THE LEADER of the Republican party in the US, Michael Steele, is under pressure to resign after he suggested that the US cannot win in Afghanistan and described the conflict as a “war of Obama’s choosing”.
Mr Steele’s comments highlighted divisions among those conservatives who support the war and others, particularly within the Tea Party movement, who object to the billions of tax dollars being spent in Afghanistan and Iraq.
One leading Republican senator said the latest in a string of gaffes by Mr Steele “could not have come at a worse time” for the party, prior to November’s mid-term elections.
Mr Steele made his comments at a political appearance in Connecticut last week in a speech attacking Barack Obama’s presidency. Although the war in Afghanistan was begun by former president George Bush in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Mr Steele sought to shift responsibility to Mr Obama.
“This is not something the United States had actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in,” he said. “It was the president who was trying to be too cute by half by flipping a script demonising 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?”
Although Mr Steele has sought to defuse the crisis by saying that he supports the war and that US forces must prevail, John McCain, the former Republican presidential candidate who serves on the Senate’s armed services committee, denounced his remarks and questioned whether he could remain party leader.
“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,” he said.
Senator Jim DeMint, also a Republican, said Mr Steele’s comments were inaccurate and called on him to “apologise to our military, all the men and women who’ve been fighting in Afghanistan”.
Another influential Republican senator, Lindsey Graham, also a member of the armed services committee, said he was angered by Mr Steele's comments. "It was an uninformed, unnecessary, unwise, untimely comment. This is not President Obama's war, this is America's war. We need to stand behind the president." Liz Cheney, daughter of the former vice-president and a rising star in the party, said he must step down, as did William Kristol, editor of the influential Weekly Standard.
Republicans are already struggling after the Tea Party laid siege from the right to a number of the party’s more moderate senators.
Mr Steele’s comments also risk damaging support among military families in the run-up to the midterm elections, after he undermined fundraising efforts through a scandal in which it was revealed he approved spending of $2,000 (€1,600) at a bondage-themed strip club. Part of Mr Graham’s concern is that Mr Steele’s statement will highlight differences with some influential voices in the Tea Party movement, who object to the war partly on cost grounds.
One member of Congress aligned with the Tea Party, Ron Paul, supports Mr Steele.
“The American people are sick and tired of spending hundreds of billions of dollars a year, draining our economy and straining our military,” he said. “Michael Steele has it right, and Republicans should stick by him.” It is not the first time questions have been raised about Mr Steele’s leadership since he took over as chairman of the Republican party.
He has troubled conservatives by calling abortion “an individual choice” and liberals by belittling a woman whose mother died because she could not afford proper healthcare. He also did himself no favours when, in response to his Republican critics, he told GQ magazine : “I ask God, ‘hey, let me show just a little bit of love, so I absolutely don’t go out and kick this person’s ass’.”
– ( Guardianservice)