GOProud Calls on Steele to Resign

Gay Republican group GOProud is calling for Michael Steele to step down as chairman of the Republican National Committee after making "inexcusable" remarks criticizing the war in Afghanistan at a fund-raiser in Connecticut.

"Michael Steele's comments regarding the war in Afghanistan are inexcusable," GOProud chair Christopher Barron said in a statement. "These comments are not just another gaffe that can be explained away, they represent a fundamental failure to understand the importance of winning the war on global extremism."

Steele said the following at the fund-raiser: "The McChrystal incident, to me, was very comical. I think it's a reflection of the frustration that a lot of our military leaders has with this Administration and their prosecution of the war in Afghanistan. Keep in mind again, federal candidates, this was a war of Obama's choosing. This was not something that the United States had actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in.

"But it was the president who was trying to be cute by half by building a script demonizing Iraq, while saying the battle really should in Afghanistan. Well, if he is such a student of history, has he not understood that you know that's the one thing you don't do, is engage in a land war in Afghanistan? All right, because everyone who has tried over a thousand years of history has failed, and there are reasons for that. There are other ways to engage in Afghanistan."

GOProud joins a growing chorus of influential Republicans calling for Steele's resignation.