BOYCOTT DUNKIN' DONUTS

Boycott Dunkin' Donuts! Click Here and Tell A Friend!

Dunkin’ Donuts has capitulated and withdrawn an advertisement for its products following the allegation by a right-wing hack, Michelle Malkin, that the spokeswoman in the ad was pictured wearing a kaffiyeh, a scarf which is a staple of clothing traditionally worn by Palestinian men.

The scarf pictured in the ad is not actually a kaffiyeh. But the anti-Arab racism of the right-wing, pro-Bush ideologues like Malkin is so extreme that they launched their campaign because they “thought” the scarf was this traditional Arab garment. Dunkin’ Donuts pulled their ad apologizing that the scarf might even resemble a kaffiyeh.

1. Review the message on the right.
2. Complete the form below with your information.
3. Click the Send Your Message button to send your letter to the following places:
1) Jon Luther, CEO, Dunkin Brands, Inc.
2) Dunkin Donuts Corporate Offices



I am outraged at your decision to stop running a commercial based on the possible perception that it contained an Arab kaffiyeh. Until your company issues an official apology for yielding to anti-Arab racists, I am boycotting all of your products and stores -- and I'm encouraging all my friends and family members to do the same.

I also am aware that by supporting your products I am directly funding one of the many consumer unfriendly corporate owners, The Carlyle Group., knowing what I know now I will not spend another dollar in your Dunken Donuts or other retail outlets.

Here's what an October 31, 2001 Guardian story had to say about the Carlyle Group:

It should be a deep cause for concern that a closely held company like Carlyle can simultaneously have directors and advisers that are doing business and making money and also advising the president of the United States," says Peter Eisner, managing director of the Center for Public Integrity, a non-profit-making Washington think-tank. "The problem comes when private business and public policy blend together. What hat is former president Bush wearing when he tells Crown Prince Abdullah not to worry about US policy in the Middle East? What hat does he use when he deals with South Korea, and causes policy changes there? Or when James Baker helps argue the presidential election in the younger Bush's favour? It's a kitchen-cabinet situation, and the informality involved is precisely a mark of Carlyle's success. [...]

But what sets Carlyle apart is the way it has exploited its political contacts. When Carlucci arrived there in 1989, he brought with him a phalanx of former subordinates from the CIA and the Pentagon, and an awareness of the scale of business a company like Carlyle could do in the corridors and steak-houses of Washington. In a decade and a half, the firm has been able to realise a 34% rate of return on its investments, and now claims to be the largest private equity firm in the world. Success brought more investors, including the international financier George Soros and, in 1995, the wealthy Saudi Binladin family, who insist they long ago severed all links with their notorious relative. The first president Bush is understood to have visited the Binladins in Saudi Arabia twice on the firm's behalf. [...]

But if the Binladins' connection to the Carlyle Group lasted no more than six years, the current President Bush's own links to the firm go far deeper. In 1990, he was appointed to the board of one of Carlyle's first purchases, an airline food business called Caterair, which they eventually sold at a loss. He left the board in 1992, later to become Governor of Texas.

