Obama seems to soften tone on Pakistan

[ProSense]

Obama seems to soften tone on Pakistan

Obama Talks of Pakistan As 'Constructive Ally,' Expresses Sympathy for Musharraf

SCOTT LINDLAW
AP News

Aug 08, 2007 17:00 EDT

Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama said Wednesday it's critical for Pakistan to be a constructive ally in fighting al-Qaida, one week after his hard-line pledge to hunt down terrorists in that country even without consulting President Pervez Musharraf.

Obama declined to criticize the Bush administration's policies on Pakistan, and expressed sympathy for Musharraf, who faces a growing militant backlash in his Muslim nation.

"President Musharraf has a very difficult job, and it is important that we are a constructive ally with them in dealing with al-Qaida," the Illinois senator said.

Obama did not repeat the most incendiary line from his foreign policy speech last Wednesday, when he promised: "If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won't act, we will."

That pledge set off ripples of resentment in the relationship between Washington and Islamabad, prompting Pakistani officials to warn against U.S. incursions into their country.

President Bush was vague on Monday when asked whether he would consult with Pakistan before chasing al-Qaida leaders into Pakistan. Last year, he offered a clearer answer, saying he could not send thousands of troops into Pakistan to search for Osama bin Laden without an invitation from the government. "Pakistan's a sovereign nation," Bush said then.

Asked Wednesday whether there was any difference now between his position and the Bush administration, Obama twice sidestepped the question, once saying he did not know Bush's stance and then saying he did not speak for the White House.

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[beastieboy]

1. How's your foot taste, Obama?

This guy is a train wreck.

[NYCGirl]

2. No "softening". It's basically the same thing:

From his earlier speech:

As President, I would make the hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. military aid to Pakistan conditional, and I would make our conditions clear: Pakistan must make substantial progress in closing down the training camps, evicting foreign fighters, and preventing the Taliban from using Pakistan as a staging area for attacks in Afghanistan.

I understand that President Musharraf has his own challenges. But let me make this clear. There are terrorists holed up in those mountains who murdered 3,000 Americans. They are plotting to strike again. It was a terrible mistake to fail to act when we had a chance to take out an al Qaeda leadership meeting in 2005. If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won't act, we will.

And Pakistan needs more than F-16s to combat extremism. As the Pakistani government increases investment in secular education to counter radical madrasas, my Administration will increase America's commitment. We must help Pakistan invest in the provinces along the Afghan border, so that the extremists' program of hate is met with one of hope. And we must not turn a blind eye to elections that are neither free nor fair -- our goal is not simply an ally in Pakistan, it is a democratic ally.

http://www.barackobama.com/2007/08/01/the_war_we_need_to_win.php

[killbotfactory]

3. So he's basically repeating the part of the speech people ignored.

[sandnsea]

5. The part the AP ignored

The same news agency who wrote the garbage in the OP.

[Connie_Corleone]

6. Exactly.

These "reporters" are so lazy.

[jsamuel]

9. in my view, he left out the line that was the problem

Which is a good thing. I'll be happy if he just doesn't say that again. He can say it with "cannot" but not with "won't" or "will not".

[sandnsea]

4. He said that last week too

Funny how the AP wrote a story that he said he was going to invade, when he never said that. And now they say he says Pakistan has to be a constructive ally, which he already said but they didn't report.

We have a worthless media and worthless Democrats who happily repeat media lies for political purposes. It's sick.

[TeamJordan23]

7. Article misses that Obama has said he would work with Pakistan -- before and after his speech

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/08/08/309402.aspx

[PurityOfEssence]

13. No, it's a bit more like "dictate terms to" than "work with"

He's saying that he'd tell them that aid is contingent upon doing what we feel is appropriate regarding Bin Laden and his ilk. That's a version of an ultimatum, which is a threat.

If Musharraf is dragging his heels, it's perfectly fair for us to leverage him in this way, but we can't expect him to do something that could topple his government. We don't know all the reasons that are in play in his mind and among his advisers, but sure, we can make demands and withhold aid if he doesn't toe the line. What's not okay is to call this nudging or coercion "working with" him. That's a mis-characterization.

