OAKLAND, Calif. (KCBS) -- Amid the Afghanistan debate -- a longtime correspondent, now Hearst columnist is weighing in on the prospect of more troops.
The Dean of the White House Press Corp, Helen Thomas, attended a fundraising tea for Congresswoman Barbara Lee, and shared her opinion on troops in Afghanistan.
As the Obama administration struggles to define a strategy in Afghanistan, Thomas who has covered every president since John F. Kennedy, says the conflict is reminiscent of Vietnam.
KCBS' Margie Shafer reports
"The solution is to find the peacemakers on the other side--there must be some," Thomas said. "And I would get out."
Thomas had this to say about the president's Nobel Peace Prize...
"I think it's put a great burden on him now to prove he's for peace and he can achieve it," she said.
Thomas was in town for a fundraising tea for Congresswoman Barbara Lee who has introduced a resolution to stop the funding for an increase in troop level in Afghanistan.
"The more troops we send, the more of our brave young men and women we send in harm's way, the worse it's going to get," Lee said.
For more than 50 years, Helen Thomas was a correspondent for UPI.
"I'm a columnist now," she said. "My opinion doesn't mean a thing, but I have a right to express it."
(ewi)