this follows steele's comments at a private connecticut fund-raiser that we're captured on camera and he said the war in afghanistan was, quote, a war of obama's choosing. and, that everyone who tried to win a land war in afghanistan, over the past 1,000 years, has, quote, failed. now, in the statement and in that e-mail to supporters, steele says, quote, as we have learned throughout history, winning a war in afghanistan is a difficult task. we must also remember that after the tragedy of september 11th, 2001 it is also a necessary one. the stakes are too high for us to assess anything but success in afghanistan. but some say to quiet his critics steele may need to do more and say it more visibly. take a listen: >> he's going to have to take the public stage and tick his lickin' there and say, basically, that he misspoke, it was not a war of our choosing, it was a war of the al qaeda and taliban's choosing when they came to our shores, when al qaeda came to our shores on 9/11 and launching attacks from bases