In CBS Interview, Palin Calls For Surge In Afghanistan

By: Kevin Hechtkopf
Topics: Sarah Palin

On Wednesday morning, CBS News anchor Katie Couric interviewed Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin in New York. The first part of the interview on economic policy aired on the CBS Evening News last night. You can read and watch that part of the interview here.

Tonight, the second part of the exclusive interview, this time on foreign policy, will air on the CBS Evening News. But before that, here's a preview of Palin talking about Afghanistan. This clip also aired on The Early Show this morning.

Katie Couric: Why is it much more challenging there? Can you explain that?

Sarah Palin: The logistics that we are already suggesting here, not having enough troops in the area right now. The… things like the terrain even in Afghanistan and that border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, where, you know, we believe that-- Bin Laden is-- is hiding out right now and… and is still such a leader of this terrorist movement. There… there are many more challenges there. So, again, I believe that… a surge in Afghanistan also will lead us to victory there as it has proven to have done in Iraq. And as I say, Katie, that we cannot afford to retreat, to withdraw in Iraq. That's not gonna get us any better off in Afghanistan either. And as our leaders are telling us in our military, we do need to ramp it up in Afghanistan, counting on our friends and allies to assist with us there because these terrorists who hate America, they hate what we stand for with the… the freedoms, the democracy, the… the women's rights, the tolerance, they hate what it is that we represent and our allies, too, and our friends, what they represent. If we were… were to allow a stronghold to be captured by these terrorists then the world is in even greater peril than it is today. We cannot afford to lose in Afghanistan.

Update: Click in the player below to watch the video of Katie Couric on The Early Show this morning:

Kevin Hechtkopf
Kevin Hechtkopf is CBSNews.com's politics editor.
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by rlittle2008 September 28, 2008 1:20 AM EDT: Keep talking Palin--Moose lips sink ships.; Reply to this comment


by chacho_keva September 27, 2008 1:30 AM EDT: This is the person who will someday be (literally) "a heartbeat" away from being the leader of the free world. Her words read like a person who lives and thinks according to the divisive political rhetoric which keeps the United States segregated between left and right camps. Sadder even is the fact that many people will vote for McCain and Palin simply because of party affiliation, or worse yet, physical appearance.; Reply to this comment


by julez47 September 26, 2008 8:41 PM EDT: This simply proves that her joke about being a pit bull had more to do with her intellect than her lipstick.; Reply to this comment


by julez47 September 26, 2008 8:38 PM EDT: This simply proves that her joke about being a pit bull had more to do with her intellect than her lipstick.; Reply to this comment


by cbullcom September 26, 2008 7:33 PM EDT: Obama supports infanticide.
Posted by smebep

Smebep, what is it going to take for people like you to quit spreading lie''s. Just because someone is pro choice does not mean they support infanticide. Have you even been to Obama''s website, or are you repeating something you heard, or read in another blog. I bet you have not been to his website.; Reply to this comment


by varadero1-2009 September 26, 2008 7:17 PM EDT: To those who do not understand gov. Palin answers,including me, please remember that she belongs to a religious denomination that speaks in foreign tongues.

Anthony; Reply to this comment


by csted31 September 26, 2008 6:50 PM EDT: With all due respect to Governor Sarah Palin, I really think she needs to work on her interviewing skills. If she wants to be taken more seriously, Gov. Palin needs to speak in a more coherent and logical fashion.; Reply to this comment


by lillibet-2009 September 26, 2008 6:37 PM EDT: Watching her interviews with Katie Couric, I have mental whiplash.

It is as if her ideas were spun in a vacuous blender, then splurted out in incoherence (and policy jargon), with no point other than the talking points. And those, the talking points, were not spoken fully, nor did it appear she understood the words she spoke.

Yikes!; Reply to this comment


by phillipd5 September 26, 2008 4:56 PM EDT: After watching the Sarah Palin interview with Katy Couric (Transcript and video on CBSNEWS.com), this woman is functionally illiterate when it comes to foreign policy. Her lack of any real understanding of world affairs was breathtaking. That McCain could even consider an individual with this total lack of basic knowledge is indicative of his %u201Cgood judgement%u201D.
I know many college kids that talk more intelligently and have a better grasp of the world that what Mrs. Palin exhibited in this interview. I encourage everyone to take a look at this interview. If you can still support this woman after watching this, perhaps you should have an EEG test to make sure you still have functioning brain waves%u2026; Reply to this comment


by phillipd5 September 26, 2008 4:55 PM EDT: After watching the Sarah Palin interview with Katy Couric (Transcript and video on CBSNEWS.com), this woman is functionally illiterate when it comes to foreign policy. Her lack of any real understanding of world affairs was breathtaking. That McCain could even consider an individual with this total lack of basic knowledge is indicative of his %u201Cgood judgement%u201D.
I know many college kids that talk more intelligently and have a better grasp of the world that what Mrs. Palin exhibited in this interview. I encourage everyone to take a look at this interview. If you can still support this woman after watching this, perhaps you should have an EEG test to make sure you still have functioning brain waves%u2026; Reply to this comment