Michael Steele Says Afghanistan is President Obama's "War of Choice"

(Huffington Post) At a Connecticut fundraiser last Thursday, GOP Chairman Michael Steele was commenting on the state of the war in Afghanistan. He stated that the war in Afghanistan is a war of President Obama's choosing and it's not a war that the U.S. has actively prosecuted or the U.S. wanted to engage in. Steele also accused Obama of "demoralizing Iraq while saying the battle should be in Afghanistan." Steele said that if President Obama was a student of history he would recognize that you don't fight land wars in Afghanistan. He stated that there have been those that have tried to fight Afghanistan for over a thousand years and haven't been successful. Steele also extended his criticism of the War in Afghanistan to the missions strategy. He also addressed President Obama's firing of General Stanley McChrystal. "The General McChrystal incident, to me, was very comical. "I think it's a reflection of the frustration that a lot of our military leaders has with this Administration and their prosection of the war in Afghanistan," said Steele.

At the outset of what Michael Steele said, I agree that the war in Afghanistan is the war of Obama's choosing--at least in the sense that he chose to continue the war that began nearly nine years ago during the George W. Bush administration. President Obama didn't choose to send troops to the war or to enter the war. Our troops were already in Afghanistan when Barack Obama became president. It would've been more accurate for Steele to say and clarify Bush started this war and Bush's policies in Afghanistan also didn't finish the job. The truth of the matter is that President Obama is still using the same type of strategy in Afghanistan that Bush used when he was president. There are some that are critical over President Obama firing General Stanley McChrystal in Afghanistan when he criticized certain members of the Obama administration. President Obama has the right to fire McChrystal, like it or not. General David Petraeus isn't going to turn the situation around in Afghanistan unless the rules of engagement and strategy to win are changed.

The problem with this war is there's no commitment to winning the war. Why are we still in Afghanistan? We're failing at the mission as of right now--not because we don't have capable troops to finish the job, but because of the politics from the Pentagon. Whenever you commit troops to a war effort, there must be devastating force used to overwhelm the enemy so he will surrender. I believe we need to use air power to wipe out Al-Qaeda and Taliban strongholds. Fighting a land war is going to be useless unless we destroy as many strongholds we can through air power. I don't like the thought of killing civilians either. I believe there are methods that can be used to evacuate a civilian area when a bombing is going to take place. War is war. If we're going to continue this operation, there must be devastating force used if we expect Al-Qaeda and the Taliban to surrender. If the Obama administration isn't committed to winning this war as quickly as possible so we can pull U.S. troops out of Afghanistan, then we need to exit Afghanistan immediately. It's a farce. June was one of the deadliest months for U.S. troops in the War in Afghanistan. Enough is enough. We either win the war or we exit quickly.