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Petition to request retraction at: http://www.petitiononline.com/usmc2009/petition.html
When I signed, there were over 16,000 signatures.

U.S. Navy Honors Notorious Marine Basher

The U.S. Navy [has] awarded U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., its Distinguished Public Service Award…

Murtha, who publicly accused U.S. Marines of cold-blooded murder in a firefight in Haditha, Iraq, and was caught on camera in the Abscam scandal appearing to negotiate a bribe, was honored by the Navy for his “selfless devotion to the Nation’s Sailors and Marines.”

…An online petition that appeared almost immediately already has collected more than 11,500 signatures.

“John Murtha deserves no such award. He has routinely and deliberately undermined the United States military, slandered servicemen serving in combat, and caused irreparable damage to our international reputation,” the petition says.

…Murtha previously drew attention in the late 1970s as a target in the FBI Abscam sting in which authorities probed influence-peddling on Capitol Hill.

Murtha escaped indictment in 1980 by a single grand jury vote despite being captured on video contemplating a $50,000 bribe, which he ultimately decided not to accept “at this point.”

“I expect to be in the [expletive deleted] leadership of the House,” Murtha said on the profanity-laced video.

In the Abscam case, U.S. Sen. Harrison Williams, D-N.J., and six House members agreed on camera to take bribes from FBI agents posing as Arab sheiks.

Murtha’s comments to the “Arab sheik’s agent” were: “I’m not interested - at this point. If we do business awhile, maybe I’ll be interested, maybe I won’t.”

“I want to deal with you guys awhile before I make any transactions at all, period,” Murtha explained. “After we’ve done some business, well, then I might change my mind. … I’m going to tell you this. If anybody can do it - I’m not B.S.-ing you fellows - I can get it done my way. There’s no question about it.”

Navy Secretary Donald C. Winter must withdraw this award. Can I get a “Oorah?” Sign the petition. Over 11,000 others already have.

http://janeqrepublican.wordpress.com/2009/03/20/us-navy-honors-notorious...