Mitt Romney’s Secret Plan for Afghanistan

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

Here is Mitt Romney on Meet the Press yesterday, responding to criticism that he failed to say even a single word about Afghanistan in his acceptance speech:

I find it interesting that people are curious about mentioning words in a speech as opposed to policy. And so I went to the American Legion the day before I gave that speech. I went to the American Legion and spoke with our veterans there, and described my policy as it relates to Afghanistan and other foreign policy and our military. I’ve been to Afghanistan, and the members of our troops know of my commitment to Afghanistan and to the effort that’s going on there. I have some differences on policy with the president. I happen to think those are more important than what word I mention in each speech.

And here is the sum total of what Romney said about Afghanistan in that speech:

Of course, we are still at war in Afghanistan. We still have uniformed men and women in conflict, risking their lives just as you once did. How deeply we appreciate their sacrifice. We salute them. We honor them. We respect and love them.

That’s why I refer to this as a “secret plan,” to go along with Romney’s secret plans about taxes and budgets and preexisting conditions. Romney wants us to believe he’s got some kind of detailed, deeply-considered plan to change our course in Afghanistan, but if he does, he’s refusing to let any of us know about it. Apparently it’s a secret.

Via Josh Gerstein, who has more.

Fact:

Mother Jones was founded as a nonprofit in 1976 because we knew corporations and billionaires wouldn't fund the type of hard-hitting journalism we set out to do.

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2024 demands.

payment methods

Fact:

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2024 demands.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate