If Obama is to blame for Musharraf pulling out of the peace council. . .

[wndycty]

. . .is it fair to say that Musharraf believes Obama is going to win? Think about it. If the DICTATOR of country is going to pull out of peace council because of something a CANDIDATE for president said 400 days before the election he must either believe that candidate is going to win OR that sooner or later the current or future president will follow Obama's lead.

Its fun to make shit up to attack a candidate, isn't it?

[xchrom]

1. makes sense to me --

kinda like musharraf is our bestest friend in the whole wide world in our fight against terorists.

well, next to those cute saudis -- i just adore the way they treat us.

[PurityOfEssence]

4. Look at a map. How else do you get into or supply Afghanistan?

Iran's not much of an option, is it? There are only tiny slivers of India and China that border a distant finger of territory.

That leaves Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Things are hardly "stable" or "friendly" with them, and anything that goes through that way has to come a long-ass way through (or over) Russia at great expense and trouble.

Musharraf's in deep yogurt in his own country. If we stir up a ruckus, we're liable to have a fundy regime take over and get their mitts on those nukes.

The posturing puffery of his initial statement and the swaggering crap from some of his supporters are laughable if one's ribs aren't clenched with the sensible reaction of fear.

This is idiotic. It's not all his fault, but he REALLY stuck his foot in all of our mouths with this one, and to not admit that is either blindness or tiresome, selfish partisanship.

[xchrom]

6. fuckin FORGET obama -- when has musharraf

dealt with the u.s. like the partner he claimed to be -- re: the interests of militants hiding out in waziristan?

and let me tell you a sad but brutal reality here --
it is the responsibility of the state to ensure that kind of chaos doesn't break out -- that means in pakistans case -- it really is in musharraf's interest to come down so hard on waziristan that they shake for generations.

now i am a peaceful man -- and barak is not my choice of candidates.

but when it comes to dealing with waziristan and musharraf -- hmmmph -- obama told it right.

[jmp]

9. "Look at a map. How else do you get into or supply Afghanistan?"

Exactly. Some on here are too busy spinning the politics to consider the possible repercussions of alienating Pakistan. The only practical way to Afghanistan is through Pakistan ... and fighting your way through a population of 165,000,000 would make Iraq look like a picnic.

[Progressive Friend]

10. We should get out of Afghanistan and let the SCO stabilize it

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), is a security organization made up of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. They are also very concerned about keeping extremists (like the Taliban) out of power in Afghanistan, because of their geographical proximity to that country. We should leave Afghanistan (and take the extremely unpopular Karzai with us), and allow someone more popular to take over (like Abdul Dostum) and lead the country with SCO support.

[ripple]

11. The Taliban and al Qaeda are well on their way to getting ahold

of Pakistan's nukes now. Obama said nothing that a Bush administration official didn't state the previous week. Who do you think Musharraf takes more seriously, the people currently in power or one lone candidate seeking power?

You're right- Musharraf is in a hell of a bind. He has tacitly allowed the Taliban and al Qaeda to strengthen in Pakistan while he and the Bush administration looked the other way. Now, his approval rating is lower than even Bush's, his government is close to collapse, the anti-American sentiment in Pakistan is enormous, and he actually needs the militants to keep the peace in parts of the country.

All of that is no excuse for allowing someone who claims to be our ally to enable the very enemies we are fighting. If Musharraf will not cooperate with us, we have no choice but to act in our own nation's best interest.

The thing that really pisses me off is that it is six years of failed foreign policy that created this problem and Bush seems to get a free pass (even here at DU!), while Obama's desire to actually do something about the problem is spun to look like the cause of it. Pretty sickening.

[wndycty]

12. Those seeking to blame Barack for this are just damned foolish. . .

. . .if anything Barack is being scapegoated and unfortunately many Democrats are too happy to cover for the administration on this.

[returnable]

14. Pssst! "Fundies" have already gotten their mitts on Pakistan's nukes...

...or have you forgot about A.Q. Khan, the "hero of Pakistan" that our dear ally Musharraf pardoned?

[Enrique]

2. maybe his opponents are making a big deal about it

the Pakistani people maybe don't have a lot of nuance about our politics, they just see Obama as a big time American politician who threatened to invade.

[zulchzulu]

3. Obama must be seen as a powerful leader!

Since Musharraf has been double-dealing with us and Al Qaeda, it's good to know the dictator knows we mean business. And if it's because of Obama that Musharraf dropped out (as was predicted months ago), then we really have a powerful leader.

[stillcool]

5. Is there a pay to say spokesperson...

actually implying this shit? I mean...the election is over a year away.

[emilyg]

7. I don't give Obama that much credit.

[provis99]

8. I'd like to see Obama go a step further

and explain what he'd do with Saudi Arabia. Because THAT country is the source of the terrorist manpower and funding. I'm fed up with chickenshit politicians playing ball with Saudi Arabia just because they're shipping oil to us. Buy the oil from Venezuela or Canada instead and start shitting all over those Saudis who constantly humiliate us.

[Ethelk2044]

13. Obama is right on this issue. Biden was on MSNBC yesterday

stating if a President did not act knowing they could get Osama, they would be in violation of the law.