Steele speaks some truth and get's blasted..

[R13]

Washington (CNN) -- Republicans lined up on opposite sides Sunday over comments by the chairman of the Republican National Committee that the Afghanistan war launched by former President George W. Bush was "of (President Barack) Obama's choosing" and may be unwinnable.

Speaking from Afghanistan, GOP Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina lambasted Michael Steele for the comments, which McCain called "wildly inaccurate" and Graham characterized as "uninformed, unnecessary, unwise, untimely," while follow Republican Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina said Steele should apologize to the military.

However, conservative GOP Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, in a statement to CNN, supported Steele and said the RNC chairman's characterization of the war was correct.

"He is guiding the party in the right direction and we (the GOP) are on the verge of victory this fall," said Paul, who mounted an unsuccessful bid for the GOP presidential nomination in 2008. "Chairman Steele should not back off. He is giving the country, especially young people, hope as he speaks truth about this war."

Steele has stepped back from his original comments by emphasizing his support for the war.

"The stakes are too high for us to accept anything but success in Afghanistan," Steele said in a statement intended to clarify his controversial comments.

It may be too late for him. Prominent Republican voices are calling for Steele's resignation, including Liz Cheney, a former State Department official and the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney; Weekly Standard editor William Kristol and former South Carolina GOP chairman Katon Dawson, who finished second to Steele in the RNC chairman's race last year.

Both McCain and Graham questioned Steele's ability to keep his job, but said it was up to Steele and the RNC to make that decision.

"I think that Mr. Steele is going to have to assess whether he can still lead the Republican Party as chairman of the Republican National Committee," McCain said on the ABC program "This Week." Graham said in a separate interview on the CBS program "Face the Nation" that Steele's comments did not represent mainstream GOP thinking.

"It's not the Republican Party's position, my Republican Party's position," Graham said.

At the same time, Graham joked that "the good news is Michael Steele is backtracking so fast he's going to be in Kabul fighting here pretty soon."

DeMint, in an interview on "FOX News Sunday," called Steele's comments unacceptable.

Steele "needs to apologize to our military, all the men and women who've been fighting in Afghanistan," DeMint said, adding: "This is a war we can win and we must win."

Paul, meanwhile, wants the United States to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan.

"I would like to congratulate Michael Steele for his leadership on one of the most important issues of today," Paul said. "He is absolutely right: Afghanistan is now Obama's war. During the 2008 campaign, Obama was out in front in insisting that more troops be sent to Afghanistan. Obama called for expanding the war even as he pretended to be a peace candidate."

Steele's critics are supporting "Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama's war," Paul said of the Democratic House speaker and president.

"The American people are sick and tired spending hundreds of billions of dollars a year, draining our economy and straining our military," Paul said. "Michael Steele has it right and Republicans should stick by him."

However, Pelosi last week voted for an amendment to a Pentagon spending bill that would have placed tough restrictions on funding for the war in Afghanistan -- including a demand for a detailed troop withdrawal plan and a threat to pull money for the war if the military stays beyond next summer.

The amendment failed, but more than half the House Democratic caucus and nine Republicans voted for it, despite a White House veto threat if the final bill included the provision.

Both Graham and McCain said the United States must remain in Afghanistan as long as it takes to achieve the goal of preventing the country from again falling under Taliban control and becoming a safe haven for al Qaeda.

"The reason we came here is to secure America," Graham said, adding it was "imperative we say to our friends and enemies alike we're not leaving here until we've succeeded."

Republicans line up on opposite sides over latest Steele controversy - CNN.com

[R13]

He's never been their leader, they tried to match Obama for the obvious visible reason, knowing no one in that party would take him serious. A shame.

Washington (CNN) ? Rep. Darrell Issa has a message for Michael Steele: Represent the consensus view of the Republican Party, or resign as chairman of the Republican National Committee.

"Michael Steele is supposed to reflect a consensus of Republican platform and policies," the Republican said during a taping of C-SPAN's 'Newsmakers' program. "If he does that, he certainly could remain. If he's not willing to do that, if he wants to be a political leader on his own, there are plenty of seats open in November. I suggest he run for one of them."

Steele has been under fire for suggesting that the war in Afghanistan is one "of Obama's choosing" and that the conflict might be unwinnable.

Steele has since clarified his statements.

But one week after Steele's initial comments, Issa sounds unconvinced.

"I feel very strongly that he is not my leader, he does not make policy for me," Issa said Thursday.

"I think he has to make a decision, and everybody at the RNC has to make a decision. Are they going to speak on behalf of the consensus of Republicans, what we've already established as policy? If so, that is great, he can do the job. If he is not willing to do it, then I think he should resign. He has to decide which he is going to be."

Earlier on Thursday, Steele made clear he has no intention of resigning.

"Every time something happens, people say 'he should step down,' Steele told a gathering of GOP supporters Greenfield Village, Colorado." The reality is that's not happening, so stop the noise on that. You don't need the distraction. We're focused on winning."

