Biden Criticizes Bush on Pakistan

November 8, 2007 | Tom Vogel

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.”