WIKIPEDIA CARLYLE FACTS: Political figures

North America

* George H. W. Bush, former U.S. President, Senior Advisor to the Carlyle Asia Advisory Board from April 1998 to October 2003.
* George W. Bush, current U.S. President. Was appointed in 1990 to the Board of Directors of one of Carlyle's first acquisitions, an airline food business called Caterair, which Carlyle eventually sold at a loss. Bush left the board in 1992 to run for Governor of Texas.
* James Baker III, former United States Secretary of State under George H. W. Bush, Staff member under Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, Carlyle Senior Counselor, served in this capacity from 1993 to 2005.
* Frank C. Carlucci, former United States Secretary of Defense from 1987 to 1989; Also, former Princeton wrestling partner of former US Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld. Carlyle Chairman and Chairman Emeritus from 1989 to 2005.
* Richard Darman, former Director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget under George H. W. Bush, Senior Advisor and Managing Director of The Carlyle Group from 1993 to the present
* Randal K. Quarles, former Under Secretary of the U.S. Treasury under President George W. Bush, now a Carlyle managing director
* Allan Gotlieb, Canadian ambassador to the United States (1981-89) and member of Carlyle's Canadian advisory board.
* William Kennard, Chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) under President Bill Clinton, Carlyle's Managing Director in the Telecommunications & Media Group from 2001 to the present.
* Arthur Levitt, Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under President Bill Clinton, Carlyle Senior Advisor from 2001 to the present
* Mack McLarty, White House Chief of Staff under President Bill Clinton, President of Kissinger McLarty Associates, Carlyle Senior Advisor from 2003 to the present
* Dan Senor - political consultant
* Peter Lougheed - Premier of Alberta (1971-85)
* Luis Téllez Kuenzler, Mexican economist, current Secretary of Communications and Transportation under the Felipe Calderón administration and former Secretary of Energy under the Zedillo administration.
* Frank McKenna, Canadian ambassador to the United States and former member of Carlyle's Canadian advisory board

Europe

* John Major, former British Prime Minister, Chairman, Carlyle Europe from 2002 until 2005

Asia

* Liu Hong-Ru, former chairman of China's Securities Regulatory Commission
* Anand Panyarachun, former Prime Minister of Thailand (twice), former member of the Carlyle Asia Advisory Board until the board was disbanded in 2004
* Fidel V. Ramos, former president of the Philippines, Carlyle Asia Advisor Board Member until the board was disbanded in 2004
* Thaksin Shinawatra, deposed Prime Minister of Thailand, former member of board, who resigned on taking office in 2001

Middle East

* Shafig bin Laden, older brother of Osama bin Laden

Media

* Norman Pearlstine - editor-in-chief of Time magazine from (1995-2005)
Enough Said?

Marines Press to Remove Thier Forces From Iraq

October 11, 2007

By THOM SHANKER
WASHINGTON, Oct. 10 — The Marine Corps is pressing to remove its forces from Iraq and to send marines instead to Afghanistan, to take over the leading role in combat there, according to senior military and Pentagon officials.

The idea by the Marine Corps commandant would effectively leave the Iraq war in the hands of the Army while giving the Marines a prominent new role in Afghanistan, under overall NATO command.

The suggestion was raised in a session last week convened by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates for the Joint Chiefs of Staff and regional war-fighting commanders. While still under review, its supporters, including some in the Army, argue that a realignment could allow the Army and Marines each to operate more efficiently in sustaining troop levels for two wars that have put a strain on their forces.

As described by officials who had been briefed on the closed-door discussion, the idea represents the first tangible new thinking to emerge since the White House last month endorsed a plan to begin gradual troop withdrawals from Iraq, but also signals that American forces likely will be in Iraq for years to come.

At the moment, there are no major Marine units among the 26,000 or so American forces in Afghanistan. In Iraq there are about 25,000 marines among the 160,000 American troops there.
It is not clear exactly how many of the marines in Iraq would be moved over. But the plan would require a major reshuffling, and it would make marines the dominant American force in Afghanistan, in a war that has broader public support than the one in Iraq.

Mr. Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have not spoken publicly about the Marine concept, and aides to both officials said no formal proposal had been presented by the Marines. But the idea has been the focus of intense discussions between senior Marine Corps officers and other officials within the Defense Department.

It is not clear whether the Army would support the idea. But some officials sympathetic to the Army said that such a realignment would help ease some pressure on the Army, by allowing it to shift forces from Afghanistan into Iraq, and by simplifying planning for future troop rotations.
The Marine proposal could also face resistance from the Air Force, whose current role in providing combat aircraft for Afghanistan could be squeezed if the overall mission was handed to the Marines. Unlike the Army, the Marines would bring a significant force of combat aircraft to that conflict.

Whether the Marine proposal takes hold, the most delicate counterterrorism missions in Afghanistan, including the hunt for forces of Al Qaeda and the Taliban, would remain the job of a military task force that draws on Army, Navy and Air Force Special Operations units.
Military officials say the Marine proposal is also an early indication of jockeying among the four armed services for a place in combat missions in years to come. “At the end of the day, this could be decided by parochialism, and making sure each service does not lose equity, as much as on how best to manage the risk of force levels for Iraq and Afghanistan,” said one Pentagon planner.

