Biden Criticizes Bush on Pakistan
Sen. Joseph Biden (Del.) isn't president just yet. But he's practicing this week on Pakistan.
In a speech today at St. Anselm's College in Manchester, New Hampshire, Biden criticized President Bush for mishandling the current political crisis and called for a change of approach in dealing with Pakistan. He called for the U.S. to "be far more pro-active, not reactive and make it clear to Pakistan that actions have consequences."
Biden continued, "President Bush's first reaction was to call on President Musharraf to reverse course. Given the stakes, I thought it was important to actually call him - which is exactly what I did. I also spoke to opposition leader Benazir Bhutto."
The senator, who chairs the Foreign Relations Committee and has been working on world conflict for years, described his conversation with President Musharraf as "very direct and detailed... I told him how critical it is that elections go forward as planned in January, that he follow through on his commitment to take off his uniform, and that he restore the rule of law to Pakistan."
Then Biden put on his campaign hat. "Now, President Bush finally got around to calling Musharraf yesterday. As a few of you may know, I'm running for President and I can tell you this: If I'm elected, I won't wait five days to pick up the phone or delegate matters of this magnitude to my secretary of state or to my ambassador. There is too much at stake to leave this kind of conversation to others."
Biden warned that if Musharraf does not restore democracy, "U.S. military aid will be in great jeopardy," and said "big-ticket weapons systems" would be on the table, with Congress ready to act, if Bush and Musharraf don't.
Biden said the U.S. must take a broader approach to Pakistan centered on the well-being of its people, rather than just the stability of its leadership, and said he would start by tripling non-military aid to the country, to $1.5 billion annually. "Instead of funding military hardware, it would build schools, clinics, and roads," Biden said. He would also create a "democracy dividend" of $1 billion, for the first year of democratic rule.
--Shailagh Murray
Posted at 11:15 AM ET on Nov 8, 2007
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Posted by: dbu2709399aolcom | November 14, 2007 7:42 PM
Now THIS is leadership.
Good luck with your campaign, Biden! Let's hope the people in Iowa get it right this time!
Posted by: theseventen | November 8, 2007 9:35 PM
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Sorry, THIS is not leadership. This is some guy running for president who thinks he has the power and influence upon the President of Pakistan rather than allowing the president of the United States and his Secretary of State to handle the diplomatic issue. How in the world can Biden make any claim that his phone call was the arrow in the diplomatic arsenal that got Musharraf to impliment elections or to end the emergency Marshal Law?
Biden claims that he does not want to be Hillary´s VP, since he thinks it would be just a ceremonial post with Old Bill back in the White House. So basically, is Biden thinking he is the Secretary of State now or does he think Hillary will pick him?
Or if Biden became president, would he want some Republican flying off to meet with world leaders and undermining his foreign policy?
If the Democrats want to run for office, that is one thing. But to act as if they have already been elected to govern and therefore think they have an impact on the current world stage is really the ulimate in arrogance?
When Nancy Pelosi flew to Syria and acted like the Secretary of State, the media really smacked her for pushing her way into crossing the boundaryf of her post as Speaker.
Now here we have Biden acting like Sec. of State, or maybe he thinks he is the current leader of the real world?
While Democrats might be a kick out Biden´s antics, remember this:
When the Democrats get back into the White House, the Republicans have every right to treat them with the same behavior as they have given to the Bush Administration.
Undermining a sitting president is not way to share the power to govern our nation.
The people elected Democrats to help govern the United States, not sabotage it.