Debate on the Iraq war is in a new and inflamed phase today, kicked into overdrive by the hawkish Rep. John Murtha. The Pennsylvania lawmaker, a senior Democratic voice on defense, abandoned his former support of the war. In a statement, Murtha said, “It’s time to bring them [US troops] home.” Murtha’s declaration drew an immediate riposte from Rep. Duncan Hunter, the California Republican who chairs the House Armed Services Committee. “We must hold steady,” said Hunter. “We must endure. We must finish the job in Iraq.” You could catch Murtha and Hunter together in an appearance on the PBS NewsHour.
Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III chaired a China-focused military briefing Oct. 27, part of a biweekly series of briefings with senior military commanders about China’s growing threat in the wake of an orbital hypersonic weapon test that elicited public worries from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. “What we…