The Candidates on U.S.-Pakistan Policy

Instability in Pakistan has steadily escalated in the course of the U.S. presidential campaign. Given the country's geo-strategic importance to Washington, its deteriorating situation has served as a litmus test of sorts for candidates seeking to assert their foreign policy credentials and clarify their views on U.S. struggles against al-Qaeda. President Pervez Musharraf's temporary institution of martial law and the assassination in December 2007 of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto spurred U.S. candidates to revisit their positions on U.S.-Pakistan policy. Candidates of both parties have expressed worry about the tenuous state of Pakistani democracy at a time when the country is relied on as a bulwark against al-Qaeda. Some have espoused the realist posture of accepting a U.S. ally—Musharraf—who may not offer the best path to democracy.

The United States provides hundreds of millions of dollars a year to the Musharraf government in military aid, mostly aimed at counterterrorism efforts in the region. At the same time, U.S. policymakers remain ill at ease over volatility in the nuclear-armed country, the influence there of Islamic fundamentalists, and the country's precarious border with Afghanistan. Some U.S. presidential candidates have directly advised Pakistani politicians amid their own campaigning in the United States. The next U.S. president is expected to face an unpredictable scenario in Pakistan that could further inflame an already troubled U.S. relationship with the broader Middle East.

Democratic Candidates on U.S. Policy toward Pakistan

Joseph Biden, Jr. 
Sen. Biden (D-DE) has taken a particularly active role in engaging Pakistani leaders and raising awareness about the crisis in the country, which he has called "the most complex country we deal with." In an October 2007 Democratic debate, Biden warned that an unstable Pakistan would have far more dangerous implications for the United States than a nuclear Iran.

In November 2007, Biden said as president, he would increase humanitarian aid to Pakistan to $1.5 billion a year, triple what it is now (NPR). He advocates tying non-security aid to Pakistan to "progress in developing democratic institutions and meeting good-governance norms." Before Bhutto's assassination, Biden said he would reexamine "big-ticket weapons systems" in U.S. military aid to Pakistan, including F-16 jets and P-3 maritime surveillance aircraft, if Musharraf did not "restore his nation to the democratic path." Biden cosponsored a resolution condemning Musharraf's imposition of a state of emergency, and calling on Musharraf to relinquish his military post, which he later did.

Biden said in a November 2007 speech that increasing U.S. resources in Afghanistan "would embolden Pakistan's government to take a harder line on the Taliban and al-Qaeda."

Hillary Clinton 
Sen. Clinton (D-NY) criticized rival Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) in August 2007 for his pledge to pursue al-Qaeda in Pakistan. She called it "a very big mistake to telegraph that and to destabilize the Musharraf regime, which is fighting for its life against the Islamic extremists who are in bed with al-Qaeda and Taliban." Still, Clinton said in summer 2007 that if the United States gains "actionable intelligence that Osama bin Laden or other high-value targets were in Pakistan," she would "ensure that they were targeted and killed or captured" (ABC).