should not go off and try to fight a war of independence for another nation. Only the Afghanis can win Afghanistan's independence from the Taliban. In 2012, when Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta outlined a plan to withdraw U.S. combat troops by 2013 if possible, Romney criticized the announcement, saying, "Why in the world do you go to the people that you're fighting with and tell them the date you're pulling out your troops?" Romney's 2012 presidential election campaign website similarly criticized the Obama Administration for announcing a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, and reiterated his position that in a Romney presidency, decisions about when to withdraw troops would be made based on the advice of commanders in the field, not electoral politics. In July 2012, Romney said that he would maintain troop numbers through 2013, then would withdraw them in 2014, as currently scheduled, with the possibility of maintaining troop levels for a longer period if needed. In 2021, Romney opposed Joe Biden's plan to withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan, saying that "withdrawal of U.S. troops is an error that will have serious consequences for our national security interests." War on Terror Guantanamo Bay During the debate in South Carolina held May 15, 2007 Romney stated that in his view "We ought to double" the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. He then went on to say, in reference to combatants captured in Iraq, "I want them in Guantanamo where they don't get the access to lawyers they get when they're on our soil. I don't want them in our prisons. I want them there." In Romney's speech at the 2007 Iowa Republican Straw Poll, he praised the U.S. military for not allowing prisoners to have judicial review of their cases. Interrogation techniques Romney opposes the use of torture; and supports the limited use of enhanced interrogation techniques to stop an imminent wide-scale terrorist attack. During the second Presidential debate, Romney supported the use of enhanced interrogation techniques in handling suspects at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, saying, "enhanced interrogation techniques have to be used—not torture but enhanced interrogation techniques, yes." When asked directly whether waterboarding was torture, Romney stated, "[A]s a presidential candidate, I don't think it's wise for us to describe specifically which measures we would and would not use. ... And I get that advice from Cofer Black, who is a person who was