Shuler at UNCA

Clare has the skinny on Deputy Whip Largely’s Open Meeting at Asheville On The Ground. Excerpt:

“To a question about Iraq: “When will we be bringing our troops home?” from a disabled veteran from the Viet Nam war, Shuler said “Let me really simplify it,” He then began telling the audience how he sought to understand the issues. “With our veterans and with our soldiers, I wanted to reach out to as many people who knew as much about this issue, so I reached out to the generals, General John Johns, he was with the first President Bush, he wrote the book on insurgency…Did the troop surge lessen the violence? Absolutely yes it did,” Shuler answered his own question. “What we have to do is we have to force the Iraqi government to take charge of this war. …under no circumstances do I want to have our men and women in Iraq unarmed. …
We must find our way home with our soldiers, we’re hoping we’ll get that very soon….We must have a game plan. …lets make sure we support our soldiers, as individuals it was not their decision to go to war, they are protecting our country.”

To the question about attacking Iran, Shuler advised “regional diplomacy.”

“We have to stand strong. We have to stand strong and be American.”