Attacks on Rep. Murtha are an insult to troops, veterans

Dallas Morning News: Once a backbencher and camera-shy politician, Rep. John Murtha seems to regularly be in the headlines these days. As most of you remember, it all started a couple of months ago when the Pennsylvania Democrat -- a former Marine and decorated Vietnam veteran -- called for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan shot back by comparing the congressman to filmmaker and anti-war activist Michael Moore and saying Murtha belongs to the extreme liberal wing of the Democratic Party.
Military support
Given Murtha's strong record of military support, the criticism quickly backfired. President Bush was later publicly calling Murtha "a fine man and a good man." But that didn't stop the attacks -- and now an archconservative Web site has set the new bar for low blows in the Murtha story.
Cybercast News Service is calling for the congressman to open his military records and is questioning whether the hawk deserves his two Purple Hearts. These accusations actually are old news and can be traced back to political opponents more than a decade ago. They were previously put to rest by an official letter from Marine Corps headquarters.
James Webb, a secretary of the Navy in the Reagan administration and a veteran himself, criticized this smear campaign in a recent column in The New York Times, writing, "Extremist Republican operatives have inverted a long-standing principle: that our combat veterans be accorded a place of honor in political circles.
"This pattern of denigrating the service of those with whom they disagree risks cheapening the public's appreciation of what it means to serve and in the long term may hurt the Republicans themselves," Webb continued.
Loyalty in question
Questioning whether Murtha deserved his 1967 medals because his injuries weren't sufficiently serious is a slap to all service members, as it implies that their loyalty to this country is measured by how badly their bodies are physically hurt.
Disgusting.
You can debate the war on issues, but to discredit one of the few politicians who personally know what it means to sacrifice in times of war sends the wrong message to those serving now.