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Some observations on tonight's GOP debate:
(1) Bachmann won the expectations game. I don't think she can win the nomination, but she is a more skilled politician than many assume.
(2) If I understood him correctly, Romney said we should not have gone to war in Afghanistan. I'll read the transcript tomorrow to see if that's what he really said. I expect his campaign to "clarify" his remarks.
(3) Although Romney is currently leading in the polls, none of the other candidates made a strong effort to rattle him. That's a little surprising.
Here's what he said:
<< ROMNEY: Let me -- let me continue. That is I think we've learned some important lessons in our experience in Afghanistan. I want those troops to come home based upon not politics, not based upon economics, but instead based upon the conditions on the ground determined by the generals.
<< But I also think we've learned that our troops shouldn't go off and try and fight a war of independence for another nation. Only the Afghanis can win Afghanistan's independence from the Taliban. Thank you. >>
Full transcript:
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1106/13/se.02.html
<< ROMNEY: Let me -- let me continue. That is I think we've learned some important lessons in our experience in Afghanistan. I want those troops to come home based upon not politics, not based upon economics, but instead based upon the conditions on the ground determined by the generals.
<< But I also think we've learned that our troops shouldn't go off and try and fight a war of independence for another nation. Only the Afghanis can win Afghanistan's independence from the Taliban. Thank you. >>
Full transcript:
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1106/13/se.02.html
>But I also think we've learned that our troops shouldn't go off and try and fight a war of independence for another nation. Only the Afghanis can win Afghanistan's independence from the Taliban.
I have to agree with that. It's time to extract ourselves. We don't have the resources to fight every war out there, and there will always be more wars to fight. We've done a pretty good job of our original intent, which was to destroy al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, culminating with bin Laden's death. Also, I think we were far more justified in going into Afghanistan, than going into Iraq, so there's less onus on us to stick around doing extensive nation-building (which isn't something we're likely to have much success with there anyway).
- Greminty
I have to agree with that. It's time to extract ourselves. We don't have the resources to fight every war out there, and there will always be more wars to fight. We've done a pretty good job of our original intent, which was to destroy al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, culminating with bin Laden's death. Also, I think we were far more justified in going into Afghanistan, than going into Iraq, so there's less onus on us to stick around doing extensive nation-building (which isn't something we're likely to have much success with there anyway).
- Greminty
