• Mitt Romney agrees that the United States has positioned
itself in war-torn Afghanistan to "confront a common enemy that
threatens the United States, our friends and allies"
 
• Though he is full of praise for President Obama's right
decision to surge 30,000 troops into Afghanistan, Romney does not
approve of the latter's non-action oriented rhetoric strategies
sketched out for the country and simply dismisses it with a
comment: "This is not the time for Hamlet in the White House."
 
• Mitt Romney made an appearance on CBS' Early Show, where
he openly criticized President Obama's decision-making process on
Afghanistan.
 
• He has clearly stated that nothing worthwhile is being
done to stabilize the situation in Afghanistan and protect the
lives of US troops dying in uniform everyday. 
 
• Followed by his silent interlude, Romney has been quick
to comment that President Obama has got his calculations wrong in
sending conflicting and equally misleading signals about a
timetable for withdrawing troops.
 
• Romney strongly opines, "You don't want in any way to
have [Pakistan or Afghanistan] thinking that somehow we are only
in there for 18 months and then we're getting out no matter what.
That's not the message you want to have heard"
 
• Romney believes that, in the hands of Obama, the US has
been molded to don the role of a neutral arbiter between nations
instead of a champion of freedom.
 
• He also sends across a warning signal that a pullback of
forces would destabilize Afghanistan.
		

• Mike Huckabee has expressed his full support for the war
in Afghanistan and is also of the impression that the "war should
not be judged while the United States is in the midst of it."
 
• Huckabee agrees that the Al Qaeda is a threatening
cancer diagnosed in Afghanistan but drives home the theory that
one does not deal with cancer by "pretending it doesn't exist."
 
• He is all praise for President Obama's wise decisions
regarding the war on terror in Afghanistan and feels everyone
should extend their 'non-partisan' support to the President as he
aims to finish America's international involvement in the
eight-year Afghanistan war.
 
• However, he has expressed his displeasure in withdrawing
the American troops from America in July 2011. Huckabee has
brushed aside this timetable as 'a huge mistake' and is not too
optimistic that President Obama will be able to stick to his time
line, without running the risk of ultimately abandoning it.
 
• Huckabee has reasons for his opposition of a public
timetable and justifies it with the simple theory that the
Taliban, Al Qaeda and the Afghan locals will perceive this
mention of a specific date as evidence that the American troops
will, most certainly, leave the country within the first few days
of July 2011. This step alone, Huckabee feels, is a wrong message
that will demoralize the Afghan and Pakistani armed forces and
make the countries more unstable.
 
• According to Huckabee, the Afghanistan government has
been highly disappointing and clearly stated that the US cannot
withdraw.
 
• Huckabee continues to insist his viewpoint that
neighboring countries should extend their support, both
militarily and financially.