My hat’s off to James Webb, decorated Vietnam Veteran and former Secretary of the Navy in the Reagan Administration, for coming to the defense of our fellow Vietnam Veteran Rep. John Murtha in an op-ed article in the January 18^th edition of the New York Times. One can agree or disagree with Congressman Murtha’s views with regard to the war in Iraq. It is something completely different to impugn John Murtha’s military record for partisan political purposes. As Webb notes in the New York Times article:

"Now the Cybercast News Service, a supposedly independent organization with deep ties to the Republican Party, has dusted off the Swift Boat Veterans playbook, questioning whether Mr. Murtha deserved his two Purple Hearts. The article also implied that Mr. Murtha did not deserve the Bronze Star he received, and that the combat-distinguishing "V" on it was questionable. It then called on Mr. Murtha to open up his military records. Cybercast News Service is run by David Thibault, who formerly worked as the senior producer for "Rising Tide," the televised weekly news magazine produced by the Republican National Committee. One of the authors of the Murtha article was Marc Morano, a long-time writer and producer for Rush Limbaugh. The accusations against Mr. Murtha were very old news, principally coming from defeated political rivals. Aligned against their charges are an official letter from Marine Corps Headquarters written nearly 40 years ago affirming Mr. Murtha's eligibility for his Purple Hearts - "you are entitled to the Purple Heart and a Gold Star in lieu of a second Purple Heart for wounds received in action" - and the strict tradition of the Marine Corps regarding awards. While in other services lower-level commanders have frequently had authority to issue prestigious awards, in the Marines Mr. Murtha's Vietnam Bronze Star would have required the approval of four different awards boards."

Those ad hominem attacks against John Murtha’s military record are not something that should be countenanced or encouraged by officials in the Bush Administration. The demonizing of John Murtha sounds like a page out of Karl Rove’s "political playbook", and it doesn’t serve the President or the Republican Party well to pursue this "scorched earth" policy.

If this kind of conduct is continued against legitimate critics of the war like John Murtha, there will be a price to pay for the Republican Party. Webb makes a valid point when he says: "The political tactic of playing up the soldiers on the battlefield while tearing down the reputations of veterans who oppose them could eventually cost the Republicans dearly. It may be one reason that a preponderance of the Iraq war veterans who thus far have decided to run for office are doing so as Democrats."

Those who read DallasBlog regularly know my views about John Murtha, a congressman whom I admire and with whom I worked when I was in the Reagan Administration. If you haven’t read my previous articles on John Murtha, you can read them here …

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For those who want to read Webb’s entire article in the New York Times, link here. (Registration is required.)

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