Cain again: Taliban running Libya

He ended his week trying to blame reporters for the moment,which was captured on video and quickly spread around the Internet.

Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain suggested Friday that the Taliban were playing a role in Libyas new government,adding another foreign policy misstep to his stumbling campaign.

The week opened with Cain,one of the leading Republican presidential contenders,struggling to answer whether he supported President Barack Obamas foreign policy in Libya. He ended his week trying to blame reporters for the moment,which was captured on video and quickly spread around the Internet.

Cains critics seized on Mondays incoherent answer as the latest evidence that the former pizza executive is unprepared to be the partys nominee. Then Cain gave his critics another foreign policy error on video Friday.

Do I agree with siding with the opposition? Do I agree with saying that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi should go? Do I agree that they now have a country where youve got Taliban and al-Qaeda thats going to be part of the government? Cain asked reporters in Orlando. Do I agree with not knowing the government was going to which part was he asking me about? I was trying to get him to be specific and he wouldnt be specific.

The United States invaded Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban after the September 11,2001,attacks. The Taliban were ousted from power in Afghanistan and are now scattered in Afghanistan and Pakistan. There is no evidence that the Taliban are rising to power in Libya,a continent away.

Islamic extremists in Libya,however,could play a role in the new government. US officials are concerned that the former insurgents who have renounced extremism may have ties to the al-Qaeda.

The Republicans are trying to find a nominee who can both unseat Obama in the general election and appeal to the partys conservative base.

Story continues below this ad

Cains recent stumbles have helped open the door for former legislator Newt Gingrich,but he is facing renewed scrutiny for his past as a high-paid Washington lobbyist and government insider.

Cain was also a lobbyist,heading the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s. He is accused of sexually harassing staffers during that time. Four women say Cain harassed them. He denies this.

This newest error comes as Cain is trying to reassure his supporters that he has the foreign policy background the presidency requires.