What I’d Be Talking About if I Were Still Running - Joe Biden (NY Times)

[gateley]

(I'll be posting each of the others, too)

Afghanistan. Pakistan. Forgotten.

THE next president will have to rally America and the world to “fight them over there unless we want to fight them over here.” The “over there” is not, as President Bush has claimed, Iraq, but rather the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

That is where those who attacked us on 9/11 came from, where the attacks in Europe since originated and where Al Qaeda is regrouping. It is the real central front in the war on terrorism.

Afghanistan is slipping toward failure. The Taliban is back, violence is up, drug production is booming and the Afghans are losing faith in their government. All the legs of our strategy — security, counternarcotics efforts, reconstruction and governance — have gone wobbly.

If we should have had a surge anywhere, it is Afghanistan. And instead of eradicating poppy crops, which forces many farmers to turn to the Taliban, we should go after drug kingpins.

We also need to make good on President Bush’s pledge for a Marshall Plan for Afghanistan. In six years, we have spent on Afghanistan’s reconstruction only what we spend every three weeks on military operations in Iraq.

Afghanistan’s fate is directly tied to Pakistan’s future and America’s security. When President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan concluded that we were not serious about finishing the job in Afghanistan, he began to cut deals with extremists in his own country.

As a result, the border area remains a freeway of fundamentalism: the Taliban and Al Qaeda find sanctuary in Pakistan, while Pakistani suicide bombers wreak havoc in Afghanistan.

The recent Pakistani elections gave the moderate majority its voice back and gives the United States an opportunity to move from a Musharraf policy to a Pakistan policy. To demonstrate to its people that we care about their needs, not just our own, we must triple assistance for schools, roads and clinics, sustain it for a decade, and demand accountability for the military aid we provide.

If Afghanistan fails or Pakistan falls to fundamentalism, America will suffer a terrible setback. The candidates should tell Americans how they will handle what may be the next president’s most difficult challenge.

Joe Biden is a Democratic senator from Delaware.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/02/opinion/02biden.html

[zabet]

1. K and R for Joe!

:woohoo:

[gateley]

2. Yep - I think Afghanistan and Pakistan

will be a part of our dialogue for quite some time to come. We need to pay attentions.

I've also posted the pieces from Richardson, Dennis and Dodd, if you're interested. JE wasn't included - they may have done this when he was still in the running.

[Tashca]

3. Thank you

Thank you for posting this. I will follow Joe as he continues hs career. He just dives right into the issues and keeps pushing for results. I trust his judgment on this issue more than anyones.
Again thanks for posting!!!
:hi:

[femrap]

4. How he voted for the IRAQ Invasion?

Yes, JOE BIDEN VOTED TO INVADE IRAQ!!!!! Let's throw some of that hate his way. What do you say? He should have voted to invade someplace else, I guess. Like Pakistan? I think BO said he would invade Pakistan.

Cool. We need more war.:sarcasm:

[frogcycle]

6. why don't you go play in the traffic?

[femrap]

9. And you? How would you

like to die? You unifying BO fans are such hypocrites. Naive and willfully ignorant as well.

[frogcycle]

14. BWAHAHAHAHA

me a BO fan? :rofl:

If your post was supposed to be some sort of slap at BO fans for criticizing HRC rather than a slap at Joe Biden, you sure as hell missed on making that point. I am a Biden fan, no love for either of the remaining candidates, and appreciated the post of Joe's comments. Your little shit-disturbance pissed me off, and I told you so. Clear?

[femrap]

17. Do I have to repeat your words? Memory problems?

Ya know...I got an idea for you...little surgical procedure removes a couple of ribs and voila, you living the life of a dog. We'd never have to hear another word out of dim witted mouth. Clear?

Now go get busy.

[Winterblues]

12. It is the new American/Bush* Doctrine of "Pre-emptive attacks"

Some of our candidates actually embrace this Doctrine..and then have the gall to say they represent Change..

