Romney needs to be careful about his ‘facts’ about the Afghanistan war

Walter Pincus, Wash. Post

(excerpt begins at middle)

One question to him was: “Governor Romney, should the United States negotiate with the Taliban to end the fighting in Afghanistan?”

Romney’s answer: “These people have declared war on us. They’ve killed Americans. We go anywhere they are and we kill them.”

Facts: After long negotiations with aides to Taliban leader Mohammad Omar, there is agreement for a Taliban political office to be opened in Qatar. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has given tentative assent. Obama officials insist that talks, when they begin, are only for confidence building and that real negotiations over Afghanistan’s future must occur between the insurgents and the Karzai government.

Meanwhile, as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton put it Jan. 11, you don’t have the luxury of talking about ending a war with friends.

full: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/romney-needs-to-be-careful-about-his-facts-about-the-afghanistan-war/2012/01/18/gIQAsX1J9P_singlePage.html