Limbaugh's 'Phony Soldiers' Quote Draws Fire Talk Show Host Critical Of Anti-War Troops
The Bush administration also distanced itself from radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh, who has called U.S. troops who oppose the war "phony soldiers."
Limbaugh had argued with a caller on Wednesday about when U.S. troops ought to be brought home. The caller, who identified himself as "Mike" from Chicago and said he was an a Iraq veteran and a Republican, pushed Limbaugh on whether the occupation in Iraq would last forever.
Limbaugh and his next caller, who also said he was in the military, both referred to soldiers who criticize the war and urge that troops be brought home as "phony troops."
The exchange came a week after the Senate passed a resolution condemning the anti-war group MoveOn for an ad in the New York Times that asked whether Gen. David Petraeus, in testimony before Congress, would be "General Betray-us." The House passed a similar resolution this week.
A reporter asked White House spokeswoman Dana Perino at Friday's news briefing, "Given that the president has commented last week on the MoveOn ad on Gen. Petraeus and called it 'disgusting,' is this something that president would feel compelled to comment on?"
Perino's reply: "The president believes that if you are serving in the military that you have the rights that every American has which is you're free to express yourself in any way that you want to. And there are some that oppose the war, and that's OK."
The description is "not what the President would have used," Perino said.
Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Pa., an Iraq veteran critical of the war, scolded Limbaugh in a Thursday column on the HuffingtonPost.com Web site.
"When someone like Rush Limbaugh says that soldiers who disagree with the failed strategies of President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld are 'phony soldiers,' you have to consider the source," he wrote.
"Rush Limbaugh, who, in January, called Vietnam veteran Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., 'Senator Betrayus' for disagreeing with President Bush, has made no secret of his disdain for those who serve and speak out. Where was Rush Limbaugh when it came time to serve his country?"
Limbaugh has not served in the military. He has been a vocal supporter of the war in Iraq.
(A full transcript is posted on Limbaugh's Web site here.)
Caller: Well, I am a Republican, and I listened to you for a long time, and you're right on a lot of things, but I do believe that we should pull out of Iraq. I don't think it's winnable. I'm not a Democrat, but sometimes you gotta cut the losses. I mean, sometimes you really got to admit you're wrong.
Limbaugh: Well, yeah, you do. I'm not wrong on this. The worst thing that can happen is losing this, getting out of there, waving the white flag.
Caller: I'm not saying that, I'm not saying anything like that.
Limbaugh: Of course you are.
Caller: No, I'm not!
Limbaugh: The truth is the truth, Mike.
Caller: We did what we were supposed to do, OK? We got rid of Saddam Hussein; we got rid of a lot of the terrorists. Let them run their country now. Let's get out of there and let's be done with it. We won it.
Limbaugh: I'm never going to be able to retire. It's not going to work. You are depressing me.
Caller: Well, sometimes, like you said, the truth hurts, Rush. Sometimes it hurts.
Limbaugh: I have explained this so many times. I can't believe that you actually listen to this program a lot, because you've heard me say what I'm going to say to you. War is never "plottable" on a piece of paper or on a map. It never goes exactly as anybody thinks it's going to go because nobody can predict the future, for one thing.
Caller: That's true.
Limbaugh: Thank you. So what's happening now is that the very enemy that blew us up on 9/11 is facing us in Iraq. We can't cave in, defeat and run out of there and say, "Hey guess what, we won, we got Saddam." We are going to be setting ourselves up for future disasters. We will never be able to have any other nation trust us as an ally when we have to go in there again. If we pull out of there before we take care of this, Mike, we're just going to have to do it sometime later at greater cost.
Caller: Are we ever going to take care of it, though? How long do you think we're going to have to be there to take care of it?
Limbaugh: Mike, you can't possibly be a Republican.
Caller: I am.
Limbaugh: You can't be Republican.
Caller: Oh, I am definitely Republican.
Limbaugh: You sound just like a Democrat.
Another caller, who identified himself as "Mike" from Olympia, Wash., said he has served in the military for 14 years. He and Limbaugh criticized the previous caller.
Limbaugh: There's a lot more than that that they don't understand. The next guy that calls here, I'm going to ask them, "What is the imperative of pulling out? What's in it for the United States to pull out?" I don't think they have an answer for that other than, "When's he going to bring the troops home? Keep the troops safe," whatever.
Caller: Yeah.
Limbaugh: It's not possible intellectually to follow these people.
Caller: No, it's not. And what's really funny is they never talk to real soldiers. They pull these soldiers that come up out of the blue and spout to the media.
Limbaugh: The phony soldiers.
Caller: Phony soldiers. If you talk to any real soldier and they're proud to serve, they want to be over in Iraq, they understand their sacrifice and they're willing to sacrifice for the country.
Limbaugh: They joined to be in Iraq.
Caller: A lot of people.
Limbaugh: You know where you're going these days, the last four years, if you sign up. The odds are you're going there or Afghanistan, or somewhere.
Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., speaking on the House floor, said, "Last month, seven soldiers from the U.S. Army 82nd Airborne Division wrote an op-ed in The New York Times questioning our continued war efforts, but also stating, and I quote: 'We need not talk about our morale. As committed soldiers, we will see this mission through.' Now, since publication of that op-ed, two of the soldiers have died. As this op-ed shows, soldiers may question the war, but that does not mean that they are any less committed to their mission."
Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., said, "How dare he say that his views on Iraq formed in the comfort of his radio studio are legitimate while the views of those whose opinions were forged on the battlefield are not?"
Previous Stories: