Rubio: Obama 'emboldening' Taliban

Sen. Marco Rubio on Sunday accused the Obama administration of “emboldening the Taliban” in Afghanistan, seizing on comments in a new book by former Defense Secretary Robert Gates to make the case that the administration has mismanaged the war.

“I don't think we can ignore what's in that book, and I think, for many of us, it confirms our worst fears,” the Florida Republican said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “You saw that reflected in the decision that [Obama] made. At the same time that he announced the surge, he also announced an exit date and strategy, thereby emboldening the Taliban to believe they could wait us out.”

"This is an administration full of people that either have the wrong convictions, or, in the case of former Secretary [Hillary] Clinton, lacked the courage of her convictions," Rubio added, referring to comments by Gates.

Rubio also said that the administration’s approach to the war in Iraq has raised questions over American leadership abroad.

“And the result is now evident across the globe. Our allies see us as unreliable and our enemies feel emboldened,” Rubio added. “And I think that this confirms our worst fears, that this is an administration that lacks a strategic foreign policy and, in fact, is largely driven by politics and tactics.”