Below, watch instantly infamous video of Michael Steele’s odious remarks on Afghanistan.

Here is my own transcription, as best as my deaf ear could produce.

Well the McChrystal incident um, to me was very telling. And I think it’s a reflection of frustration that a lot of our military leaders have with this administration and their prosecution of the war in Afghanistan.

Keep in mind, again, [inadudible] our federal candidates, this was a war of Obama’s choosing. This is not, this was not something the United States had actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in. It was one of those, one of those areas on the total board of of foreign policy of the middle east, that you would be in the background, sort of shaping the, the changes that were necessary in Afghanistan, as opposed to directly engaging troops. But it was the President, who tried to be cute by half, by flipping the script, demonizing Iraq while saying the battle really should be in Afghanistan. Well if, if he’s 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. Alright? 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 that do not [indaudible]

So now, for, for our candidates whether they’re running for Congress or United States Senate, um, there is a whole text of resources available to them through our office, the RNC, through uh, congressional committee, the senatorial and congressional committees, and even some of the think tanks that help to frame those arguments, uh, so that, um you know, you you don’t get stuck on the, well, George Bush, you know … fill in the blank. And I think that that’s gonna be very helpful. [inaudible] you can shoot them down with the facts. It’s amazing what facts can do. You know? So .. but that’s our reality.

Disgraceful and embarrassingly inaccurate. What really stands out to me is that it seems Steele wasn’t merely trying to make the ridiculous case that this was Obama’s war, that nobody wants the war to be prosecuted, and that we can’t possibly win the war. No, he was also making the case that our candidates in 2010 should be saying this on the trail. That the RNC would be pushing this as a talking point!! That’s not just grossly misinformed, out of touch, and divorced from reality, it’s dangerously inept and incompetent.

Obama did not “choose” this war. This war was brought to our shores on September 11th, 2001. America is fighting the war in Afghanistan. We did so under President Bush, we continue to do so under President Obama. Where others have failed, America succeeds.

Afghanistan is not lost. And Iraq was not lost when Democrats cried defeat. But defending these comments, Mr. Chairman? That’s an unwinnable war.