Jon Huntsman--sounding ever so much more adult and reasonable than the rest of his fellow Republican hopefuls--tells Jake Tapper that it's time to get the hell out of Afghanistan. We need to bring people home from Afghanistan. This should
August 21, 2011

[oldembed width="398" height="248" src="https://abcnews.go.com/assets/player/walt2.6/flash/SFP_Walt_2_69.swf" flashvars="configUrl=http://abcnews.go.com/video/sfp/embedPlayerConfig&configId=406733&clipId=14347530&showId=14347530&gig_lt=1313907283989&gig_pt=1313907437834&gig_g=2" fid="3"]

Jon Huntsman--sounding ever so much more adult and reasonable than the rest of his fellow Republican hopefuls--tells Jake Tapper that it's time to get the hell out of Afghanistan.

We need to bring people home from Afghanistan. This should not be a nation-building exercise when we have nation-building to do right here in our own country. This is a counter-terror effort. We need people in Afghanistan who can collect intelligence, Special Forces capabilities and some element to train the national -- the Afghan national troops. But we should not be involved in nation-building.

And we've got to basically call it for what it is and get back to strengthening the core of this country or we are of no value to the rest of the world. That light, that goodness that traditionally has radiated over the years, that speaks to democracy, that speaks to liberty, that speaks to open markets and human rights. We're not projecting that goodness anymore. The world always is a better and a safer place with a strong America. And right now, we don't have a strong America.

Damn. I'm not used to agreeing with a Republican. I may need to sit down for a bit.

But what Huntsman says is absolutely true. We are nation-building in Afghanistan...and not very well. There is no end point in our mission, no point in which we can say we've "won". And it's hurting this country with each year we stay in that country with no clear end game in sight.

Can you help us out?

For nearly 20 years we have been exposing Washington lies and untangling media deceit, but now Facebook is drowning us in an ocean of right wing lies. Please give a one-time or recurring donation, or buy a year's subscription for an ad-free experience. Thank you.

Discussion

We welcome relevant, respectful comments. Any comments that are sexist or in any other way deemed hateful by our staff will be deleted and constitute grounds for a ban from posting on the site. Please refer to our Terms of Service for information on our posting policy.
Mastodon