Candidates Speak Out On Pakistan Crisis

Republican Hopefuls Support Bush Policy While Democrats Are Critical

(AP)  Presidential candidates from both parties condemned the declaration of emergency rule in Pakistan but disagreed Monday on how to deal with one of the United States' few allies in the Muslim world.

Republicans expressed support for President Bush in dealing with Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, while Democrats blamed Bush for the unrest.

Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton criticized the arrest of opposition leaders and suspension of the constitution in Pakistan, and she blamed the Bush administration for diverting resources to Iraq and away from the fight against terror on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

"We now find ourselves having to cope with yet another threatening challenge made worse by the failed policies of this president," the New York senator said.

In Iowa City, John Edwards said the United States should tie its aid to Pakistan to free elections and greater openness.

"Our leverage with the Pakistanis is the fact that we provide billions of dollars in assistance to them," Edwards said. "We should use that leverage to push Musharraf and the Pakistani government to do the right thing."

However, Republican Rudy Giuliani said he wouldn't urge the Bush administration to cut off financial aid to the Musharraf government.

"I would not second-guess any president on that because I think they're in the middle of a very difficult situation right now," Giuliani said in an interview with The Associated Press in New Hampshire.

The former New York mayor said it was important to both encourage democracy and keep the government together in Pakistan.

Fellow Republican Fred Thompson, a former Tennessee senator, said aid should continue, as did former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

"The Pakistani military is working with us in key ways in Afghanistan and I would not end that effort," Romney said in Florida. "That's something critical to us."

It's possible that an aid-cutoff measure could come up in the Senate, where several of the candidates would vote on it, but no such action seems imminent.

Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd said, "I am firmly opposed to cutting off assistance to the government and people of Pakistan at this time - in fact I would argue that additional assistance might even be necessary in the coming days."

P.J. Crowley, a former Defense Department and White House official during the Clinton administration and now a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, said the Pakistan debate might be too nuanced for presidential politics.

"Whatever a candidate says at this point, certainly won't fit on a bumper sticker," he said.

Still, nearly everyone wanted to comment:

Democrat Bill Richardson, a former United Nations ambassador, said the Bush administration's approach to Musharraf has been a "policy without teeth." The New Mexico governor, campaigning in Des Moines, Iowa, said he would tell Musharraf that Pakistan would lose $10 billion in U.S. aide unless he restored democracy and rooted out terrorist elements inside his country.

Joe Biden, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as well as a Democratic presidential candidate, called Pakistan the "most dangerous and complex relationship we have." He said Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation" that the Bush administration should review its aid program and consider sending U.S. troops into Pakistan to find Osama bin Laden.

Sen. Barack Obama's campaign said the Bush administration had pursued "failed policies of promoting stability over democracy" in Pakistan. "We must start with a serious review of our investments in Pakistan to make sure that U.S. assistance is supporting democracy, not repression," Obama spokesman Bill Burton said Monday.

[kjvprophet]

With the full support of Senators Clinton, Obama and McCain, President Bush recently signed into Law the John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007, which, according to Senator Leahy (D-Vermont), will actually "encourage the President to declare Martial Law." It does so by revising the Insurrection Act, a set of Laws that limits the President''s ability to deploy troops within the United States. The Insurrection Act (10 U.S.C.331 -335) has historically, along with the Posse Comitatus Act (18 U.S.C.1385), helped to enforce strict prohibitions on military involvement in domestic Law enforcement. With one cloaked swipe of his pen, Bush is seeking to undo those prohibitions. Public Law 109-364, or the John Warner Defense Authorization Act (H.R.5122) (2), which was signed by the President in a private Oval Office ceremony, allows the President to declare a "public emergency," suspend Congress and station troops anywhere in America and take control of state-based National Guard units without the consent of your Governor or local authorities, in order to "suppress public disorder." President Bush seized this unprecedented power on the very same day that he signed the equally odious Military Commissions Act. In a sense, the two Laws compliment one another. One allows for torture and detention abroad of those who dissent and are stripped of their citizenship, while the other seeks to enforce acquiescence at home, preparing to order the military onto the streets of America.

[kjvprophet]

What we need is a President who will show us the way. Not the old way. Not the same way, but a NEW WAY. Think about this for a minute. What if we pulled all of our troops out of South Korea? They''ve been there for 50+ years. What if we quit worrying about Iran, but instead, realized that its having a nuclear weapon will not mean the end of the world? What if we pulled all of our troops out of the Middle-East, and brought them all home? What if we realistically addressed the National Debt, and paid attention to REALLY DOING SOMETHING about stopping illegal immigration? These are the ideas of Republican Presidential candidate, Dr. Ron Paul. He''s a ten term Congressman and a physician who has delivered over 4,000 babies. He''s an intellectual who''s published four books, three of which are devoted entirely to sound economics and one to foreign policy. He was raised on a dairy farm in Pennsylvania as a pious Lutheran, but now he attends a Baptist church. Paul is given to mulling things over morally. Whenever he recollects the helicopter pilots he treated as an Air Force Flight Surgeon (Captain) during the Vietnam War, a war which he now says was "totally unnecessary and illegal," he laments, "They were gung-ho. I''ve often thought about how many of those people never came back." Candidates with the high level of personal integrity and proven track record of adherance to The Constitution, Congressman Paul has always demonstrated only come around once in a lifetime, if we''re lucky.

