Russert: Murtha was right

RUSSERT: Well, I knew something was happening when I had John Murtha on several months ago and he talked about his plan for a timetable. And I got several calls from people at the Pentagon and others and they said, "You know Murtha’s right." And I was stunned because you don't usually get those kinds of calls. They were obviously people who would not allow me to broadcast their names.

Russert: And then, someone very close to the President said to me, you know, he won't fire Rumsfeld because it would be the equivalent of firing himself. He can’t acknowledge that it was such a big mistake, in so many ways. And so Rumsfeld will stay. And that’s the decision that the President has made and I think Rumsfeld will stay and try to see this through.

When I met with Murtha, he said the same things. The military was talking to him and giving their honest opinion about the war and what should be done. Why do you think he spoke out? When the smears were going to begin, he was informed by several of them that they had declined to speak out against him.

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