Tensions over how to divide future budgets have begun to resurface across the military because of apprehension that Congressional support for large increases in defense spending seen since the Sept. 11 attacks will diminish, leaving the services to compete for money.

Those traditional turf battles have subsided somewhat given the overwhelming demands of waging two simultaneous wars — and because Pentagon budgets reached new heights.
Last week, the Senate approved a $459 billion Pentagon spending bill, an increase of $43 billion, or more than 10 percent over the last budget. That bill did not include, as part of a separate bill, President Bush’s request for almost $190 billion for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Senior officials briefed on the Marine Corps concept said the new idea went beyond simply drawing clearer lines about who was in charge of providing combat personnel, war-fighting equipment and supplies to the two war zones.

They said it would allow the Marines to carry out the Afghan mission in a way the Army cannot, by deploying as an integrated Marine Corps task force that included combat aircraft as well as infantry and armored vehicles, while the Army must rely on the Air Force.
The Marine Corps concept was raised last week during a Defense Senior Leadership Conference convened by Mr. Gates just hours after Admiral Mullen was sworn in as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

During that session, the idea of assigning the Afghan mission to the Marines was described by Gen. James T. Conway, the Marine Corps commandant. Details of the discussion were provided by military officers and Pentagon civilian officials briefed on the session and who requested anonymity to summarize portions of the private talks.
The Marine Corps has recently played the leading combat role in Anbar Province, the restive Sunni area west of Baghdad.


Gen. David H. Petraeus, the senior Army officer in Iraq, and his No. 2 commander, Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, also of the Army, have described Anbar Province as a significant success story, with local tribal leaders joining the fight against terrorists.
Both generals strongly hint that if the security situation in Anbar holds steady, then reductions of American forces can be expected in the province, which could free up Marine units to move elsewhere.

In recent years, the emphasis by the Pentagon has been on joint operations that blur the lines between the military services, but there is also considerable precedent for geographic divisions in their duties. For much of the Vietnam War, responsibility was divided region by region between the Army and the Marines. As described by military planners, the Marine proposal would allow Marine units moved to Afghanistan to take over the tasks now performed by an Army headquarters unit and two brigade combat teams operating in eastern Afghanistan.
That would ease the strain on the Army and allow it to focus on managing overall troop numbers for Iraq, as well as movements of forces inside the country as required by commanders to meet emerging threats.

The American military prides itself on the ability to go to war as a “joint force,” with all of the armed services intermixed on the battlefield — vastly different from past wars when more primitive communications required separate ground units to fight within narrowly defined lanes to make sure they did not cross into the fire of friendly forces.

The Marine Corps is designed to fight with other services — it is based overseas aboard Navy ships and is intertwined with the Army in Iraq. At the same time, the Marines also are designed to be an agile, “expeditionary” force on call for quick deployment, and thus can go to war with everything needed to carry out the mission — troops, armor, attack jets and supplies.

General Petraeus is due to report back to Congress by March on his troop requirements beyond the summer. His request for forces will be analyzed by the military’s Central Command, which oversees combat missions across the Middle East and Southwest Asia, and by the Joint Staff at the Pentagon. All troop deployment orders must be approved by Mr. Gates, with the separate armed services then assigned to supply specific numbers of troops and equipment.

Marines train to fight in what is called a Marine Air-Ground Task Force. That term refers to a Marine deployment that arrives in a combat zone complete with its own headquarters, infantry combat troops, armored and transport vehicles and attack jets for close-air support, as well as logistics and support personnel.

“This is not about trading one ground war for another,” said one Pentagon official briefed on the Marine concept. “It is about the nature of the fight in Afghanistan, and figuring out whether the Afghan mission lends itself more readily to the integrated MAGTF deployment than even Iraq.”

YOUR MISSION IS NOT ACCOMPLISHED !

