The war in Iraq has been an ongoing war of words between veteran Congressman John Murtha and the Bush administration.

But while Murtha has been criticizing the President's top advisor in recent days, his opponent is now drawing national attention by speaking out against Murtha.

On Sunday, Murtha appeared on "Meet The Press" and attacked presidential advisor Karl Rove on Rove's position of "staying the course."

Murtha has also spoken out about the latest military scandal in which several Marines are accused of killing innocent Iraqis, including women and children.

"Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood," Murtha said.

The congressman has been re-elected to his position 17 times and has served in Washington for 32 years. Most of those races were easily won, but his current opponent, Diana Irey is getting much attention.

Irey appeared on a national morning show Tuesday, saying Murtha has lost touch with 12th district constituents. She also called for Murtha to apologize for his comments about the Marine scandal.

"(Murtha) stated this when in fact not a single Marine has been charged. By doing this, he served as prosecutor, judge, and jury, and that's not the way we do things in America," Irey said

Irey said she has received several phone calls and letters calling for Murtha's resignation.

Stay with Channel 6 News for continuing coverage.