[kjvprophet]

What we need is a President who will show us the way. Not the old way. Not the same way, but a NEW WAY. Think about this for a minute. What if we pulled all of our troops out of South Korea? They''ve been there for 50+ years. What if we quit worrying about Iran, but instead, realized that its having a nuclear weapon will not mean the end of the world? What if we pulled all of our troops out of the Middle-East, and brought them all home? What if we realistically addressed the National Debt, and paid attention to REALLY DOING SOMETHING about stopping illegal immigration? These are the ideas of Republican Presidential candidate, Dr. Ron Paul. He''s a ten term Congressman and a physician who has delivered over 4,000 babies. He''s an intellectual who''s published four books, three of which are devoted entirely to sound economics and one to foreign policy. He was raised on a dairy farm in Pennsylvania as a pious Lutheran, but now he attends a Baptist church. Paul is given to mulling things over morally. Whenever he recollects the helicopter pilots he treated as an Air Force Flight Surgeon (Captain) during the Vietnam War, a war which he now says was "totally unnecessary and illegal," he laments, "They were gung-ho. I''ve often thought about how many of those people never came back." Candidates with the high level of personal integrity and proven track record of adherance to The Constitution, Congressman Paul has always demonstrated only come around once in a lifetime, if we''re lucky.

[ajmarine1]

It''''s not about Bush, it''''s about what''''s the best course of action for the U.S. and the people of Iraq, Pakastan, and the U.S. that matters.

Posted by realpatriot1 at 08:13 PM : Nov 06, 2007


There you go again Real; making sense and thinking about the USA and not a political party,.....good post.

[realpatriot1]

fredgrad2000,

You''re equating apples and oranges when you compare how Iraq has been handled and how the United States should use its considerable influence toward what''s currently taking place in Pakastan.

It''s not about Bush, it''s about what''s the best course of action for the U.S. and the people of Iraq, Pakastan, and the U.S. that matters.

The invasion of Iraq was a monumental mistake because the timing was all wrong, there was no serious attempt to avoid war, and we went in without sufficient allied support and risk-sharing, and the reasons given were lies. The ends of removing Sadaam from power so that Iraqis could establish their own democracy is not justified by the means or the enduring occupation while we try to establish their democracy for them.

We can''t force Pakastan to do anything and no one has said that we can. We can remain neutral by cutting off the aid and we can stand up for democracy and the Pakastani people by insisting that the elections go forward. Anything less makes us hypocrites.

Obama was blasted by all the other candidates and posters from both left and right for speaking out about Musharif''s foot draggin on Al Quaeda. Now you blast him for supporting the Bhutto majority that will restore democracy and go after Al Quaeda.

It''s time to choose between supporting a dictator who allowed our enemies to take up residence or supporting the democratic alternative who never would have allowed them in in the first place.

[likeitis5050]

What our government has failed to understand is that not all countries are in the position to adopt a democratic government. Should Pakistan''s current dictator actually listen to Bush and step aside to let the people vote in their leader, they will, no doubt, elect a Muslim. Pakistan has nuclear weapons. What would a Muslim do with nuclear weapons, I wonder? Keep in mind these aren''t the peace-loving Muslims everyone is convinced exist in the world, yet seldom see standing up and denouncing the radicals...these are the ''kill anyone who is not a Muslim'' Muslims. Bush needs to stop trying to convert the world to democracy. In the case of Pakistan...suspension of the Constitution was the right thing to do just to keep the Muslims away from the weapons they crave to blow us up!!!

[homespunlady]

Posted by Jack3213 at 05:48 PM : Nov 06, 2007

See my previous post.

[homespunlady]

Hmm...Bet that''s EXACTLY what the "brown shirts" said in the late 30''s early 40''s in Germany and Mussolini''s backers said in Italy at the SAME time.
Unfortunately as King George found out in the 1770''s - REAL Americans are a rather questioning unruly bunch that "lack" that certain servile attitude you insist we need.

[kingreb09]

Please go to amazon.com and purchase the book entitled THE GAMe ,by Jerry Webber. Just type in the search box"THE GAME BY JERRY WEBBER" and purchase the book with that particular title. It is a must read book for the entire family and will make for an excellent Christmas gift and the proceeds will go to help a homeless. Thank you very much.

[jack3213]

It is important to learn to accept and respect what the person in the position of authority is doing, and not condemn or show disregard unless you have a better plan. Spewing insults and negativity is pointless, unless you can do something to change it directly. Making accusations and pointing the finger is childish. For you all who don''t see that venting your frustrations for things you don''t understand, it is high time you kept quiet..and I mean you Hillary and those who agree with you! We aren''t backing down and you will just have to know it. Get on with it or get out.