Fred Thompson, the actor and former Republican Senator, told listeners of his radio show Thursday that the war in Afghanistan is "already lost," and put the blame on President Barack Obama's delays in making a decision on a troop surge for the war effort.
Thompson's salvo "seems to lay the groundwork for Republican opposition to further American engagement in Afghanistan," suggests Ben Smith at Politico, but the former presidential candidate's words have roiled some critics, who note that, during the Bush administration, Thompson was a fierce opponent of those who painted the war effort negatively.
"It's becoming increasingly apparent with every passing day that it really doesn't matter how President Obama divides the Afghan baby, how he splits the difference between [Gen. Stanley] McChrystal and [Vice President Joe] Biden, because the war in Afghanistan has been lost," Thompson said on his radio show, The Fred Thompson Show. "It didn't have to be that way, it doesn't have to be that way, but that's the way it is."
Thompson took up a now-familiar theme among critics of the Obama administration's foreign policy, attacking the White House for taking its time with a decision on a troop increase for the war effort.
"This delay will not in and of itself do irreparable harm to the war effort -- it's much worse than that," Thompson said. "This delay is evidence that the war is already lost. So take your time on the new troop numbers, Mister President. Unless you have total change of heart and mind on this, it really doesn't make any difference."
