White House Watch: Bush said not to be upset at Murtha
One might expect President Bush to be upset and angry that Democratic Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, until now a hawk on the Iraq war and a longtime advocate of the military, has turned against the administration's occupation of Iraq. Murtha's call for Bush to bring U.S. troops home stunned the president and his senior advisers—who said they were "baffled" by the Pennsylvania hawk's shift. But Bush isn't taking it personally, said aides on the president's Asia trip, even though Murtha has been a close friend of his father, former President George H. W. Bush.
"He's not perturbed by it," says a senior U.S. official who discussed Murtha's about-face with Bush today during the president's trip. Bush makes a distinction between Murtha's change of heart, which the commander in chief believes was motivated by genuine conviction, and the harsh criticism from other Democrats who accuse Bush of misleading the nation into war.
"Congressman Murtha based his position on principled opposition to the war," a Bush adviser told U.S. News. "Other Democrats are resorting to chicanery."
The problem for Bush is that Murtha is very influential with both Democrats and Republicans in Congress, and his turning against the war could bring other legislators along with him.
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