Huntsman: 'Healthy dose of nation-building' needed

[June 22, 2011]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- Newly declared Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman says the Obama administration's pace of troop drawdown in Afghanistan is too slow.

Huntsman tells NBC's "Today" show "what we need now is a healthy dose of nation-building here at home." The former Utah governor also said "we can probably be a little more aggressive" about withdrawing American forces from Afghanistan. President Barack Obama gives a prime-time speech Wednesday night on his new Afghan war policy.

Huntsman was Obama's ambassador to China. He's said he respects Obama but that the two have different visions about how to make America stronger.

Huntsman said Tuesday there's "no real sign of recovery" in the economy and said the country must "grow out of the hole we're in." He said raising taxes should be "off the table."

[Associated Press]

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