Steele Blames Afghan War on Obama, Drawing Calls to Resign

[TheSarge]

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele on Friday declared his opposition to the Afghanistan war, saying the nine-year-old conflict was of President "Obama's choosing," and that the mission is "probably a lost cause" – prompting at least one prominent Republican to call for his resignation.

Steele made the comments at a fundraiser in Connecticut just two days after the Senate unanimously confirmed Gen. David Petraeus as the new U.S. commander in Afghanistan. Petraeus is taking over for Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who was ousted over his and his aides' scornful remarks of Obama's national security team to Rolling Stone magazine, at a time when America's casualty rate in the war is at record high and the offensive is falling short of expectations.

"This was a war of Obama's choosing," Steele said. "This is not something United States had actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in."

The war in Afghanistan began shortly after the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, in the first year of President George W. Bush's first term. Obama, at the time, was a state senator in Illinois.

"It was [Obama] who was trying to be cute by half by flipping a script demonizing Iraq, while saying the battle really should be in Afghanistan," Steele said in his delivery, which was posted on YouTube. "Well, if he's such a student of history, has he not understood that you know that's the one thing you don't do, is engage in land war in Afghanistan? All right, because everyone who has tried, over a thousand years of history, has failed."

Steele's comments led William Kristol, editor of the conservative magazine The Weekly Standard, to call upon the GOP chairman to resign over the July 4 weekend as "an act of service for the country you love."

"At a time when Gen. Petraeus has just taken over command, when Republicans in Congress are pushing for a clean war funding resolution, when Republicans around the country are doing their best to rally their fellow citizens behind the mission, your comment is more than an embarrassment," Kristrol said in a letter to Steele.

"It's an affront, both to the honor of the Republican Party and to the commitment of the soldiers fighting to accomplish the mission they've been asked to take on by our elected leaders," he wrote.

Kristol noted that a spokesman for the Democratic National Committee had pointed out that Steele's statement put him "at odds with about 100 percent of the Republican Party."

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/07/02/steele-blames-afghan-war-obama-drawing-calls-resign/

[Hawkgirl]

There are plenty of issues one can criticize Obama on....Afghanistan isn't one of them.

[NHSparky]

Yeah--this non-influential Republican would also like to see Steele resign.  This is just the latest in a long list of reasons why.

[bkg]

There are plenty of issues one can criticize Obama on....Afghanistan isn't one of them.

Don't necessarily agree. He is slow to make decisions and not exactly supportive of the effort in any of his public statements. It's becoming a police effort rather than a war (moreso than it already was). Not doing any worse than Bush, but definitely not doign any better.

The GOP has no backbone - none. It's for reasons like this that I conetned that they are barely discernable from the DNC these days.

[NHSparky]

Don't necessarily agree. He is slow to make decisions and not exactly supportive of the effort in any of his public statements. It's becoming a police effort rather than a war (moreso than it already was). Not doing any worse than Bush, but definitely not doign any better.

The GOP has no backbone - none. It's for reasons like this that I conetned that they are barely discernable from the DNC these days.

Disagree with your "not doing any worse than Bush" assessment.  Remember, it took McChrystal BEGGING Obama 4 MONTHS for 60K additional troops, and he got half that with a withdrawal date almost as soon as they get unpacked, not to mention the hamstringing they're getting from the new ROE.

Karzai, love him or hate him, sees the writing on the wall and knows he's going to get the rug pulled out from him very quickly, which is why he's made statements of being willing to negotiate with the Taliban (nothing new there.)

[Hawkgirl]

Don't necessarily agree. He is slow to make decisions and not exactly supportive of the effort in any of his public statements. It's becoming a police effort rather than a war (moreso than it already was). Not doing any worse than Bush, but definitely not doign any better.

The GOP has no backbone - none. It's for reasons like this that I conetned that they are barely discernable from the DNC these days.

My main point was that there are certainly numerous areas where Obama is failing...Afghanistan, while his direction certainly hasn't been flawless, it's not his biggest failing.  Healthcare, Border Inaction, Stimulus, Tax increases, Apology tour, Israel slight, Terrorist hearings handling....and the list goes on and on.  Those are the things he should be shedding light on. 

[Godot showed up]

But it's an idiot (or Dem-like) comment. Of course we had to go into Afghanistan--but he really sounds like a freaking idiot saying something this contrahistorical. Plus--way to go to boost our servicepeople's morale. Sheesh!

