’08 Candidates Speak Out on Pakistan, Prepare for Iowa

JUDY WOODRUFF:

The candidates were pushing hard today with just six days left to woo Iowa voters ahead of their caucuses. Yesterday's assassination of Pakistan's former prime minister Benazir Bhutto continued to be an issue on the trail.

In Williamsburg, Iowa, today, Senator Barack Obama reiterated that he is best equipped to change the way Washington addresses past foreign policy wrongs.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), Presidential Candidate: So, we have got to reverse policy, but we have got to see this in the bigger context, which is that our invasion of Iraq resulted us taking our eye — resulted in us taking our eye off the ball. We should have been focused in Afghanistan, and finishing off al-Qaida. They're the ones that killed 3,000 Americans.

And we have been so distracted with a war of choice, instead of the war of necessity that we should have fought there, that al-Qaida is now stronger than at any time since 2001. And it's fanned anti-American sentiment all throughout the region, and made us much more vulnerable to attack in the long term.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

Obama advisers note, Senator Hillary Clinton voted to authorize that war.

Clinton herself touted her international credentials, saying she was up to the unpredictable challenges of the presidency.

SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D-NY), Presidential Candidate: There is no guarantee, and it is time to pick a president, to pick a president who is prepared to deal with everything that we know awaits. And, on January 20, 2009, our next president will be sworn in. And waiting on that desk in the Oval Office will be a war to end and a war to resolve in Afghanistan.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

Meanwhile, former Senator John Edwards aimed his criticism at the Bush administration.

JOHN EDWARDS (D), Presidential Candidate: We have made a mistake, in my judgment, with the aid that we have given in the past, because a great deal of it has gone simply to prop up Musharraf, which is not what we should be doing.

There is a great deal more that we could be doing to help educate Pakistani children, to deal with health issues, a whole number of things that would change the way that — or have a significant influence on the way the Pakistani people view America.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

Delaware Senator Joe Biden, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said today: "We need a new policy. We don't have a Pakistani policy. We have a Musharraf policy."

He was referring to Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf. And New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, who yesterday called for Musharraf to step down, said the Bush administration should stop all military aid to Pakistan until he does.

GOV. BILL RICHARDSON (D-NM), Presidential Candidate: Today, as a nation, I am calling on the administration to stand firm for our ideals in the face of terrorism and in respect for the ideals that Benazir Bhutto stood for.

Anything less would send a dangerous signal to the world that terrorism alters our resolve. We must learn that, when our policies and our actions conflict with the democratic goals of a people, that we fail.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

As for the Republicans, former Senator Fred Thompson warned against calling for Musharraf to step down — quote — "I hope that we as candidates out here don't start lobbing these ideas that get plenty of attention, but are not very sound. We need to be deliberate in our approach to it, because we have several interests involved there."

Meanwhile, Senator John McCain said he backed Musharraf, and urged that the elections go forward as planned.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), Presidential Candidate: I hope that we will make the transition to a free and fair election. But I would like to give President Musharraf some credit for taking the measures that we have asked him to do.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who has been seen as having fewer foreign policy credentials, also tried to broaden the focus.

MITT ROMNEY (R), Presidential Candidate: There is a new challenge of a national security nature, global violent jihad. I think our Democratic foes have spoken only about Iraq. They say, let's get our troops home. We'll get out of Iraq.

It suggests a lack of understanding of the global nature of this radical jihadist movement, and the need for us not to just respond to crises — and this is certainly one that we need to respond to — but also to have in place a comprehensive strategy to help move Islam towards modernity and support moderate nations within the Islamic world.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

For his part, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee tried to bring the focus back home.

MIKE HUCKABEE (R), Presidential Candidate: I think the next president ought to sit at his desk every single day and say, what will I do today that will affect the children in Pella, Iowa, or Dermott, Arkansas? What will we do to make this world safer?

And, believe me, today, in light of what happened yesterday in Pakistan, we all understand how dangerous a world we live in, how uncertain every single day is. But let's also be mindful that, while the assassination of a presidential candidate in Pakistan does in fact touch us, and it reminds us of the instability of that part of the world, we don't have to look that far to see instability in our own world, whether it's a shopping mall in Omaha just a few weeks ago.

This is a dangerous and a violent place sometimes.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

Whether the new developments in Pakistan influence voters in Iowa remains to be seen.