Issa is not the first Republican to speak out. William Kristol, the editor of the conservative Weekly Standard, has called for Steele's
resignation. A string of other Republicans - including Arizona Sen. John McCain - have also questioned Steele's ability to lead the party in the wake of the remarks.

But digging in his heels, Steele told a Colorado crowd Thursday he is no stranger to the rough-and-tumble of party politics.

"The reality of it is simply this. I've learned politics through some pretty hard knocks," he said.

He added that it "hasn't been easy being a Republican in D.C., hasn't been easy being a Republican in Maryland."

When it comes to the war in Afghanistan, Steele said he is "four square, one thousand percent with our troops on the ground."

"My goodness, do not leave these young men and women without the resources they need," he added. "This war on terrorism was brought to our shores and we must fight it. We will fight it and we will win it. Because that is what the resolve of the American people is on this."

CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time Blog Archive - Issa: Steele is ‘not my leader’ - Blogs from CNN.com

[simple man]

Same as Iraq- when we get whoever it is we are after, bring the troops home and let the people of the country deal with the problems. After Saddam , we didn't need to be in Iraq- if we don't know where Bin lauden is, we really don't to be screwing around in Afganistan. The (our) country is broke, which is one of the radical's goals.

[R13]

It isn't winnable, never has been. It's a modern-day Containment Policy, the ghost hunt for commies, now it's terrorists. Bin Laden IMO has been dead for years, but by some small chance he were alive, what would catching him do? Absolutely nothing. Does anyone actually think the Taliban and terrorists would take their toys and go home if he were caught/put to death? Nope, he'd just be a martyr, they would fight all the same. On top of that, I know these people aren't the smartest people, but do you think they have stuck around in Afghan? No, they have been spread out all over the world from day 1. The hijackers were Saudi's and 911 was planned in Germany, but we're in Afghan? They are there, they are in all the surrounding countries, they are here...do we declare war on everyone? No, that's crazy, so it's just as crazy trying to "defeat terrorism" in one country.


There was no winning this war, we lost on day 1, just like with Iraq. We go to Iraq trying to find WMD's that were never there, then it was Saddam, then he was hanged, then it was rebuilding and now it's that and terrorism. Iraq was never a threat to us, never threatened us or ever killed a US citizen..yet we have been over there for 7 years now. We need to stop trying to police the world, getting our troops killed and killing hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians over there. It's easy to sit back and support a war when it's thousands of miles away, if it were in our back yard, I would guarantee really all of those who support these wars right now...would have a change of tune, completely.

[simple man]

It isn't winnable, never has been. It's a modern-day Containment Policy, the ghost hunt for commies, now it's terrorists. Bin Laden IMO has been dead for years, but by some small chance he were alive, what would catching him do? Absolutely nothing. Does anyone actually think the Taliban and terrorists would take their toys and go home if he were caught/put to death? Nope, he'd just be a martyr, they would fight all the same. On top of that, I know these people aren't the smartest people, but do you think they have stuck around in Afghan? No, they have been spread out all over the world from day 1. The hijackers were Saudi's and 911 was planned in Germany, but we're in Afghan? They are there, they are in all the surrounding countries, they are here...do we declare war on everyone? No, that's crazy, so it's just as crazy trying to "defeat terrorism" in one country.


There was no winning this war, we lost on day 1, just like with Iraq. We go to Iraq trying to find WMD's that were never there, then it was Saddam, then he was hanged, then it was rebuilding and now it's that and terrorism. Iraq was never a threat to us, never threatened us or ever killed a US citizen..yet we have been over there for 7 years now. We need to stop trying to police the world, getting our troops killed and killing hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians over there. It's easy to sit back and support a war when it's thousands of miles away, if it were in our back yard, I would guarantee really all of those who support these wars right now...would have a change of tune, completely.

So you agree Obama's policy is one step from Georgie's? Change my big ole rosie butt.

[R13]

Yes, pretty much. I do not support what he's done with Afghan, not the 30k that were sent over there. I do love that he's set a timetable for withdrawing the troops out of there, but the additional troops never should have been sent over. It's just not a winnable war, never has been, but is the longest war in US history now...longer than the other un-winnable war in Vietnam, we see how people viewed that one.

[1inStripes]

Do you not believe taking out Bin Laden would put a serious crimp in the monetary situation of the Taliban?

[R13]

Not really, the "cause" is much bigger than him, he's just a figure...plenty of others to carry on, it's not like he came up with everything on his own, we made him bigger than he ever was. This is all assuming he's still alive, I myself am 99.9% sure he's been dead for years. Of course I don't have any inside info or anything, just my opinion based on his health and the fact there's been no intelligence on him in years.

[1inStripes]

Wasn't the last verified video release that had his voice from about 2 years ago, maybe 3 that did detail current events?

[R13]

I'm going by what Gates said in Dec/January, that we have had no reliable intelligence on him in years. With his health, there's just no way he has been able to stay alive(esp in those conditions) for this long.