WASHINGTON — Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele says Afghanistan is “a war of Obama’s choosing” and the conflict “is not something the United States has actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in.”
In remarks captured on camera at a Connecticut fundraiser and posted online, Steele criticized President Barack Obama and his handling of the 9-year-old war begun by Republican President George W. Bush in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. He suggested the war cannot be won.
“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? Because everyone who’s tried, over a thousand years of history, has failed,” Steele said. “And there are reasons for that. There are other ways to engage in Afghanistan.”
Looking to mitigate the political fallout, Steele issued a statement Friday: “There is no question that America must win the war on terror. . . . And, for the sake of the security of the free world, our country must give our troops the support necessary to win this war.”
Democratic National Committee spokesman Brad Woodhouse said the remarks were “simply unconscionable.” The Associated Press
