GOProud has joined with several other Republicans — including, as reported by Politico, former National Republican Congressional Committee chair Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) — in calling for Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele to step down following comments about the war in Afghanistan being captured on tape.
In the comments, Steele called the current war there “a war of Obama’s choosing” and asked if President Obama knew “that’s the one thing you don’t do, is engage in a land war in Afghanistan? All right, because everyone who has tried over a thousand years of history has failed, and there are reasons for that.”
In the GOProud release, Christopher Barron, GOProud’s board chairman, said:
“Chairman Steele shouldn’t need to be reminded that the war in Afghanistan was not a ‘war of Obama’s choosing.’ The Chairman of the RNC shouldn’t need to be reminded that it was terrorists operating from bases in Afghanistan who started this war on September 11, 2001.
“Michael Steele is dead wrong; the war in Afghanistan is not lost. What is lost, however, is any shred of confidence that conservatives can have in his leadership at the RNC.”
The full release can be found below the jump.
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GOProud Calls on RNC Chairman Michael Steele to Resign
Christopher R. Barron, Chairman of the Board – “Michael Steele’s comments regarding the war in Afghanistan are inexcusable. These comments are not just another gaffe that can be explained away, they represent a fundamental failure to understand the importance of winning the war on global extremism.”
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, GOProud, the only national organization of gay conservatives and their allies, called on Michael Steele to resign as Chairman of the Republican National Committee after he made comments critical of the U.S. war in Afghanistan.
Christopher R. Barron, Chairman of the Board:
“Michael Steele’s comments regarding the war in Afghanistan are inexcusable. These comments are not just another gaffe that can be explained away, they represent a fundamental failure to understand the importance of winning the war on global extremism.
“Chairman Steele shouldn’t need to be reminded that the war in Afghanistan was not a ‘war of Obama’s choosing.’ The Chairman of the RNC shouldn’t need to be reminded that it was terrorists operating from bases in Afghanistan who started this war on September 11, 2001.
“Michael Steele is dead wrong; the war in Afghanistan is not lost. What is lost, however, is any shred of confidence that conservatives can have in his leadership at the RNC. This election cycle is simply too important to the future of the conservative movement and to the future of this country to be trusted to someone like Michael Steele.”
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