Dear Messrs Kennedy, Kerry and Delahunt

Lance Corporal Alexander Arredondo, USMC pictures above, is just one of the 141 New England service men and women who have fallen for a failed republican policy of the Bush Administration.

Alex cannot march with us on Veterans Day in Boston but we will march along his Gold Star parents Carlos & Melida Arredondo and the Veterans for Peace parade.

These American treasures were killed during YOUR watch in Congress! We want you to know that thousands of us will contacting your with letters and cards like this in a campaign, stating our opposition to this war and one that you should have heeded!

Last November 2006, we gave our Mass delegation a mandate to stop the war, and we were serious! When you came back into the district last January 2007, you all promised not to fund the war.

You have all broken your promise to we the people and voters who put you in office. Messer’s Delahunt, Kerry & Kennedy, it is YOU that have failed YOUR mandated mission, which we wanted and needed accomplished! Change your own course and don 't give this Republican failed administration one more death, dollar or day in Iraq!

STOP Funding the Iraq War!

Bring Our Troops Home NOW!

Picture thousands of Massachusetts Progressive Democrats at the your next election standing in our voting booths, NOT VOTING FOR YOU - Congressman William Delahunt, Senator Edward Kennedy and Senator John Kerry unless you heed us and stop funding this war now!

READ THIS BOOK!

The book Natural Capitalism was used as a text book for a young family friend, Tim Marcella, has helped me with eyes W I D E - O P E N ((0)) ^ ((0)), and showed that .."if we always do what we always did, we will always get what we always got". I want and the world needs a different USA foreign policy and a different president!

As John Lennon said in his 1968 Xmas greeting, War is Over! ....... :) "if you want it"

After hurricane Katrina, I became deeply involved in the work of stopping the occupation of Iraq, by trying to show the human cost of war. Arlington East was one of the fruits of that labor, displaying 2800 grave markers for the fallen on a autumnal day in October 2006, on Cape Cod. With over 215 grave markers for Iraqi children killed as well.

How many US suicides have there been and has it been under reported?
How many US deaths will it take?
How many US wounded? How many Iraqis?
For what ? Oil Profits? Saddam is gone, No WMD! The Iraqis have a new democracy, new leaders. What about the reconstruction and reconciliation. Who running for president cares about this problem?

How many years and what natural resources , and human capital will we squander and for what end?

Millions of refuges from Iraq, the Sub-Sahara, and the whole of Africa are being displaced by war and Global Warming.

How many Iraqi dead or displaced? Millions!

Q. How many Iraqi refuges in Iraq?
Source - Refugees International

A. (RI) Refugees International generates lifesaving humanitarian assistance and protection for displaced people around the world, and works to end the conditions that create displacement. RI website states that... "An estimated 1.8 million Iraqi refugees have fled Iraq since the U.S. conflict began in 2003 and are now living throughout the Middle East, including Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. Inside Iraq, 1.7 million people have been internally displaced -- with 600,000 displaced since 2003. Many of these people have fled targeting by insurgents due to their alleged collaboration with U.S. forces and the new Iraqi government. Others are fleeing the growing sectarian violence at home. RI conducted assessment missions to the region in November 2006 and February 2007 to assess this crisis and is working to bring these refugees to the attention of U.S. officials and UNHCR."


Q. What main countries absorbed the Palestinian refuges in 1948?
A. In the Jordan, Syria and Lebanon!

What was the human cost of these wars?

A. Natural Capitalism gave me some strategies to my new understanding of how we can make a better, more peaceful world. It has the way forward toward hope.

In "Natural Capitalism" the authors Amory B. Lovins, L. Hunter Lovins, Paul Hawken redefine expendable humanity. The "human capital" shows to us the REAL need for anyone to see how we must can change our thinking from old capitalism to "human focused" Capitalism. A must read for anyone running for President, or voting for President in 2008. This young graduate student of the earth who happens to be in Tern Island, Hawaii studying albatross eggs is my teacher, Thanks Tim!

The Albatross - legendary protector of seafarers - is heading for extinction. Biologists have discovered that swordfish and tuna fishing fleets are eliminating more that 100 000 of these birds every year. In a couple of decades most species will be wiped out unless urgent action is taken. Tim is taking action on Tern Island!

