Two Democratic presidential candidates who stress their foreign policy expertise say the Bush Administration is mishandling Pakistan. Delaware Senator Joe Biden is chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee,
"It’s amazing the president spends so much time on Iran, but hardly any energy on Pakistan," Biden says. Biden faults President Bush for failing to pressure Pakistani President Pervez Musharrf to hold legitimate elections. "If you don’t, you’re going to drive 50 percent of the (Pakistani) population who are moderate underground," Biden says. Biden also says the U.S. should pressure Pakistan to build more public schools as an alternative to the schools which teach the radical Islam.
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, a former Ambassador to the United Nations, has started labeling the current president of Pakistan a dictator. Richardson says the U.S. needs to "re-evaluate" its relationship with Pakistan because they haven’t "gone after" terrorists. Pakistani President Musharraf, the general in charge of Pakistan’s Army, seized power in Pakistan during a coup in 1999. A few days ago a woman who used to lead Pakistan returned from exile. She survived an attack on her entourage, which authorities believe came from radical Islamists.