Romney, Ryan rip Obama on Afghanistan

MANCHESTER, N.H., Aug. 20 (UPI) -- President Obama has fumbled the ball in Afghanistan, Republican challenger Mitt Romney and his running mate Paul Ryan said Monday in New Hampshire.

During a town hall-style meeting at St. Anselm College in Manchester attended by about 3,000 people, Romney said if elected president he would do "everything in my power to transition from our military to their military as soon as possible, bring our men and women home and do so in a way consistent with our mission, which is to keep Afghanistan from being overrun by a new entity that would allow Afghanistan to be a launching point for terror again like it was on 9/11."

Ryan was harsher, accusing the Democratic president of making decisions regarding the war in Afghanistan that were "more political in nature than military."

"A draw-down occurring in the middle of a fighting season and we are still giving our military the same mission," the Wisconsin congressman said. "We don't want to do something that would put them in jeopardy, we want them to fulfill the mission in the safest way possible. And that to me means, you make decisions based on what's right for the country, for our nation's security, and let our men and women serving in our armed forces do their job in the safest way, period. End of story. Elections not withstanding."

The spring, Obama signed an agreement that will end U.S. military combat operations in Afghanistan in 2013. Afghan forces will assume responsibility for all security operations in the country by 2014.

The New Hampshire Union Leader reported the Republican pair also knocked Obama's record on the economy.

"We can't go on the way we're going on, or we'll end up being Greece," Romney said.