Thaindian News

By Gina Gomez
July 3, (THAINDIAN NEWS) The first African American chairman of the Republican National Committee Michael Steele drew criticism and calls for resignation from his own party after blaming President Barack Obama for the Afghanistan war and commenting about the U.S.troupe surge. The comment that made an uproar was that the Afghanistan war was of “Obama’s choosing… not something” the U.S. had actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in. On Thursday, at the Republican fundraiser Connecticut Michael Steele was videotaped while he giving the speech and his speech contradicted the point of view of the party that sends more soldiers and funding in Afghanistan.

In the speech Michael Steele said that the Afghan war was President Barack Obama’s choosing and not something United States had actively wanted to engage in. The recent resignation of Afghanistan war commander General Stanley McChrystal appeared comical him and made fun of President Barack Obama’s decision to increase U.S. troops in Afghanistan. He also mentioned that everyone who had tried to engage in a land war has failed over a thousand “years of history” in Afghanistan. His comments gathered a range of criticism from both the parties of the Parliament.

Michael Steele later issued a statement to disengage himself from the difficulty saying that President Barack Obama’s shift in the U.S. military focus from Iraq to Afghanistan means his strategy. He added that throughout history one has seen that winning war against Afghanistan is a difficult task but after the tragedy of September 11, 2001 it was necessary as stakes were too high for U.S. to accept success. Here in his comment he did not acknowledge the factual error that Afghanistan war was launched by former President George W. Bush. However, this comment has not subsided the anger among the parties.