Pirate's Cove

Let’s start with his letter written by Walter B. Jones:

There has been considerable coverage of my position on America’s presence in Iraq. I want to make it crystal clear that I am not in favor of any immediate withdrawal nor do I support setting an end date at which time all troops must be out of Iraq.

What I do support is a public discussion of our goals and the future of
our military involvement. The non-binding resolution I am co-sponsoring
will do no more than call on the president to set a plan and a date to
begin reducing the number of troops we have in Iraq. It does not set a
date certain for withdrawal. This approach should give the president
the flexibility he needs to reduce our presence in a way that protects
U.S. troops and allows Iraqis to pick up the fight. No one is talking
about "cutting and running."

Yada, yada, yada. It continues on. Read the rest if you want to be pissed. So, he just wants a date when we will start withdrawing troops, not a date when all of our troops will be out of Iraq. Pretty much amounts to the same thing. It’s says to the opposition that they should just bide their time. Don’t believe me? How about  from the Carteret County News?:

Because it would be a gift to terrorists, we vehemently disagree with Congressman Walter Jones, R-N.C., who supports a timetable for withdrawing American troops from Iraq.

Although we can understand his sensitivity to the deaths and wounding of American personnel, we believe ― as does President Bush ― that creating a timetable to withdraw troops would encourage the terrorists to wait for us to leave and then go after an ill equipped and rookie Iraqi militia.

and from Austin M. "Gus" Wilgus, Lt. Col USA (ret)

Congressman Walter B. Jones’ latest foray into battle with the Bush administration is not earning him re-election points with this old soldier and active Republican. To place into legislation a requirement for the White House and DOD to signal their plans to the enemy smacks of Vietnam.

This tripe about our human loses” makes me want to puke. As a Vietnam vet who grew up during World War II and Korea and spent 20 years as an Airborne Special Forces infantryman, I am dismayed by his position, and I’ll bet 99% of those in Arlington and other places are too!

Want more from his constituents?

From the Jacksonville Daily News (the home of Camp Lejune)

So here’s my advice for Congressman Jones: First, he needs to please
stop saying he "supports our troops" but doesn’t support the war. That
is a measly, leftist-Democrat phrase that really means they hope the
United States is defeated. When a person says that, they are inferring
our service people are doing meaningless missions and essentially
wasting their time. I doubt the service people think that.

From the News and Observer:

John R. McLaughlin, a Republican
commissioner from Jacksonville, said Thursday that he was astounded
when he heard that Jones had called for a timetable.

"Such a statement would provide encouragement to our enemy and be harmful to our troops," said McLaughlin, a former Army Ranger.

and

Marine Cpl. David Grubb, 23, a veteran of combat tours in Afghanistan
and Iraq, said the military, not politicians, should determine when
forces should leave.

He said the United States is trying to do something good in a country
that is not stable, and that takes time. Setting a timetable "sounds
like the Vietnam-era conflict coming back all over again," Grubb said.

Jones has said he doesn’t care if he is re-elected. That’s good, cause it won’t happen.