NEW YORK, June 19: Former Republican presidential nominee Senator John McCain has chastised his party for drifting towards isolationism and the current GOP presidential field for not supporting US military intervention in Libya and calling for speedy troop withdrawals from Afghanistan.
“This is isolationism. There’s always been an isolation strain in the Republican party, that Pat Buchanan wing of our party,” Senator McCain said. “But now it seems to have moved more centre stage.”
He also cautioned Republicans on Pakistan’s relationship, saying that the US should assure Pakistan of its continued commitment while setting certain benchmarks for continued help.
Last week at the first major Republican presidential primary debate, former Governor Mitt Romney said: “It’s time for us to bring our troops home as soon as we possibly can” based on the advice of military commanders.
“We abandoned Afghanistan once and we paid a very heavy price for it in the attacks of 9/11,” Senator McCain said. “We do need to move into the eastern Afghanistan and finish this fight with one more season.”
At last Monday’s GOP debate, Republican front-runner Mitt Romney said: “It’s time for us to bring our troops home as soon as we possibly can consistent with the word that comes from our generals that we can hand the country over…” He added, however, that he believed the US had “learned some important lessons” from Afghanistan.
“We’ve learned that our troops shouldn’t try and fight a war of independence for another nation,” Mr Romney said at the debate. “Only the Afghanis can win Afghanistan’s independence from the Taliban.”
Mr McCain disputed Mr Romney’s depiction of the war, saying, “I had never heard it described that way,” adding that the US military efforts should be allowed to fully succeed.
“I wish that candidate Romney and all the others would sit down with General Petraeus and understand how this counter-insurgency is working and succeeding,” he said. “For us to abandon Afghanistan to the tender mercies of the Taliban and radical Islamic extremists, I think would be repeating mistakes we made before.”
“We’ve learned that our troops shouldn’t try and fight a war of independence for another nation,” Mr Romney said at the debate. “Only the Afghanis can win Afghanistan’s independence from the Taliban.”
Mr McCain disputed Mr Romney’s depiction of the war, saying, “I had never heard it described that way,” adding that the US military efforts should be allowed to fully succeed.
“I wish that candidate Romney and all the others would sit down with General Petraeus and understand how this counter-insurgency is working and succeeding,” he said. “For us to abandon Afghanistan to the tender mercies of the Taliban and radical Islamic extremists, I think would be repeating mistakes we made before.”
No comments:
Post a Comment