Grover Norquist’s Call for Retreat from Afghanistan
High-profile Republican activist Grover Norquist recently bucked his party by supporting the Ground Zero mosque and now he’s picked another fight: the war in Afghanistan. He denies that he’s calling for a rapid withdrawal of U.S. forces and just says he’s calling for a “discussion” of it — which basically means he just doesn’t have the testicular fortitude to say that’s his position.
Norquist said that conservatives should take a look at the “vast expenditures of cash, the vast expenditures of other people lives, and the opportunity cost.” He says, “It seems to me that it has been more expensive than not. And it has made America weaker than otherwise.” He also mentioned how President Reagan “didn’t decide to fix Lebanon” but packed up and left after the bombing of the Marine barracks. But don’t get Norquist wrong, he insists. He isn’t calling for doing the same in Afghanistan, even though he’s making the case for it.
He is the Republican equivalent of those Democrats who tried to force President Bush into withdrawing from Iraq before the surge was even given a chance to succeed. Just as the surge is bringing about signs of progress in Afghanistan and 1,400 more Marines are being sent, Norquist wants to turn and run.
