The Candidates Weigh In on Pakistan..... Some Stupidly.

With the sudden shift to foreign policy as an up front topic in the presidential primary, all of the candidates took a shot at telling how they would handle the issue. It's a tough thing to do, when we don't know who killed PM Bhutto. Most of them stayed very general, while still trying to give themselves a leg up on their rivals. A couple tried to go a little past that, and they may have proved themselves not ready to lead......

For all his experience, I was expecting a lot more from Bill Richardson. To immediately call for Prime Minister Musharraf to step down without any real proof of his culpability is a kneejerk move. The man was our UN Ambassador for Pete's sake !! He could have really helped his cause by pointing to his true knowledge and experience, but instead he tried to stick out. He has done that, but for the wrong reason....

Then we have Ron Paul. Like a textbook Libertarian, which is what he is, he took out the manual on foreign policy, and of course it says "Be neutral, don't get involved in other countries." Paul immediately called for ending all funding to pakistan, and to pull out from the Middle East entirely. While I'm not a great fan of nation building, to cut off Pakistan is not in the best interest of the US.

Yes, Benazir Bhutto was the best friend of the US of all the candidates. She would have taken on the islamic extremists and pushed for a separation of religion and government - a very dangerous position in the region. For it, she has been killed. Musharraf may not be the best option, but she is gone, and he is in power. He's weaker than Bhutto, but he is trying to perform an impossible high-wire act to lead and satisfy all parties involved to keep his job. Time will likely unseat him sooner than later, but he is all we have now. To cut him off is insane. Without supporting him, the extremists will terrorize all of Pakistan, and decentralize power to a group of rogue sub-states.

With only a week to go in Iowa, the candidates are in a hurry to look good, and this was a good chance - especially with 15 networks sticking a microphone asking for your opinion. Like most stunning news developments, time needs to be taken to assess it correctly. Most of the candidates followed this wisely - some didn't.....

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