In the hours after President Obama’s Afghanistan draw-down speech (remember that?), Republican presidential candidates fired off responses that ranged from subtly supportive but unimpressed to totally opposed and really unimpressed.
Yes, GOP primary voter: No matter where you stand on the longest war in American history, there’s a Republican running for president who speaks your language.
In summary, more of the candidates would rather stay in Afghanistan than leave the way Obama seems to be suggesting. They call the troop drawdown dangerous and/or politically motivated, and they don’t have many positive things to say about Obama for doing it.
Neither do the candidates who seem to lean towards Obama’s view that it’s time for troop withdrawals. They say that either a.) Obama’s pulling out the troops too slowly or b.) he’s pulling them out too fast.
Here’s a breakdown:
Mitt Romney
Short version: Yes, bring them home. But don’t bring them home the way Obama wants to bring them home, and maybe make it just a bit slower.
From the statement: “We all want our troops to come home as soon as possible, but we shouldn’t adhere to an arbitrary timetable on the withdrawal of our troops from Afghanistan. This decision should not be based on politics or economics.”
Jon Huntsman
Short version: The Bring The Troops Home candidate.
From the statement: “We need a safe but rapid withdrawal which encourages Afghans to assume responsibility, while leaving in place a strong counter intelligence and special forces effort proportionate to the threat. The War on Terror is being fought against a global enemy, and it is critical that we have the resources to fight them wherever they’re found.”
Tim Pawlenty
Short version: The Leave The Troops There candidate.
From Pawlenty’s appearance on The O’Reilly Factor Wednesday, which was distributed to press by his campaign: “I thought his speech tonight was deeply concerning. Look how he phrased the outcome of this war. He said we need to end the war ‘responsibly.’ When America goes to war, America needs to win. We need to close out the war successfully. And what that means now is not nation building. What it means is to follow General Petraeus’ advice and to get those security forces built up to the point where they can pick up the slack as we draw down.”
Rick Santorum
Short version: What Pawlenty said.
From the statement: “Every American wants our brave men and women home safely, but we cannot let those who’ve given the last full measure die in vain by abandoning the gains we’ve made thus far. We must be squarely focused on succeeding in Afghanistan rather than on politically motivated troop withdrawals.”
Herman Cain
Short version: I’m not exactly sure what Obama said, but I don’t like the sound of it.
From the statement: “The President suggested that we cannot become isolationist or engage in every international conflict, but instead, we must charter a “middle course.” How does he define this? It seems to be yet another foggy foreign policy coming from this administration. Instead of providing the American people with clarity, President Obama proposes an abrupt withdrawal of our troops that could potentially compromise the legitimate gains we have made in Afghanistan. Sadly, I fear President Obama’s decision could embolden our enemy and endanger our troops.”
Ron Paul
Short version: I was for bringing all the troops home from everywhere before it was cool.
From a statement sent to Politico by Paul’s campaign: “This move is too little, too late…not only still in Iraq and Afghanistan, but we’ve expanded into Libya, Yemen, and Pakistan. Despite this purely political move, there will still be thousands of American soldiers in harm’s way by the end of this drawdown.”
Michele Bachmann
Short version: Crickets.
From a Minnesota Public Radio blog post Wednesday night:
Surprisingly, Bachmann’s rapid-response communications shop has not come out with a statement about the speech. When asked if the GOP congresswoman would be doing TV interviews tonight, her office said she had no plans to.
MPR noted that Bachmann told The Weekly Standard the other day that she’s ready to “stay the course” in Afghanistan.
