Carson: ‘Not Necessarily’ With Obama on Afghanistan Pullout, Like Iraq Where ‘We Had An Obligation’

Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson argued he’s “not necessarily with” President Obama’s troop withdrawal plan in Afghanistan, and it’s “just like” Iraq where “we had an obligation to stay there and ensure that it remained stable” on Thursday’s broadcast of “Wolf” on CNN.

Carson said, “As you probably know, I have never really been for putting a bunch of our troops in Afghanistan. It doesn’t mean I don’t support a vigorous response to terrorism. But I believe that we have other mechanisms, special forces, drones, etc., that can render us very effective in taking care of those people. I don’t have any problem with us going after Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, and maybe using Afghanistan as a launching pad. But we do not necessarily gain anything from putting a lot of our troops in harm’s way.

He was then asked, “So when President Obama says those 10,000 that are still there, bring them all back by the end of next year, maybe 1,000 remaining in Afghanistan, some to protect the US embassy in Kabul, on that specific, narrow issue, you’re with him?”

Carson answered, “Well, no, I’m not necessarily with him, because they’re there now, and they’re playing a role now. I would not have had them there in the first place, but they are there, and we have to deal with reality. It’s just like, I wasn’t in favor of going into Iraq, but we went into there, we destabilized the situation, and we had an obligation to stay there and ensure that it remained stable throughout time, and we did not do that, and it resulted in the creation of ISIS and a lot of instability.”

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