The Candidates on Pakistan

In the October 22, 2012 debate moderator Bob Schieffer said – Pakistan has been giving safe haven to those killing Americans – is it time for us to divorce Pakistan. Romney said – no, it has 100s of nuclear weapons and is on its way to double that, it has a serious threat of terrorist groups within its nation, if it becomes a failed state the terrorists can get their hands on the weapons; Pakistan is technically an ally even though they’re not acting like it and I don’t blame the administration that the relationship is strained - we had to go into Pakistan to get Bin Laden but we have to help them move to a more responsible course than the one they’re on, we have to make it clear that the support we send to them is tied to them becoming a civil society. Schieffer then asked Romney what his position was on the use of drones. Romney said – he believed we should use any and all means to take out people who pose a threat to us, he supported the President’s increase in drone usage and went on to say that we need more than going after the bad guys; Romney repeated his need for a far more effective and comprehensive strategy for moving the world away from terror and Islamic extremists – we haven’t done that yet, look at the record for the last 4 years – he again described the conditions in the Middle East and that he’s convinced with strong leadership things would change.

President Obama said – keep in mind our strategy wasn’t just going after Bin Laden, we’ve created partnerships throughout the region - in Somalia, Yemen, Pakistan; we’ve also engaged these governments in the kinds of reform that will make a difference in people’s day to day lives - to make sure their government is not corrupt, they treat women with decency and they have a free market system that works; we’re engaging them in building capacity and standing on the right side of democracy; Americans should be proud that when Tunisians began to protest we stood by them earlier than most countries, in Egypt we stood on the side of democracy and in Libya we stood with the people; there is no doubt that attitudes toward Americans has changed but there’s always going to be elements within these countries that threaten the US, we want to shrink those groups and networks but we have to remain vigilant; Al Qaeda is weakened.

Romney had me softened when he spoke of Pakistan but then he went back to beating the dead horse. How many times of repeating the conditions in the Middle East and his view that the past 4 years have been a failure will it take to cremate this darn horse? I did find evidence that within a couple months of the initial Tunisian uprising the US was standing by the protesters; with the actions taken in Egypt and Libya – the President’s statements are true.