The Candidates on U.S.-Pakistan Policy

Dennis Kucinich 
Kucinich blames U.S. meddling in Pakistani affairs for the unrest there, and he urged the United States to "stop adding fuel to the fire" in the region after Bhutto's death. He said the U.S. government should work to "convene a meeting at the highest levels to begin a new effort towards stabilization and peace" in the region.

Kucinich cosponsored the Pakistani Temporary Protected Status Act of 2005, which would have given temporary protected status to Pakistani immigrants after a major earthquake there. That measure was not voted on.

In July 2006, Kucinich expressed concern that the U.S.-India nuclear deal could spark an arms race between India and Pakistan.

Barack Obama 
Pakistan first achieved notoriety in the presidential campaign in summer 2007 when Obama said he believed the United States should hunt al-Qaeda forces in Pakistan. "If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf will not act, we will," he said at the time. During his 2004 Senate campaign, Obama also said he would consider military action in Pakistan to destroy nuclear weapons there should Musharraf be overthrown in a coup d'état.

In November 2007, Obama cosponsored a resolution condemning Musharraf's imposition of a state of emergency, and calling for an investigation into a prior assassination attempt on Bhutto.

Bill Richardson 
Among presidential candidates, Richardson has taken one of the toughest lines toward Pakistan's government. He says Musharraf should step down and allow the formation of a "broad-based coalition government, consisting of all the democratic parties." Until that occurs, Richardson says, the United States should withhold all military aid to Pakistan. Richardson said in an October 2007 speech that the United States should "redeploy additional combat brigades to Afghanistan" to encourage Pakistan and NATO efforts in the fight against al-Qaeda and the Taliban. In a December 2007 speech, Richardson said the United States should send two brigades to "reinforce our presence along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border."

Republican Candidates on U.S. Policy toward Pakistan