Democrats Issue Warning On Pakistan
(AP) Two Democratic presidential candidates with extensive foreign policy experience warned Thursday that the current unrest in Pakistan is reminiscent of events that led up to the Iranian hostage crisis of 1979-81.
Joe Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Bill Richardson, a former U.N. ambassador during the Clinton administration, said the U.S. is in danger of repeating the mistakes that led to one of the nation’s worst international debacles of the last half century.
Biden and Richardson, speaking separately at a forum organized by Saint Anselm College’s Institute of Politics and The Center for U.S. Global Engagement, called for new aid policies to restore democracy and prevent a failed state.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf declared emergency rule last Saturday and granted sweeping powers to authorities to crush political dissent. Both Democrats said U.S. support for Musharraf is similar to the support offered to the unelected leader of Iran, Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, before he was overthrown.
“Pakistan has strong democratic traditions and a large moderate majority,” Biden said. “But the moderate majority must have a voice in the system and an outlet with elections. If not, moderates may find that they have no choice but to find common cause with extremists, just as the Shah’s opponents did in Iran three decades ago.
“But unlike Iran, Pakistan already is a nuclear state.”
Richardson said he would considering cutting off aid to nations, such as Pakistan, that flout good governance. He noted the United States has given Pakistan $10 billion since 2001, mainly to benefit the military.
READ MORE: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/08/politics/main3475141.shtml
