Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden said Thursday he fought within the Obama administration against surging troops to Afghanistan, saying it was a mistake to pour forces into a conflict that U.S. power could not win.
He was challenged at the Democratic debate over a Washington Post article that reported the military misled the pubic over the war, publicly saying it was going well while internally it believed the conflict was slipping away.
“I’m the guy from the beginning who argued that it was a big, big mistake to surge forces to Afghanistan,” Mr. Biden said, adding that he was only now able to reveal his vehement opposition because of the public reporting. “I argued against it constantly.”
Sen. Bernard Sanders, though, countered that Mr. Biden got it wrong on the other big war question of the 21st Century: “You’re also the guy who helped lead us into the disastrous war in Iraq.”
The debate moderator challenged Mr. Sanders on his own 2001 vote in favor of the Afghanistan war.
“I was wrong,” he said.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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