On Afghanistan—What Did Mitt Mean?

Published June 14, 2011 7:30pm ET



One of the most interesting lines from the New Hampshire Republican presidential debate last night came from Mitt Romney, during the brief discussion of foreign policy. Romney was asked about Afghanistan and responded that he wanted troops home as soon as possible, so long as doing so was consistent with the recommendations from U.S. generals.

It’s time for us to bring our troops home as soon as we possibly can, consistent with the word that comes to our generals that we can hand the country over to the Taliban military in a way that they’re able to defend themselves. Excuse me, the Afghan military to defend themselves from the Taliban. That’s an important distinction.
I want those troops to come home based upon not politics, not based upon economics, but instead based upon the conditions on the ground determined by the generals.

This was a pretty standard recitation of the Republican position on Afghanistan. It was the next sentence that raised some eyebrows.

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