both drama queens who patronize and infantalize the troops to manipulate public opinion. This is beyond appeasement. If you genuinely believe that fighting terrorism militarily, or fighting it at all, is fruitless, just say so. I disagree, but a case can be made and a debate can be had. But this overprotective mom routine is repulsive. Can you imagine being an Army Ranger in Somalia and having Murtha come visit and cry all over you? Yuck.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise, really; after all, the Dems have been the “overprotective mommy” party for decades now.

Update! Via Reynolds, Don Sensing has an interesting take on things:

So, knowing that the plan was to redeploy troops beginning next year, the Democrats decided to get in front of the wave: Demand the troops be sent home NOW and then when the Pentagon announces the plan to redeploy, take credit for it.

The two prongs of the attack serve two purposes. The “Bush lied us into war” wing satisfies the huge numbers of the party’s base suffering from Bush Derangement Syndrome. The “declare victory and go home” attack preserves, however weakly, the party’s appeal to traditionally patriotic Democratic voters, of which there are also huge numbers. Doubtless the Dem leadership sees the attacks as a two-fer.

The appeals to both wings are intended to garner huge dividends in November 2006.

With any president but George W. Bush, they’d be wrong. But GWB is the easiest president to blind side that I have seen in my life. The fact is, the Dem plan is working like a dream for them. GWB has been simply flattened by this one-two punch. For someone whose allies say can play rope-a-dope politically better than M. Ali could in the ring, he and his advisors have been amazingly inept in meeting this strategy.

And with that, I’m gonna leave it all up to you folks until later today or perhaps tomorrow. Happy Thanksgiving to all; I am and will remain truly grateful for your kind attention here. I sincerely hope you all have a wonderful holiday.