Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Romney: "No, seriously - what are we doing in Afghanistan?"

Presumptive Republican Presidential Candidate Surprises Crowd at Balboa Park Veteran's Museum; Interrupts Memorial Day Speech to Query Senator McCain.

"If I'm elected President, will someone explain it to me? Is that how it works?"

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/may/29/25145/

Mitt Romney, at podium, turns and interrogates noted veteran McCain, seated.

NOBODY EXPECTS THE MORMON INQUISITION, BALBOA PARK - Republican Presidential front-runner Mitt Romney shocked the 5,000 or so people who gathered yesterday to hear his Memorial Day address in front of the Veteran's Museum. Mid-way through his speech, he seemed to lose his train of thought; then, after a confused pause, he turned to fellow Republican and United States Senator John McCain and asked, "No seriously — what are we doing in Afghanistan?"

"Every time I try to push the issue with my campaign advisers, they remind me of this or that member of the War Department saying, 'We must keep going in Afghanistan so that those who have died there already will not have died in vain.' But if the whole war is basically pointless — I mean, everybody knows Al-Qaeda is holed up in Pakistan now, and that the Taliban isn't going anywhere, right? — then everybody who dies there dies in vain, right? How is it honoring the dead to pile more bodies on top of them? I'm not a veteran, but when I was working at Bain Capital, we called this sort of thing 'throwing good money after bad.'"

Romney paused, as if realizing the likely effects of his words on people who had gathered to honor America's fallen soldiers. But then he pressed on. "I know there are those of you who will bristle at my comparing conducting a war to running a business," he admitted. "But I didn't start this. I mean, just look at President Obama's language surrounding the troop withdrawal: 'Winding down the war in Afghanistan.' You don't 'wind down' a war. You wind down a business operation. You win a war or you lose a war. Am I right, John?" he asked, turning back to Senator McCain.

When McCain offered nothing but a murderous glare in reply, Romney turned again to the crowd. "Now President Obama has the Secretary of Defense telling everyone that 'we're not going anywhere,' that we'll have a presence in Afghanistan clear through 2024. Because why? Because by then, Afghanistan will love America and democracy and Enlightenment notions of human society? I just don't get it."

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Second largest yellowfin tuna caught by rod and reel

Excel does it again

Presumptive Republican Presidential Candidate Surprises Crowd at Balboa Park Veteran's Museum; Interrupts Memorial Day Speech to Query Senator McCain.

"If I'm elected President, will someone explain it to me? Is that how it works?"

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/may/29/25145/

Mitt Romney, at podium, turns and interrogates noted veteran McCain, seated.

NOBODY EXPECTS THE MORMON INQUISITION, BALBOA PARK - Republican Presidential front-runner Mitt Romney shocked the 5,000 or so people who gathered yesterday to hear his Memorial Day address in front of the Veteran's Museum. Mid-way through his speech, he seemed to lose his train of thought; then, after a confused pause, he turned to fellow Republican and United States Senator John McCain and asked, "No seriously — what are we doing in Afghanistan?"

"Every time I try to push the issue with my campaign advisers, they remind me of this or that member of the War Department saying, 'We must keep going in Afghanistan so that those who have died there already will not have died in vain.' But if the whole war is basically pointless — I mean, everybody knows Al-Qaeda is holed up in Pakistan now, and that the Taliban isn't going anywhere, right? — then everybody who dies there dies in vain, right? How is it honoring the dead to pile more bodies on top of them? I'm not a veteran, but when I was working at Bain Capital, we called this sort of thing 'throwing good money after bad.'"

Romney paused, as if realizing the likely effects of his words on people who had gathered to honor America's fallen soldiers. But then he pressed on. "I know there are those of you who will bristle at my comparing conducting a war to running a business," he admitted. "But I didn't start this. I mean, just look at President Obama's language surrounding the troop withdrawal: 'Winding down the war in Afghanistan.' You don't 'wind down' a war. You wind down a business operation. You win a war or you lose a war. Am I right, John?" he asked, turning back to Senator McCain.

When McCain offered nothing but a murderous glare in reply, Romney turned again to the crowd. "Now President Obama has the Secretary of Defense telling everyone that 'we're not going anywhere,' that we'll have a presence in Afghanistan clear through 2024. Because why? Because by then, Afghanistan will love America and democracy and Enlightenment notions of human society? I just don't get it."

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Presidential contributions split along urban and suburban zip codes

Next Article

Presidential Party Favors

Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader