Politicians say some dumb things. President John F. Kennedy once said “Ich bin ein Berliner” while speaking to a large crowd in Berlin. Kennedy meant to say “I am a Berliner,” but to some it meant “I am a jelly donut,” or something similar.

These types of mistakes happen. We all say dumb things from time to time.

What is unacceptable is someone saying something dumb and irresponsible and doing so on purpose.

This is exactly what Rep. John Murtha did earlier this month when he called for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

“It is time for a change in direction. Our military is suffering, the future of our country is at risk. We cannot continue on the present course. It is evident that continued military action in Iraq is not in the best interests of the United States of America, the Iraqi people or the Persian Gulf region,” Murtha said.

Murtha is an influential and powerful member of the Democratic Party, as well as a Vietnam veteran. His opinions are taken seriously by many people. His statements are correct in a lot of ways, but still very dangerous.

This is why Congress should be discussing ways to alter our present course in Iraq.

Continued military action is not only in the best interest of the United States and the Iraqi people, but the only option.

Murtha’s statements, however, go too far. To immediately withdrawal from Iraq would be irresponsible on a grand level.

Forget the idea that immediate withdrawal would be seen as tucking our tail and running; if that was the only reason for staying, I’d be the first to call for withdrawal. Pride is worth far less than one American life.

That is not the only reason staying in Iraq is imperative, though.

The type of withdrawal Murtha has in mind would be irresponsible because it would leave the Iraqi people in a dire situation. To remove hundreds of thousands of troops from a country on the brink of civil war would most assuredly lead to chaos.

This also would leave the Iraqi people with a country literally in shambles with no one to help them clean it up. The Iraqi government is not ready to provide the most basic services to its people and to leave now would irreparably harm the average Iraqi citizen. As invaders of Iraq, we owe it to the Iraqi people to help them clean up the mess we made.

Such an irresponsible withdrawal would dwarf the backlash caused by our initial occupation and would cause a drop in U.S. global credibility.

Men like Murtha, who even Vice President Cheney praised as a “good man, a Marine, a patriot,” should spend their time coming up with legitimate exit strategies rather than confusing the American public and leading them to believe immediate withdrawal is a responsible and possible course of action for the United States.

Democratic Senator Joe Biden of Delaware has also been a good example of this.

“The president has to abandon his grandiose goals. Iraq will not become a model democracy anytime soon. We need to refocus our mission on preserving America’s fundamental interests in Iraq … That means ensuring Iraq does not become what it wasn’t before the war: a haven for terrorists. And we must do what we can to prevent a full-blown civil war that turns into a regional war,” Biden said in a speech to the Council of Foreign Relations last Monday.

Senator Biden went on to outline what he believes the three goals of U.S. occupation should now be: to create a government in which all factions of Iraq will have a stake in keeping the country together, to develop the Iraqi government’s ability to deliver basic services and reconstruction to the people of Iraq and finally to speed up the training of Iraqi military forces to defend the people of Iraq.

Compared to such well-thought ideas as Biden’s, statements like Murtha’s are neither helpful nor responsible.

While I respect Murtha and do not question his character, when a man with his kind of power makes a statement this irresponsible, it is just plain dumb. If enough people believe him, it can be dangerous.

The American people cannot take these fanciful comments as a real possibility.

Instead, let’s focus more on responsible, realizable and rational goals.

Columns reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily that of the Northern Star staff.