[NHSparky]

My main point was that there are certainly numerous areas where Obama is failing...Afghanistan, while his direction certainly hasn't been flawless, it's not his biggest failing.  Healthcare, Border Inaction, Stimulus, Tax increases, Apology tour, Israel slight, Terrorist hearings handling....and the list goes on and on.  Those are the things he should be shedding light on. 

You think those are his failings now, just wait until next summer when we cut and run.  It'll be the Killing Fields, Rwanda, etc., all rolled up into one.

[bkg]

My main point was that there are certainly numerous areas where Obama is failing...Afghanistan, while his direction certainly hasn't been flawless, it's not his biggest failing.  Healthcare, Border Inaction, Stimulus, Tax increases, Apology tour, Israel slight, Terrorist hearings handling....and the list goes on and on.  Those are the things he should be shedding light on. 

Definitely concur... highlighting the small mistakes is meaningless

[DumbAss Tanker]

There are plenty of issues one can criticize Obama on....Afghanistan isn't one of them.

Actually his attempts to stab Karzai in the back politically back during the Afghan elections have turned an uphill battle into a vertical face free climb.

[NHSparky]

But it's an idiot (or Dem-like) comment. Of course we had to go into Afghanistan--but he really sounds like a freaking idiot saying something this contrahistorical. Plus--way to go to boost our servicepeople's morale. Sheesh!

There ya go--wonder what TRG has to say in reaction to this news?  Frankly, were it me in the sandbox, I'd be mightily pissed.

[NHSparky]

Actually his attempts to stab Karzai in the back politically back during the Afghan elections have turned an uphill battle into a vertical face free climb.

Hence my comment as to why Karzai is willing to negotiate with the Taliban.  He's a snake, but he has an incredible survival instinct going all the way back to the Soviet invasion.

[cavegal]

Where is his outrage against Kagan??? Has he said anything about her.. Isn't he the head of the RNC? 

[DumbAss Tanker]

Hence my comment as to why Karzai is willing to negotiate with the Taliban.  He's a snake, but he has an incredible survival instinct going all the way back to the Soviet invasion.

My comment was more directed at Cavegal's post, but since you bring it up, I would have to say that if I was in Karzai's shoes, I'd be doing the same - counting on a backer who has already shown he doesn't intend to stick around that much longer, and has demonstrated no commitment to my personal welfare and hold on power (Just the opposite, in fact) is not a recipe for long-term survival.

[Hawkgirl]

Aren't we still leaving peace keeping troops there?, after the "formal" exit?

[NHSparky]

Aren't we still leaving peace keeping troops there?, after the "formal" exit?

Tripwire, at best.  Remember what happened to our "peacekeeping" troops in Somalia and Lebanon.

[Hawkgirl]

Then the Taliban will be back in power within 5 years....

[NHSparky]

Then the Taliban will be back in power within 5 years....

I'd say a lot faster than that.  Remember, they're just sitting across the border in Pakistan in a lot of cases, and the ISI has never given up supporting them.  Couple that with the fact the Pakistanis blame the US for every Taliban suicide bomber that goes for his 72 virgins (read story HERE) and I'd be surprised if it isn't a campaign issue for the 2012 presidential election.

[Airwolf]

Steele needed to leave a long time back. This just adds more reason as to why

[Lacarnut]

Once he put down the Tea Party, it was time for him to go. It's way over due.

[Boudicca]

Once he put down the Tea Party, it was time for him to go. It's way over due.

He put down the TEA Party?  I missed that.  Well,  him then AND this comment about Afghanistan was incredibly stupid and demoralizing for our troops in harm's way.
I know the GOP can do better than this guy.

[TheSarge]

It's becoming a police effort rather than a war (moreso than it already was). 

Ummm...no it's not.  It never has been a police action here.  Except to the uneducated about what we're doing here.

The GOP has no backbone - none. It's for reasons like this that I conetned that they are barely discernable from the DNC these days.

[TheSarge]

Then the Taliban will be back in power within 5 years....

Not even close.

[rich_t]

There ya go--wonder what TRG has to say in reaction to this news?  Frankly, were it me in the sandbox, I'd be mightily pissed.

As a Gulf War veteran, I am still pissed that we weren't allowed to finish the job the fisrt time.

[TheSarge]

There ya go--wonder what TRG has to say in reaction to this news?  Frankly, were it me in the sandbox, I'd be mightily pissed.

You're right Sparky...I AM pissed.  HE hasn't set foot over here...yet like a Liberal he proclaims to know what a failure this war is from the comfort of DC.

I dare anyone political or otherwise to tell a combat veteran either here right now or that has been here that this is a lost cause.

It's no more a lost cause than Iraq was.