I'm not sure why the Republican Party so so set against my ever joining common cause with them, but here goes reason number 2,345:
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele may be misremembering exactly how and when the Afghanistan war began.
At a Republican Party fundraiser in Connecticut on Thursday, Steele declared that the war in Afghanistan "was a war of Obama's choosing" that America had not "actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in," in a response to an attendee's question about the resignation of Gen. Stanley McChrystal -- which Steele called "very comical."
"The McChrystal incident, to me, was very comical. And I think it's a reflection of the frustration that a lot of our military leaders have with this Administration and their prosecution of the war in Afghanistan," said Steele. "Keep in mind again, federal candidates, this was a war of Obama's choosing. This is not something the United States had actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in."
"It was one of those, one of those areas of the total board of foreign policy ["in the Middle East"? -- Note: The audio is not quite clear in this section.] that we would be in the background, sort of shaping the changes that were necessary in Afghanistan as opposed to directly engaging troops," Steele continued. "But it was the president who was trying to be cute by half by flipping a script demonizing Iraq, while saying the battle really should be in Afghanistan. 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 a land war in Afghanistan? All right, because everyone who has tried, over a thousand years of history, has failed. And there are reasons for that. There are other ways to engage in Afghanistan."
TPM
Mike.....Mike....Have you forgotten the grammatically challenged swaggering CinC who executed the invasion and 'land war' in 2001...then turned away to pursue an unrelated military adventure in 2003? Have you forgotten all of the pretend patriotic bluster when anyone came close to questioning the strategies for both? Way to go in illustrating how intellectually stunted your party is to keep you on as head mouthpiece. I mean, we all expect political hacks to lie, deceive and bloviate, but you've taken dishonesty to a new level. Bravo....
Obama didn't start it, but he did escalate it. Sadly he reminds me of Bush to his approach in Afghanistan (i.e., Muslims are Muslims are Muslims).
ReplyDeleteVery true, however even after most Republicans were forced to admit that Iraq wasn't in our strategic interest...they still considered Afghanistan as a just and moral war. It's simply amazing how a little time and light on the truth can make them forget their earlier pronouncements.
ReplyDeleteI hope the republicans keep Steele on the job for years to come.
ReplyDeleteThey'll replace Steele as soon as foreign adventures are fashionable again. In other words, as soon as they have a majority in one chamber and the executive branch.
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