RNC Chairman Michael Steele
Top Republicans have called on Michael Steele to resign from his position at RNC Chairman for saying that US President Barack Obama has turned the war in Afghanistan into a “lost cause.”
“This was a war of Obama’s choosing,” Steele said at a Connecticut fundraiser Friday. “This is not something United States had actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in.”
“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 . “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 made the comments just two days after Gen. David Petraeus officially replaced Gen. Stanley McCrystal for making similar comments in Rolling Stone magazine.
A torrent of criticism has erupted from top Republican critics, with many calling for Steele to resign.
Liz Cheney
“RNC Chairman Michael Steele’s comments about the war in Afghanistan were deeply disappointing and wrong,” said Liz Cheney, a former State Department official and daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney in a statement. “The chairman of the Republican party must be unwavering in his support for American victory in the war on terror – a victory that cannot be accomplished if we do not prevail in Afghanistan. I endorse fully Bill Kristol’s letter to Chairman Steele. It is time for Chairman Steele to step down.”
Weekly Standard editor William Kristol also called for Steele’s resignation.
William Kristol
“You are, I know, a patriot,” Kristol wrote in an open letter to Steele. “So I ask you to consider, over this July 4 weekend, doing an act of service for the country you love: Resign as chairman of the Republican Party.”
Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, himself a former RNC Chairman, told Politco.com that Steele “should apologize and resign,” adding that the comments about Afghanistan are “totally unacceptable.”
“He undercut American forces fighting in the field, politicized further a war that two presidents of different parties have deemed in the national interest and embarrassed the party he purports to lead. It is time for him to go — quickly,” Cole said.
Erick Erickson, founder of the popular conservative blog RedState.com, wrote that Steele must resign because he “has lost all moral authority to lead the GOP.”
Duncan Hunter
Other critics include Afghan and Iraq war vet, California Rep. Duncan Hunter, who called Steele’s comments “tactless” and “showed an unfortunate level of ignorance.”
Steele has already backtracked on his comments, saying he supported the troop surge in Afghanistan as well as Gen. Petraeus.
“The stakes are too high for us to accept anything but success in Afghanistan,” he said in an email to voting members of the RNC that was also posted on the Party’s official website.
Former Bush Administration adviser Karl Rove told FOX News that “it will take more than an e-mail to 162 people” for Steele to stop the controversy. “He’s going to have to take the public stage and take his licking there and say he misspoke.”
Steele’s term as RNC Chairman ends in January.
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He's doing a lousy job all around. Sarah Palin is the perfect person for RNC chairman.
They want him to resign, but they didn't say he is incorrect.
This guy has been a big zero from day one!
The hiring and/or firing of an individual is so inconsequential at this point. The whole system is screwed up beyond repair. If I were you, I'd start enjoying life as if you've been told you have 6 months to live. The future holds government dependency followed by an overthrow. Stock up and wait.
Have a great day!
For now.