Peacefully yours,
John Bangert

--
Not one more dime!
Not one more day!
Not one more death !
Bring Our Troops Home Now!

Cape Cod Times Letter by Member - Dan Corrigan

'Our enemies' means Bush's enemies

May 01, 2007 MAY DAY-2007

None of the people America is killing in Iraq are enemies of mine.

When President Bush and his cohorts speak of "our enemy," he's not speaking for me. I've got nothing against any Shiite, Sunni, or Kurdish man, woman or child. When Bush orders these people killed, he's not killing them for me. He might be killing them for his America, but he's not killing for mine, because my America is different from that.

My America would never torture anyone — an America where government serves the poor as well as it serves the rich. My America believes in justice, talking about our differences with other countries and not killing over them, and belief in the rule of law.

Bush's America, however, is a different story.

It may irritate Sen. Inhofe if he heard it, but let me be clear: None of these Iraqis America kills, maims, or totally terrifies are enemies of mine, especially the children. And I apologize as deeply as I can to these victims of Bush's reckless, unchecked greed. I wish I could tell all of Iraq how saddened I am, how ashamed I am of what America has done to them. When will their Bush-caused nightmare ever end? When will ours?

Dan Corrigan

Harwich

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Follow Citizens Impeachment !

Impeach in Boston on April 28

Public Impeachment of George W. Bush & Richard B. Cheney

at Faneuil Hall

Saturday April 28, 2007, High Noon

Faneuil Hall,

75 State St., Boston , MA 02109

Speakers to include David Swanson, Co-Founder of: http://www.afterdowningstreet.org

Park of a national day of events: http://www.a28.org

Sign up here to attend: http://impeachbush.meetup.com/335/calendar/5605491

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Fellow citizens, you are cordially invited to an IMPEACHMENT! It shall be a People's Impeachment, where WE THE PEOPLE shall impeach Bush and Cheney by Public Proclamaton.

Patriotic citizens, we are calling YOU to do your duty on Sat. Apr. 28th at historic Faneuil Hall in the city of Boston, Massachusetts.

Technically, "IMPEACH" means, simply "to bring charge against". And, THAT is precisely what we in Boston intend to do that day by public mandate! April 28th has been designated as a national day of action on impeachment: http://www.a28.org/boston

If the Congress won't do it, then we will! Together we'll show them how it's done.
DESCRIPTION OF THE EVENT:

We shall gather there at HIGH NOON by the statue of Sam Adams in the public square in front of Faneuil Hall (the birthplace of the American Revolution) to hear charges of impeachment formally and publicly declared against President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard B. Cheney.

We the people shall publicly indict them for their persistent abuses of power, their official misconduct and gross negligence while in office, for their numerous violations of the U.S. Constitution and their sworn oaths to uphold it, and last but not least, for their continued violations of international law and crimes against humanity!

See list of charges HERE: http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/downloads/petition-4.pdf )

When the people have publicly assembled, our Town Crier shall call them to order. The accused (see photo: http://www.backbonecampaign.org/chaingang.cfm ) shall then be made to face their accusers, the betrayed American public, assembled before them.

The Town Crier shall then commence with the public reading of the impeachment charges against President Bush and Vice President Cheney, aloud for all to hear .

We there, so assembled as a People's Committee on Impeachment, shall then be asked to consider the charges against the accused and to vote 'YEA' or 'NAY' whether Bush and Cheney should be charged with the list of crimes read before them. If the vote by the people be 'YEA', then WE THE PEOPLE (on behalf of the citizens of the city of Boston and United States) SHALL at that time DECLARE Bush and Cheney formally IMPEACHED BY PUBLIC PROCLAMATION ratified by a mandate from the people (in accordance with the 1st & 10th ammendments to the U.S. Constitution and the principles of Declaration of Independence)!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SO, COME, SPEAK OUT! LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD!

Come celebrate your independence from those corrupt usurpers power in Washington who everyday shows such contempt for our Constitution and the rule of law in America.

Come join us as we exercise our rights to peaceably assemble and speak out demanding a redress of grievances from the government!

