The talking heads on both left and right (notably William Kristol) are dumping on Michael Steele for his recent comments on the Afghan War. He may well be forced out as RNC chair or, at the very least, compelled to apologize for his alleged"gaffe." It would be a shame if Steele lost his job for this. Despite the clumsy nature of his wording, he was essentially right. The Afghan War was indeed of Obama's "choosing." Obama supported it from the beginning and chose to escalate once in office. More to the point, Steele accurately described the current situation:

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. Alright? Because everyone who has tried over a thousand years of history has failed. And there are reasons for that. There are other ways to engage in Afghanistan without committing more troops.

Jane S. Shaw - 7/4/2010

David, I agree. The general thrust of Steele's remarks is right -- mainly that "the one thing you don't do is engage in a land war in Afghanistan." On its being "Obama's war," perhaps he went a bit too far--erroneously thinking that such a statement would appeal to the Republican base. The opprobrium he has received from Republican pundits is not deserved.