[frogcycle]

5. Thanks Gateley

I just hope that whichever one wins the pissing contest listens to Joe.

[WheelWalker]

7. Joe's Right. Still. k&r

[DCKit]

8. Why not buy the opium directly from the farmers?

Then encourage them (no, not with torture) to begin growing less damaging crops?

Last I heard, heroin can be bought in those border countries which used to be part of the Soviet Union for about $0.25 a dose. At those prices we could fund the farmers directly, remove the drugs from the international market and slash the Taliban and Al Qaeda's major source of funding without firing a shot.

Just sayin'.

[BreweryYardRat]

22. That's actually a really brilliant idea.

Which, of course, means it'll never be used.

[susankh4]

10. Afghanistan?

I heard there was someone in charge of overseeing hearings on that.

But he's been too busy campiagning ever since he took the position... so nothing is getting done about it.

[karynnj]

13. Yeah - his name is Kerry and he has been doing the excellent job he always does

He is in charge and any campaigning he gets in is on the side. Additionally, Biden has had some full committee hearings - because it is that important.

You must be listening to that source of misinformation - HRC. She should be asked whether she would have called hearing if she headed the SFRC sub- committee on Europe - and if so why she thought it would add to Senators Biden's and Kerry's work. Who has responsibility here has been well defined - and Kerry heads the correct committee.

As to nothing getting done - 2 Full committee hearings and one NE and South Asia subcommittee hearing sine January have occurred. I also guess you think that Biden, Kerry and Hagel were just on a fun vacation seeing the sights of beautiful North-eastern Afghanistan when they had an emergency helicopter landing in rugged mountains. HRC should be ashamed of herself. (Note to HRC - I would feel more secure with any of those three answering the phone at 3 am than her, though I would vote for her over Hagel for other reasons.)

[frogcycle]

15. Roger that.

hell, I'd even consider voting for Hagel over her

[susankh4]

16. Interesting

That's not what he said at the debate. He said 'It's true, we haven't met."

[karynnj]

19. I think Obama's answer in the debate was not all that good

I think the question blindsided him. I suspect that he had expected that she might throw out that he had no oversight hearings in his committee - and he had prepared an answer, which he gave. The twist was that HRC included the part about oversight on Afghanistan, which opens the suggestion that something important that should be done is not being done.

In today's NYT, the Obama people address this again - pointing out that HRC did not attend the two recent hearings on Afghanistan in her committee. I suspect that they don't want to say that his answer should have included the mention of where the SFRC has held hearings - because it knocks his debate performance on that question. It would be extremely easy for them to do this - maybe by sending Kerry out and to explain when any question is asked on national security and Obama or even if he was asked about his helicopter experience- that he knew HRC knew that he and Biden have held hearings this year.

It might be that where lots of us here think it more important to say there were hearings, a decision was made not to explain that he didn't respond to the Afghanistan part of the question.

[susankh4]

20. It's probably not really a good sign

that he can be so easily "blindsided."

Because we are only at the beginning as far as debates go. The ones with the GOP won't be as easy.... no copycat answers will be acceptable.

Look... I like Mr. Obama. I'd love to vote for him as Pres some day. But, he's just not ready. And this is an excellent example of why.

[karynnj]

21. Every one will do this at some point - mistaking a detailed question for a simpler one that you

expected. HRC was actually worse on that driver's license question because she should have known it would be asked. She also was awful on the question of donor's to Bill Clinton's foundation.

Given the number of debates and times they are asked questions, even the best debater, most authoritative person will have a moment where he just doesn't listen close enough. What I do wonder about is why they didn't immediately counter this - my guess is that it would draw more attention and in the analysis afterwards, the rest of his answer was considered good.

[PatSeg]

11. Thanks for posting this

Its nice to hear a sane, intelligent voice these days. I miss Joe.

[frogcycle]

18. .

[KG]

23. he still doesn't get it. another promoter of global US militarism.

america will be more secure when the US stops trying to throw its military weight around where it isn't welcome, specifically, and especially, the muslim world.