RNC confirms Michael Steele will remain chairman

All of this comment occurred despite Steele’s attempt to clarify his remarks shortly after the video was released. In a statement released shortly after the video appeared online last week, Steele said that “[t]here is no question that America must win the war on terror.”

“As we have learned throughout history, winning a war in Afghanistan is a difficult task.   We must also remember that after the tragedy of September 11, 2001, it is also a necessary one,” he said. “The stakes are too high for us to accept anything but success in Afghanistan.”

The controversy began when an online video emerged of Steele addressing a crowd at a Connecticut fundraiser last Thursday. Steele suggested that the war in Afghanistan was not winnable and criticized President Obama for increasing the level of American resources to the region.

“This was a war of Obama’s choosing. This is not something the United States has actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in,” Steele said of Afghanistan. “Well if he’s such a student of history, has he not understood that, you know, 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,” he added later.

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