From CNN:
Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, a longtime fixture on the House subcommittee that oversees Pentagon spending, died Monday following complications from gallbladder surgery, according to a statement from his office. He was 77.
Murtha had represented Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District since 1974, making him the chamber's eighth most senior member. According to his biography on the House of Representatives Web site, Murtha was the first Vietnam War combat veteran elected to Congress.
He was considered one of "the kings of pork" on Capitol Hill by taxpayer watchdog groups for requesting tens of millions of dollars in earmarks. On his House Web site, Murtha strongly defended earmarks, saying, "I believe that elected representatives of the people understand their constituents and districts best." Supporters said his efforts helped bring thousands of jobs to western Pennsylvania.
Before his death today, Murtha was running up against a number of ethics investigations in the House. The most recent were charges that Murtha had influenced federal contracts benefiting his brothers business.
Obviously no angel. But John Murtha's forceful opposition to the Iraq War, at a time when opposition to the war was politically dangerous, caused many to sit up and take notice. Here was a ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee with deep relationships in the Pentagon, calling the Iraq strategy flawed, highlighted that American troop morale was close to collapse, and the U.S. was dangerously close to getting our ass handed to us. It's fair to say John Murtha's concerns, thought by many to be shared by senior Pentagon officials, was the impetus that forced the Bush Administration to fire Donald Rumsfeld and modify U.S. strategy in Iraq.
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