After we the people have stood up and charged this corrupt administation with for the crimes they have committed, then we will have a number of notable speakers on various issues relating to the impeachment charges, and others talking about impeachment activism locally and across the country.We will also invite ordinary members of the public to step up to the podium and declare their personal reasons for stepping up and impeaching Bush and Cheney for their crimes on that day.

So, come BE A PART OF HISTORY! Or, AT LEAST, if nothing else... come be a part of a REALLY FUN, SELF-EMPOWERING STREET PROTEST and (hopefullly) a REALLY GOOD YOUTUBE VIDEO too - that will help inspire others to speak out and take action as well!________________________________________________________

Of course, we will NEED YOUR HELP, if we're going to successfully pull off this creative bit of street theatre. To send a big message, we need a big crowd.
To get a big crowd of people, all standing up and voting to impeach, we need your help in organizing it.

We need help on that day, Sat. Apr. 28th, and before then helping to promote the event and organize other logistics of the event.

If you can VOLUNTEER for the event (and/or know any groups that would like to help co-sponsor the event with us), let us know.

Email us back and sign up at: http://volunteerforchange.org/e/959?refcode=

We are also holding weekly planning meetings, between now and Apr. 28, each Wed. night at 6:30 pm at the Green Dragon Tavern (the pub favored by the plotters of the Revolution) near Faneuil Hall. Further details on the event and upcoming planning meetings will follow soon.

This event is being sponsored by:

Bostonians for the Overthrow of King GeorgeImpeach for Peace - Boston Chapter
http://www.a28.org/boston

Code PinkRaging GranniesWorld Can't WaitProgressive Democrats of America...and others

http://impeachbush.meetup.com/335/calendar/5605491

###

Can a War Hero Love A Peace Hero? Ya Sure You Betcha!

John Murtha, Hero of the War Protesters
He's Pro-Gun, Likes Pork, But on Iraq, the Legislator Is Firmly in Their Camp

By Lyndsey Layton
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 22, 2007;

Gruff, jowly John Murtha wouldn't seem to be a Code Pink kinda guy, what with his appetite for pork and his pro-gun, antiabortion Marine hero bona fides.

But there the congressman was, in a Rayburn House Office Building hallway, gallantly protecting some war protesters from the group who had been tossed out of a hearing room and threatened with arrest.

"He said 'I know these people,' he gave me his hand and said we wouldn't be arrested," said Medea Benjamin, a San Francisco human rights activist who was doing her earnest best Tuesday to end the war when her lobbying methods provoked the displeasure of the U.S. Capitol Police. Code Pink ladies on one side; uniforms on the other. In the middle, the impressive bulk of 74-year-old Murtha. He called the sergeant at arms and didn't leave until he was assured the women would be released, Benjamin said.

"He's one of the most principled people I have ever met," said Benjamin of the Pennsylvania Democrat. "I don't know about the past. I'm sure there's plenty I wouldn't like. I'm sure there's plenty about his present record I wouldn't like. But I really respect his position on this issue. And today, he stood up for us."

For the antiwar women of Code Pink, the progressive thinkers at MoveOn.org and liberals from Berkeley to Brooklyn, the 33-year congressional career of Murtha might as well have begun on Nov. 17, 2005.

That's when the defense hawk and decorated 'Nam vet from Johnstown, a gritty town best known for its worst flood, stood alone on the House floor and called for an end to the war in Iraq. He called it "a flawed policy wrapped in illusion." He stunned his colleagues and electrified war protesters, who recognized that his staunch military support could supply credibility to a cause sputtering between teach-ins, action alerts and e-mail campaigns.

They made him an icon, his fellow Democrats eventually moved his way and into control of Congress, and tomorrow, the House is expected to vote on a resolution that would set an end date for the conflict. The legislation, due largely to Murtha's efforts, allows President Bush to deploy troops who don't meet readiness standards as long as he publicly declares it. It includes nearly $1 billion in money for mental health services and brain injury care for Iraq soldiers and veterans, $2.5 billion for training and equipment for military reserves, and $123 million more than the president requested to armor vehicles and upgrade other equipment headed to Iraq.

To embrace him, the antiwar left has ignored Murtha's dealmaking with a man they revile, former Republican leader Tom DeLay. And his support for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and doling out pork from his seat on the powerful Appropriations defense subcommittee to defense companies in his district. And the delight he also inspires in antiabortion, pro-gun advocates.

"To be honest, I didn't know much about him before he stood up against the war," said Gael Murphy, a District resident and co-founder of Code Pink, which awarded Murtha its "badge of courage" last year. "Then I was reminded about the Abscam scandal. He has another side of him."

Ah, yes, Abscam. That 1980 FBI sting featured G-men posing as the posse for an Arab sheik named Abdul who needed asylum in the United States. The public corruption probe brought down a flock of officials, including a senator and five congressmen, before it was over. Murtha's canny political wiles were captured right on hidden camera: He repeatedly refused the $50,000 proffered, but kept the door open if the sheik might invest in some business in his district. "I want to get the goddamned jobs in the district, some bank deposits, later after we've dealt awhile, we might want to do more business," Murtha said. The FBI named Murtha as an unindicted co-conspirator in the scandal. He testified against two other House members who were convicted of bribery and conspiracy.

Then there was the nonprofit a staffer set up in Johnstown to help disabled people find work; defense contractors and lobbyists wound up on its board.

None of that bothers Tom Matzzie of MoveOn.org, the progressive group calling for an end to war. "For people who want to get out of Iraq, John Murtha is a hero," he said. "The issue is the war. Americans are getting shot and killed every day. If Tom DeLay wanted to become an antiwar activist, we'd take him."

When Yvette Clark was running for Congress from Brooklyn last year, she brought Murtha to speak. In affluent Park Slope, with its bistros and chic baby boutiques, the former owner of Johnstown Minute Car Wash packed 'em in. "I had been quoting him throughout the campaign," said Clark, who won and is now a freshman lawmaker. "It was great to have Jack there. He added credibility to what I had been saying."

Murtha is in the unique position of being able to speak to both the antiwar movement and the Pentagon. But he makes it clear that his common ground with the liberals is limited strictly to the Iraq war.

"It's a marriage of convenience," said G. Terry Madonna, director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin and Marshall College. "Once this is over, he's going to continue to vote for strong defense and they'll part."

Soon after the Iraq war started, Murtha began weekly visits to wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Bethesda Naval Medical Center, a ritual he continues. "I always ask, 'What happened to you?' " Murtha said.

As the war progressed, the answers alarmed him. Complaints about a lack of body armor. Tales of equipment shortages. Murtha returned shaken from the visits, his ruddy face set in a frown. Simultaneously, he was hearing private concerns from military commanders about the way the war was being prosecuted. "The reality didn't match the rhetoric of what the administration was saying, that everything was going well," Murtha said. "They lied so much."

He began to think Iraq was draining resources and damaging the country's military reserves, making it unable to respond to new threats. By November 2005, Murtha had had enough. "I was so frustrated that I had to speak out," he said.

The next two weeks, Murtha's office received about 18,000 letters and e-mails from around the country, 80 percent of them supporting him. Someone from California tucked a $10 bill into a letter, encouraging Murtha to fight on. Strangers stopped him at the airport to thank him.

He has barreled ahead, through his failed bid to be elected majority leader, to craft a strategy to redeploy troops out of Iraq, sparking weeks of internal wrangling within his party over how to end the war.

"We have the same goal, we absolutely want our sons and daughters home," said Tina Richards, the 44-year-old mother of a Marine, who came from Missouri to lobby lawmakers earlier this year. She thinks the Democrats' plan under consideration today doesn't go far enough, but adds, "I completely respect Mr. Murtha because he's trying to deal with the politics and find the best route."

Murtha sees redemption ahead.

"In the end, everything I've said is right," he said. "Every single thing I've said from the time I started out is right. I said it was going to hurt the troops, that the strategic reserve is going to be depleted, that we can't sustain this militarily, that we've got to do it diplomatically. All those things are coming about."