OPINION:
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele recently said publicly that “the one thing you don’t do is engage in a land war in Afghanistan. Proving this to be true, my Marine son told me that two years ago, several of his fellow Marines were hiking though a small ravine in Afghanistan when they were crushed to death by Afghans rolling and throwing rocks and boulders onto them.
Mr. Steele knows empires cannot win land wars in Afghanistan (“NATO: 6 U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan,” Web, News, Saturday). And the Republican party and Democrats in Congress want to scratch out his eyes for speaking this truth.
Out of the political wilderness, Texas Republican Ron Paul condemned President George W. Bush’s war on terror and now President Obama’s continuation of that war. He supports Mr. Steele’s comment and affirms what most Americans believe when he says we are not winning the war in Afghanistan. Mr. Obama’s refusal to withdraw our troops from this morass stems only from his desire to appease everyone in Congress.
As the Obama-backed Afghan President Hamid Karzai tosses around American foreign aid to his thugs - cronies who may or may not be connected to the Taliban or al Qaeda - Mr. Paul and Mr. Steele are looking better and better to American voters.
HELEN LOGAN TACKETT
Fullerton, Calif.
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