US Republican Party Chairman Steele Slams Obama for Afghan War

US Republican Party chairman, Michael Steele, has strongly criticized US President Barack Obama for deciding to go ahead with the war in Afghanistan.

According to a video circulated by Democrats on Friday, Steele said that everyone who engaged in war in Afghanistan in the past millennium has failed.

"This is not something the United States had actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in," Reuters quoted Steele as saying.

Steele's remarks prompted William Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard and a leading voice of conservative support for the war in Afghanistan, to call for Steele's resignation as party leader.

Seeking to clarify his remarks, Steele said that, "There is no question that America must win the war on terror."

"It was the president who was trying to be (too) cute by half by flipping a script demonizing Iraq, while saying the battle really should be in Afghanistan," he said.

The war in Afghanistan, which has entered its ninth year, was started by former US President George W. Bush in response to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on New York.

Steele also criticized President Obama for his troop surge policies in Afghanistan.