These are the actual quotes:

"As President, I would make the hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. military aid to Pakistan conditional...Pakistan must make substantial progress in closing down the training camps, evicting foreign fighters, and preventing the Taliban from using Pakistan as a staging area for attacks in Afghanistan. I understand that President Musharraf has his own challenges. But let me make this clear. There are terrorists holed up in those mountains who murdered 3,000 Americans. They are plotting to strike again. It was a terrible mistake to fail to act when we had a chance to take out an Al Qaeda leadership meeting in 2005. If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won't act, we will."

COMPARE THAT WITH THIS:

"Chris, respectfully, and you and I are close friends, but you obviously didn't read my speech because what I said was that we had to refocus, get out of Iraq; make certain we are helping Pakistan deal with the problem of Al Qaeda in the hills between Afghanistan and Pakistan but Chris, if we have actionable intelligence on Al Qaeda operatives, including bin Laden and President Musharraf cannot act, then we should."

There are a few interesting points here, but look at these:

Suddenly, he was never talking about "Pakistan", but "the hills between Afghanistan and Pakistan". First off, there's no such place; it's either Afghanistan or Pakistan. Secondly, he's LITERALLY CHANGING WHAT HE SAID so people will be misled into thinking he never said "Pakistan" proper.

What's worse is he's characterizing "Pakistan must make substantial progress" as "helping Pakistan deal with the problem". The former is a demand with the stated consequences of withholding aid, yet he's characterizing it as if he was going to sit down as semi-equals and lend a hand in a presumably friendly way. A threat is not the same as help, and if Obama's going to play fast and loose with reality like this, I'm not the only one who's going to bring it up.

One last bit--and this is significant too--is the substitution of "cannot" for "won't". In the original statement, he says this would be in an instance where Musharraf "won't act" (which means "chooses not to act") whereas in his rewriting of history, he says that he'd said this would be in a situation where Musharraf "cannot act" (which means that he's unable to). That subtle change makes it sound like we'd be helping Musharraf if his hands are tied by domestic influences. The original statement intimates hostile unwillingness or duplicity from Musharraf, whereas the sanitized version of history makes it sound like even more of a last resort and one where Musharraf is unable to act. Mr. Obama is a lawyer and he's very used to the extreme differences of the uses of these two different verbs.

This is an issue of character and judgment, and he's blundered on both. That doesn't make him unfit for the job just yet, but if it continues, it does for me. I have a BIG problem with distortion of the truth, and I'm not alone. Even if people are soft on deception, they probably don't want someone who's going to get so easily caught.

He needs to get his act together, and he needs to stop telling us what he's said unless it's actually what he said. The internet is here, and a president is always on the record; that means that someone auditioning for the part has to accept that reality too.

[TwilightGardener]

8. No matter what he says, the Bush/Clinton machines, and now our "allies" on the world stage,

will mischaracterize it. He's probably the most credible political threat to the status quo that we're likely to see in this election, and it shows. I've decided today that Hillary is in bed with BFEE and I will refuse to vote for her under any circumstances.

[Exultant Democracy]

10. So tell me if I'm nuts but it seemed like Binden's aside about facts was in support of Obama

I didn't want to post a whole new thread for this maybe I should, but it sure sounded that way to me when you put it all together. Does Biden hope to have a place as VP on a potential Obama ticket?

[TwilightGardener]

11. He genuinely seems to dislike Obama. He's cozying up to Hillary.

[Exultant Democracy]

12. looks like this is a rorschach

cause I saw something totally different then you. The first step in sanity is recognizing that no one else sees the world just like you.

[ShortnFiery]

14. On the level, do we really know where Biden stands on this issue?

Well, other than fully supporting for the Banking/Credit Card Industry? :shrug:

Joe Biden is admittedly a very smart fellow. It's a tragedy that he's constantly tripping over his ego ... and as a consequence ends up with his foot in his mouth. :wow: :(

[sampsonblk]

15. Seems a little late

I know the people here who like the game of politics are going to be disappointed. But this may seal Obama's fate if he can't turn it around quickly. Today, there are signs that his previous statements may lead to a state of emergency in Pakistan. Not good.

If so, that will make it nearly impossible for his supporters to claim what he said was no different than what anyone else said. That spin is definitely NOT working.