From the Koran-burning that brought on violent protests to a rogue soldier killing 16 Afghan civilians, recent events provide the GOP candidates an opening to criticize President Obama’s handling of the war in Afghanistan — an opportunity they have taken full advantage of. But while the candidates agree to blame Obama, they have offered little in the way of solutions on how to bring the decade-long war to an acceptable end.Arguably the candidate who comes closest to beating the war drum on Afghanistan is Rick Santorum. When asked about Afghanistan Sunday on ABC’s This Week, his first instinct was to simply attack Obama. “The bigger issue here is the policy of this administration,” Santorum said, claiming they have the enemy “hope” by creating a public timeline for withdrawal. His take, as he put it, is “let’s either commit to winning, or let’s get out.” But when pressed, Santorum went on to say that he could see staying in the region a long time.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=100474