First Jane Harman feels the wrath of the new speaker and now Steny Hoyer. Pelosi is backing Jack Murtha for majority leader because of the boost he gave the Democratic faithful by calling for the rapid withdrawal of troops from Iraq and his "strong voice for national security." Murtha first called for the "immediate withdrawal" of U.S. troops last November. Pelosi endorsed the Murtha plan at the time, but Hoyer opposed it. "I believe that a precipitous withdrawal of American forces in Iraq," Hoyer warned, "could lead to disaster, spawning a civil war, fostering a haven for terrorists and damaging our nation's security and credibility." Also in the fall of 2005, Hoyer joined a handful of other centrist Democrats to form a group to counter the party's weak image on national security issues. One of the other prominent Democrats involved in the group: Jane Harman.