RNC Chairman: Don't let Dems turn Iraq into 'another Afghanistan'

[LTR]

Republican National Committee chairman Ken Mehlman appeared on at least three networks today to "remind" voters of the "difference" between the two parties when it comes to the war on terror.

Along with references to the Patriot Act, missile defense, and the surveillance program, Mehlman made an unusual remark regarding the current situation in Afghanistan.

"And again, in this war-on-terror issue, I think Americans want their leaders to have learned the lessons of 9/11, which is we need tools like the Patriot Act and the surveillance program, and it will be a big mistake to allow Iraq to become another Afghanistan, which unfortunately, I think, could happen if we followed the approach that Mr. Murtha and others have said," Mehlman said on CBS's Early Show.

NATO forces are currently on the offensive against a revitalized Taliban, and a recent report showed that Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai's control doesn't extend far beyond Kabul. There have been reports that NATO commanders have been forced to negotiate with Taliban militants, just as neighboring Pakistan has been dealing with pro-Taliban militants in Bajaur.

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/RNC_Chairman_Dont_let_Dems_turn_1107.html

And... Afghanistan is who's fault?

:eyes:

[mainegreen]

1. If we turn Iraq into Afghanistan that would be an improvement!

[TheDebbieDee]

6. That is SO true!

[Pawel K]

2. Duh, it's Clinton's penis's fault

[unpossibles]

3. they don't like facts.... and neither do their followers.

[aquart]

4. The only appropriate response is to point and laugh.

[The_Casual_Observer]

5. I'm tired of them using the failure of their Iraq war against the Dems.

[NOLADEM]

7. Poorly stated, but I think he was saying....

That the Soviet pullout of Afghanistan left a power vaccuum that the Taliban filled, leading to a hospitable environment for terrorism, and he is saying it would be a huge mistake to let Iraq become a similar haven.

That's what I think he was getting at.

Again I say....WEIRD thing to say in the current political situation, but he's not a very bright man.

[okieinpain]

8. ah, so the spin begins. Iraq is a diaster because dems won in

2006.....

[Beelzebud]

9. Hey Ken. You guys fucked up BOTH wars.

The nerve of this closeted piece of shit...

[pdxmom]

10. I heard him saying this today, and was trying to figure out how the

heck they thought this was a good talking point. Afghanistan is where we were, to get rid of the Taliban and Osama. Then we took our eye off the ball and went to Iraq, giving Afghanistan back to the Taliban. So they're saying that Afghanistan is a failure? And they don't want Iraq to be another failure?

How the heck is this a talking point that works? To me, it just points out how wrong and incompetent they have been.

[zulchzulu]

11. Mehlman needs to talk to McCain or watch Fox "News"

McCain said this:
"...it was in Afghanistan, as well, there were many people who predicted that Afghanistan would not be a success. So far, it's a remarkable success."

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0503/02/ip.01.html

http://mediamatters.org/items/200607270009

"Summary: Fox News host Steve Doocy repeatedly touted Operation Mountain Thrust, in which coalition forces killed 600 Taliban fighters in Afghanistan, as "a real success story," adding that the operation's purported success is "going to allow U.S. forces to withdraw in some measure." At no point during the segment did Doocy mention why the operation might have been necessary -- according to recent reports by USA Today and Reuters, the Afghan insurgency is a greater threat than at any point since the U.S.-led effort to expel the Taliban in 2001."