After RNC Chairman Michael Steele Bemoans "Obama's War In Afghanistan", Prominent Republicans Call For Him To Step Down. Well ... Don't Look At Me!

Republican Senators Denounce Steele’s Remarks
By JEFF ZELENY and JANIE LORBER

WASHINGTON — Michael Steele, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, sought to contain a growing furor within his party on Sunday as three Republican lawmakers questioned his effectiveness because of his suggestion that the military conflict in Afghanistan was not winnable and was “a war of Obama’s choosing.”
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Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press

Michael Steele and Senator John McCain in happier times. Mr. McCain on Sunday said Mr. Steele’s remarks that the war in Afghanistan was “of Obama’s choosing” and not winnable were “wildly inaccurate” and inexcusable.

Senators John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who serve on the Armed Services Committee, became the latest Republicans to denounce the comments made by Mr. Steele last week at a fund-raising event, where he also said the United States was on the wrong side of history in Afghanistan.

“I think those statements are wildly inaccurate, and there’s no excuse for them,” Mr. McCain said from Kabul on the ABC News program “This Week.” “I believe we have to win here. I believe in freedom. But the fact is that I think that Mr. Steele is going to have to assess as to whether he can still lead the Republican Party.”

Doug Heye, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee, declined to comment Sunday. Several party officials said Mr. Steele had spent the weekend calling Republican leaders, including Mr. McCain, to explain his remarks and try to blunt the fallout.

Four months before the midterm elections, with Republicans working to win control of the House and the Senate, the comments from Mr. Steele were seen as an unnecessary internal distraction. Several party leaders have voiced their dissatisfaction with fund-raising by the committee, which they worry has been diminished by Mr. Steele’s leadership.

Mr. Graham said that he was “dismayed, angry and upset” over Mr. Steele’s remarks. He added, “It was an uninformed, unnecessary, unwise, untimely comment.” He stopped short of calling for the resignation of Mr. Steele, but said: “It’s up to him to see if he can lead the Republican Party. It couldn’t have come at a worse time.”

“This is not President Obama’s war; this is America’s war,” Mr. Graham said on “Face the Nation” on CBS. “We need to stand behind the president.”

Mr. Steele, whose tenure as chairman has been marked by a string of controversial statements, made this latest gaffe at an appearance in Connecticut on Thursday. He questioned the military strategy in Afghanistan as he delivered a broader critique of Mr. Obama, but he misstated the history of the conflict, which President George W. Bush started nine years ago in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

“This is not something the United States had actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in,” Mr. Steele said. “It was the president who was trying to be cute by half by flipping a script demonizing Iraq, while saying the battle really should be Afghanistan. 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?”

Mr. Steele has not spoken publicly since he made the remarks, but in private conversations with Republican officials over the weekend, he sought to explain that they were “misconstrued,” the officials said. He issued a statement last week seeking to clarify his remarks, declaring, “There is no question that America must win the war on terror.”

Senator Jim DeMint, Republican of South Carolina, said Sunday that Mr. Steele’s remarks were “inaccurate” and “unacceptable.” “Chairman Steele needs to apologize to our military, all the men and women who’ve been fighting in Afghanistan,” Mr. DeMint said on “Fox News Sunday.”

The comments from the Republican senators on Sunday followed a call for Mr. Steele’s resignation by William Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard and a leading voice of conservative support for the war in Afghanistan. Liz Cheney, a daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney and a leading Republican voice on national security issues, also called for Mr. Steele to step down.

“The chairman of the Republican Party must be unwavering in his support for American victory in the war on terror,” Ms. Cheney said in a statement over the weekend.

It remained an open question whether Mr. Steele would be able to withstand the criticism. He serves at the pleasure of members of the Republican National Committee, several of whom have previously rallied to his support. Other party leaders have not been eager to try to replace Mr. Steele in the middle of a midterm election campaign or to open a divisive debate over war spending.

Representative Ron Paul of Texas, a former Republican presidential candidate and a leading figure among Tea Party activists, congratulated Mr. Steele on his remarks. In a statement on Sunday, he called Afghanistan “Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama’s war.”

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


Editor's comment and update: Steele's actual comments were that Afghanistan is Obama's war of choice.

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