Bhutto fallout

Marbw — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 16:35:42 GMT

---BHUTTO RELATED STORIES---

QUOTE: I just recieved a call from David Axelrod, Obama's chief strategist, who told me that "in no way" was his comment about Hillary Clinton "meant to be an unprovoked, sort of strategic foray."

"It was an answer to the question -- in no way was I implying that she was personally responsible for what happened."

I asked whether Axelrod meant to imply that her vote was in part responsible for creating the conditions that led to an Al Qaeda resurgance.

"All I’m implying is [about] the policy that the war in Iraq that Obama said in 2002 was going to distract us from Afghanistan and Pakistan and Al Qaeda, and that they would regenerate themselves and that they would become more powerful and influential. He exercised good judgment. She’ll have to explain her position."

Axelrod acknowledged it was fair to say that he was pointing out that votes have consequences, and that the Iraq vote Clinton took in 2002 had specific consequences that may have helped lead to an emboldened Al Qaeda.

"Everyone who was there understands the context. There were 20 reporters there and only one who wrote that. I know that [Clinton spokesman] Phil [Singer] and [communications director] Howard Wolfson are ...trying to stoke the meager, flickering embers, but there's just no fire there."

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/12/axelrod_amplifies_his_remarks.php#comments
------------------------------------------------------REPORTER: But looking ahead, does the assassination put on the front burner foreign policy credentials in the closing days?

AXELROD: Well, it puts on the table foreign policy judgment, and that's a discussion we welcome. Barack Obama had the judgment to oppose the war in Iraq, and he warned at the time it would divert us from Afghanistan and Al Qaeda, and now we see the effect of that. Al Qaeda's resurgent, they're a powerful force now in Pakistan, they may have been involved — we've been here, so I don't know whether the news has been updated, but there's a suspicion they may have been involved in this. I think his judgment was good. Sen. Clinton made a different judgment, so let's have that discussion.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/
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Barack and Wolfie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDo-XOpoaFU
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Barack Obama on CNN
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2007/12/28/yellin.obama.interview.cnn
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Bhutto fallout

Marbw — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 16:36:36 GMT

US SENATE---look up S. Res. 372, on which Biden and Obama are original co-sponsors regarding the U.S. Senate's response to Pakistan.

-----------------------------------------------
BARACK OBAMA SPEECH August 1, 2007

Remarks of Senator Obama: The War We Need to WinIn a major national security address at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, U.S. Senator Barack Obama today said that the war in Iraq and our failed leadership in Washington have made us less safe than we were before 9/11. Obama said that the U.S. has been fighting on the wrong battlefield, and outlined his comprehensive strategy to fight terrorism worldwide...
Read more---http://www.barackobama.com/speeches/index.php

VIDEO-----http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1126056719/bctid1125863588

BHUTTO BASICALLY AGREEING WITH MOST OF BARACK OBAMA'S STATEMENT OF 8/7

QUESTIONER:
We had quite an interesting, and indeed still are, mini-debate here politically between two -- initially two of the Democratic aspirants for presidents, and it spread now across party lines. And Barack Obama kicked it off by saying, "If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won't act, we will." That's a direct quote from a recent speech of his. What is your reaction to that?

BHUTTO: Well, I wouldn't like the United States to violate Pakistan's sovereignty with unauthorized military operations. But the issue that I would like to stress is that Barack Obama also said, if Pakistan won't act. And that's the critical issue, that the government has to act. And the government has to act to protect Pakistan's own serenity and integrity, its own respect, and to understand that if it creates a vacuum, then others aren't going to just twiddle their thumbs while militants freely move across the border.
I think General Musharraf did the right thing recently in admitting that militants are using our soil, but he said the army has nothing to do with it. But nonetheless, the issue for me is that we cannot cede parts of Pakistani territory to anybody; not just the Taliban, to anybody. That in Pakistan we have one army, one police, one constitution, one government. We cannot allow parallel armies, parallel militias, parallel laws and parallel command structures. Today it's not just the intelligence services, who were previously called a state within a state. Today it's the militants who are becoming yet another little state within the state, and this is leading some people to say that Pakistan is on the slippery slope of being called a failed state. But this is a crisis for Pakistan, that unless we deal with the extremists and the terrorists, our entire state could founder.
-- Benazir Bhutto, August, 2007 ....

----------Bhutto disagrees with John Edwards--------
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfL6e1e4508&eurl=http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post_group/ObamaHQ/CgS7

MR. SIEGEL: I want you to comment on something that former Senator John Edwards said last night in the Democratic candidate debate in New Hampshire. The question was about Pakistan, democracy, and fighting against al Qaeda. And Senator Edwards said this –

JOHN EDWARDS: And one danger that anyone has to recognize with the possible taking down of Musharraf as the president of Pakistan – and I met with him also in Islamabad a few years ago – one of the things we have to recognize is if he goes out of power given the power of radical Islam in Pakistan, there is absolutely no way to know what kind of government will take its place.

MS. BHUTTO: I know that this is an argument that has been made by General Musharraf to frighten the international community into prolonging his dictatorship. I see things differently. I believe that the longer General Musharraf continues with the present political structure that he has put into place, the greater will be the threat from the Taliban and the extremists. Back in 2002, the Taliban had been defeated; they were dispersed; they were disorganized. And since then, they have regrouped and reorganized and rearmed themselves to the extent that they regularly carry out attacks on NATO troops, Afghan troops, in nearby Afghanistan. Secondly, within Pakistan itself, many of our cities have been ceded to the militants one by one.

MR. SIEGEL: But how then would a democratic government deal with the rising authority of Islamists in Pakistani cities, merely to contest with them at the polls and run against them, or are you speaking of some sort of crackdown on them?

MS. BHUTTO: Contesting the polls is only the beginning of the journey to undermine extremism, militancy, and terrorism. But most fundamental is to address the social and economic needs of the people of Pakistan. In a way, dictatorship neglects the basic needs of the people. And when their basic needs to clothing, to housing, to drinking water, to economic advancement is neglected, the poverty and the desperation is a fertile ground for the extremists to exploit.

http://www.npr.org/about/press/2007/060407.bhutto.html

Bhutto opposes J Edwards(AUDIO)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfL6e1e4508&eurl=http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post_group/ObamaHQ/CgS7

Bhutto fallout

Hillary C. — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 16:58:52 GMT

Bhutto and I used the same restroom, so elect me President!!

Bhutto fallout

Eno, NH — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 17:56:49 GMT

The only one who has articulated the important problem of Pakistan for months, even before the state of emergency, has been Biden.

Bhutto fallout

Clint, NH — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 21:30:42 GMT

Bill Clinton was saying in Iowa that if a major terror-related crisis happens before the General Elections, the Republicans will exploit it to make the Dem Nominee look weaker on foreign policy and security.

Yet another reason for Biden'08.