"Purely Political"

(Fox News) - Democratic Congressman John Murtha Tuesday called the recent Washington visit of Iraq Multinational Forces Commander General David Petraeus a "purely political move."

He added — "Petraeus doesn't talk to any of us. He only talks to the news media and so forth trying to sell this program." Murtha later acknowledged that while Petraeus talked to "a group of members," he said he didn't talk to committees that act on military legislation.

In fact, Petraeus conducted two 90-minute top-secret level briefings to which all members of Congress were invited, and which 336 attended. Petraeus personally briefed Murtha and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a telephone call the previous day.

As far as his visit being political — a senior defense official tells Cybercast News — "Members of the military are inherently non-political. Moreover, General Petraeus was unanimously confirmed by this Senate. He is their man, reporting to them on operations in Iraq. There is nothing political about that."