Geography Lesson Needed

I know it’s kind of unfair to pick on feeble old John Murtha, who is obviously unable to defend himself in reasoned argument, but this is hilarious:

Murtha accepted Rove’s premise by claiming that the entire Zarqawi operation could have been run out of… Okinawa. Yeah, that’s right, Okinawa. The basis of this claim is that Zarqawi was bombed (ostensibly from aircraft that could have come from outside Iraq) and therefore why not just pull chalks and slink back to Oki where we could comfortably launch bombing missions at will.

Blackfive runs a map showing where Okinawa actually is (recall that tens of thousands of Americans died to sieze it because of its convenience to aerial bombardment of Japan), and continues:

The straight yellow line extending across the middle of China and Iran is the distance from Okinawa to Baghdad as the crow flies which is approximately 4200 nautical miles. Obviously, the Chinese and the Iranians wouldn’t be cool with that, but let’s just roll with it. The max combat range for the F-16 with external fuel tanks and 2000 lbs of ordnance is 740 nautical miles so that’s like a minimum of SIX midair refuelings in EACH direction.

Now, it’s true that planned bombing runs can be made from very far away with today’s technology – during the invasion we were running bombing sorties from bases in Missouri – but those are not rapid-reaction missions, to say the least. More on Murtha’s embarrassing gaffe from Protein Wisdom, Patterico, Geraghty and RedState. And, of course, if you think Murtha has passed his expiration date, you can always support his opponent, Diana Irey.

6 thoughts on “Geography Lesson Needed”

  1. As a conservative, I’d like to see Murtha as the Dems lead spokesman.
    As a human being with feelings, I think it is irresponsible for his family to let him out in front of microphones.
    A man who served honorably many years ago is going to be remembered more for being a fool than for the good he did. Sad.

  4. “Swift Boat Veterans for Themselves” ignored a couple issues CRITICAL to our troops at war during the run-up to the 2004 election.
    First, they sat silent knowing full well that Bush NEVER USED the number of troops he incessantly claims his generals asked for. Turkey would not allow the 40,000 troops of the 4th to pass through and participate in Bush’s invasion of Iraq.
    Bush waged war KNOWING our troops were 40,000 short.
    Second, these same Lookatme! Showboaters sat silent when this very same troop shortage resulted in America’s greatest tragedy of the war in Iraq.
    EVERYONE who’s ever gone through basic training knows that when you find your enemies weapons, you keep them secure.
    Hundreds of tons of high explosives that our troops had captured at Al Qaqaa were abandoned specifically due to troops shortages, CREATED by Bush’s incompetence in war.
    These explosive stolen from Al Qaqaa are the weapons that have been used to blow our troops into too many parts to count each and every day of this war.
    When some pasty butt wimp, like Larry Bailey of bootmurtha.com, decides to pass his “gimme’ some money” collection plate to support his concept of patriotism for a circus tent performance at The Cambria County War Memorial on October 1st of this year …
    Some would say there’s nothing more patriotic than putting a moron who’s never given a hoot about our troops at war (or he would have spoke up about those 40k troops left behind and Al Qaqaa IN 2004) in his proper place …he’s a coward.
    To make matters even MORE entertaining, Larry Bailey actually thinks having John O’Neill, the original Lookatme! Show Boater, as his surprise guest speaker is a feather in his cap.
    You may not like the stand John Murtha has been making, but for anyone who supports our troops at war, there’s no way to respond to these idiot Swiftboaters’ Reunion in Murtha’s home town of Johnstown, Pa, than a chorus of Bronx raspberries.
    I hope this clarifies.
    Cliff Hancuff
    The World of Journalism Is Flat, Too
    ———————————————
    Things are JUST NOT GOING WELL for the folks at the “Diana Irey for Congress” camp.
    Diana Irey Press Release UPDATE!
    https://community.cnhi.com/eve/fo…611/m/911101894
    (read first 4 posts, the rest if you fancy to)
    https://community.cnhi.com/eve/fo…611/m/631100794
    https://community.cnhi.com/eve/fo…611/m/134103794
    (click all links found in post, or you will get/be lost)
    https://community.cnhi.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/38410611/m/197109694

  5. RE-POST WITH EXPLANATION. THE LINKS ABOVE ARE TRUNCATED AND NOT CORRECT. THE LINKS HERE MAY APPEAR THE SAME, BUT THEY POINT TO THE PROPER PLACES.
    ————————————————
    https://community.cnhi.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/38410611/m/911101894
    (read first 4 posts, the rest if you fancy to)
    https://community.cnhi.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/38410611/m/631100794
    https://community.cnhi.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/38410611/m/134103794
    (click all links found in post, or you will get/be lost)
    https://community.cnhi.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/38410611/m/197109694

  6. —————————————
    Larry Bailey of bootmurtha.com’s private email address can be found at the top of this letter. Take a moment to drop him a note to ask if he’s going to cut&run from my challenge.
    For some samples of Diana Irey’s Cut&Runs, go here:
    https://community.cnhi.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/38410611/m/524108205?r=587104305#587104305
    —————————————-
    Subject: RE: Iraqi Governemt Kicks Dubya’s “Stay the Course” TO THE CURB!
    Date: 9/14/2006 10:16:18 A.M. Eastern Standard Time
    From: JournalismIsFlat
    To: bootmurtha@cox.net
    CC: diana@irey.com, bill@irey.com, kphiel@hotmail.com, jason@irey.com, Rusty@irey.com, lbailey@bootmurtha.com, publicist@bootmurtha.com, webmaster@bootmurtha.com, comment@bootmurtha.com, JournalismIsFlat, osc@bootmurtha.com, opditch@gmail.com
    It’s “Show Time”, wimp.
    https://community.cnhi.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/38410611/m/628102694?r=262105205#262105205
    Cliff Hancuff
    The World of Journalism Is Flat, Too

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