If Pakistan Captures Bin Laden Now, Can Obama Take Credit? (Cenk Uygur, Huff Post)

[NYCGirl]

Fascinating thoughts from AAR's Cenk Ugar:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cenk-uygur/if-pakistan-captures-bin-_b_59725.html

Musharraf claims that Obama's statements about taking possible unilateral action against Al Qaeda inside Pakistan has created so much instability that he has to declare a state of emergency. That's total rubbish. Musharraf's motivations have nothing to do with Obama, it's just a convenient excuse.

But he is feeling the heat from America for the first time in a long time about the fact that he has done next to nothing about capturing Osama bin Laden.

-snipped-

Now, all of a sudden the heat is on. And it's partly because of Barack Obama's rhetoric. If Musharraf winds up capturing or killing bin Laden now, whether Senator Obama's tough talk helped to bring that about would be a fair question.

The situation in Pakistan is very complicated. Over all, I agree with Sen. Obama. We should put a lot more pressure on Musharraf. If he's going to take our money and pretend to be an ally, he's got to show us some results. We certainly don't want to bluster and blunder ourselves into a military situation in Pakistan. But Obama has been very careful in saying he would talk to Musharraf before he took any action in Pakistan and would exhaust all diplomatic options. He's no George Bush.

MUCH MORE AT LINK

[jumpoffdaplanet]

1. seems fair that he gets the credit

:)

[NYCGirl]

3. Absolutely. NT

[dugggy]

2. This is one issue on which I am 100% behind Obama

although my votes go to HRC all the way.

[zulchzulu]

4. Only if Obama serves chunks of Bin Laden's head on a Domino's Pizza to the Senate

Yeah...

As for Musharraf, he's a nice guy...likes us, likes Al Qaeda... likes our money we give him...likes theirs... Neato! Coolio! Totally faberiffic!!!

I mean..here's a description on him:
"He is a natural sportsman, who loves to spend most of his leisure time playing Squash, Badminton or Golf. He also takes keen interest in water sports and has been an enthusiastic canoeist. Being an avid reader, he is well versed in Military History, his favorite subject."

What's not to like?

http://www.storyofpakistan.com/person.asp?perid=P029&Pg=3

[NYCGirl]

5. LOL! And I'll bet he likes long walks on the beach and hates bad people.

:hi:

[AtomicKitten]

6. yipee kaya mo-fos

there's a new sheriff in town

[NYCGirl]

7. Now there's someone who looks GREAT in a cowboy hat! NT

[Adelante]

8. Ooooooooohhhh

:evilgrin:

[elizm]

13. Or THIS one!!!

[AtomicKitten]

16. nice!

[beastieboy]

9. Dove, hawk, dove, hawk, dove, hawk. Which is it Obama?

Lego my Eggo....

[NYCGirl]

10. Well, he's no Kucinich...

:eyes:

[draft_mario_cuomo]

12. He wants to add 100,000 soldiers to the military...

And in his book he has said the Pentagon "might" need a short-term budget increase. Couple this with him publicly mulling missile strikes against Iran in 2004 (the Holy Joe position), his voting record on Iraq (identical to Hillary Clinton's) and you can reach your own conclusion. He definitely is not what he is advertised as on military/foreign affairs.

[beachmom]

15. The military is broken. Kerry called for 40K new soldiers in the

armed forces in 2004, something which now almost everyone agrees would have been a good idea, but of course, now it's too late. This is a Democratic stance. Obama NEVER said he was a dove. What did he say in October 2002? "I am not against all wars. I'm just against DUMB wars."

[draft_mario_cuomo]

11. Possibly. We would need to know the details of what led to that

If it happens a year from now it is unlikely Obama played a role. However, if it happens relatively soon, and it turns out that BO's speech helped push Musharraf to go after Al-Qaeda more strongly then Obama would deserve some credit for moving the ball forward (which is the most likely scenario if it happens relatively soon. If so, BO would have eliminated the "Dems are soft on terror" memo in a single stroke). I realize if it happens soon Team Obama would like to give all the credit to Obama but we would need to know the details. Pakistan has suffered a spate of terrorism lately so just because the government cracks down on terrorism does not automatically mean it is because of Obama. The world does not revolve around Obama.

[elizm]

14. Kick...

I'm lovin' it!!:toast: