Hoyer: Bush Administration 'Turned Tail' in Afghanistan

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer took offense Tuesday at Vice President Dick Cheney's persistent criticisms of President Obama's handling of the war in Afghanistan, including comments reported in Politico in which Cheney says the president's deliberative process over increasing troops in the region shows "weakness."
"Frankly, they turned tail," Hoyer said Tuesday of the Bush administration's conduct of the war in Afghanistan. "That's pretty tough language, but I get angry when I hear Vice President Cheney talking about a job that they started but didn't finish. And it was worse in 2008 in December than it was six years previous, with a resurgent Taliban and a resurgent al-Qaida and a very difficult situation in Pakistan."

Hoyer's comments came at his weekly meeting with reporters, where his usually business-like demeanor cracked, as it has several times in recent months when the subject of Afghanistan has been raised, especially in the context of Republican criticisms of Obama's handling of the war. Hoyer has consistently defended the president by saying the Bush administration allowed the conflict in Afghanistan to founder while Bush and Cheney focused their attention on the war in Iraq.

On Tuesday, Hoyer also addressed the question of how to pay for the estimated $30 billion that the additional deployments in Afghanistan could cost, but he did not immediately support a proposal by Rep. David Obey (R-Ore.) to add a war "surtax" onto American income taxes to pay for the increased war fighting. "I'm for paying for things that we do, and I've generally been supportive of that proposition," Hoyer said, but, "because of the economic situation that confronts us, that effort is complicated." Hoyer said he would discuss the idea with Obey directly.

Obama will announce his plans for the war in Afghanistan, including sending more troops there, during a speech from West Point at 8 p.m. eastern.

When Politico editors Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen asked Cheney if he bears any responsibility for the current state of affairs in Afghanistan, Cheney replied, "I basically don't."