7-6-2010

7-6-2010--Mr. Steele, whose tenure as chairman has been marked by a string of controversial statements, made this latest gaffe at an appearance in Connecticut on Thursday. He questioned the military strategy in Afghanistan as he delivered a broader critique of Mr. Obama, but he misstated the history of the conflict, which President George W. Bush started nine years ago in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
“This is not something the United States had actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in,” Mr. Steele said. “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 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?”
Representative Ron Paul of Texas, a former Republican presidential candidate and a leading figure among Tea Party activists, congratulated Mr. Steele on his remarks. In a statement on Sunday, he called Afghanistan “Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama’s war.”
“The American people are sick and tired of spending hundreds of billions of dollars a year, draining our economy and straining our military,” Mr. Paul said. “Michael Steele has it right, and Republicans should stick by him.”