Photo Credits: Associated PressIn the aftermath of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, Hillary Clinton has responded both personally and presidentially.
On Thursday, Clinton reflected with warmth on her long-time acquaintance with Bhutto:
Today the world once again is reminded of the dangers facing those who pursue democracy and free elections, in Pakistan and elsewhere in areas that are rife with conflict and violence and extremism and anti-democratic forces at work," Clinton said at the start of a campaign event here in western Iowa. "I have known Benazir Bhutto for a dozen years and I knew her as a leader. I knew her as someone willing to take risks.
On the campaign trail a day later, Clinton called for a “full, independent, international, investigation” of Bhutto’s sudden and violent death. Noting that the Pakistani government under President Musharraf has no credibility, Clinton added, "They have disbanded an independent judiciary. They have oppressed a free press."
In today’s NY Times, Patrick Healey compares the responses of the several candidates to Bhutto’s death. Healey begins by noting:
For the presidential candidates, the assassination of Benazir Bhutto has emerged as a ghoulish sort of test: a chance to project leadership and competence — or not — on a fast-moving and nuanced foreign policy issue.
Several paragraphs down, Healey highlights Obama’s initial response that soon morphed into an opportunistic attack on Hillary Clinton:
Senator Barack Obama of Illinois tried to sound like both a leader and a candidate on Pakistan on Friday. At one point, he said he would suspend some military aid to Pakistan if the government did not hold free elections and clamp down on terrorist groups. At another point, though, he suggested that the war in Iraq — which his rivals Mrs. Clinton, John Edwards and others had voted for — had “resulted in us taking our eye off the ball” in pursuing Al Qaeda and bringing stability to the region.
Obama’s obvious inexperience in foreign affairs does not excuse his reprehensible attack on Hillary Clinton as she grieves the loss of someone she’d known as a peer.
Even as she grieved, however, it bears repeating that Clinton responded presidentially in calling for an international investigation of Bhutto’s death.
On Thursday, Clinton reflected with warmth on her long-time acquaintance with Bhutto:
Today the world once again is reminded of the dangers facing those who pursue democracy and free elections, in Pakistan and elsewhere in areas that are rife with conflict and violence and extremism and anti-democratic forces at work," Clinton said at the start of a campaign event here in western Iowa. "I have known Benazir Bhutto for a dozen years and I knew her as a leader. I knew her as someone willing to take risks.
On the campaign trail a day later, Clinton called for a “full, independent, international, investigation” of Bhutto’s sudden and violent death. Noting that the Pakistani government under President Musharraf has no credibility, Clinton added, "They have disbanded an independent judiciary. They have oppressed a free press."
In today’s NY Times, Patrick Healey compares the responses of the several candidates to Bhutto’s death. Healey begins by noting:
For the presidential candidates, the assassination of Benazir Bhutto has emerged as a ghoulish sort of test: a chance to project leadership and competence — or not — on a fast-moving and nuanced foreign policy issue.
Several paragraphs down, Healey highlights Obama’s initial response that soon morphed into an opportunistic attack on Hillary Clinton:
Senator Barack Obama of Illinois tried to sound like both a leader and a candidate on Pakistan on Friday. At one point, he said he would suspend some military aid to Pakistan if the government did not hold free elections and clamp down on terrorist groups. At another point, though, he suggested that the war in Iraq — which his rivals Mrs. Clinton, John Edwards and others had voted for — had “resulted in us taking our eye off the ball” in pursuing Al Qaeda and bringing stability to the region.
Obama’s obvious inexperience in foreign affairs does not excuse his reprehensible attack on Hillary Clinton as she grieves the loss of someone she’d known as a peer.
Even as she grieved, however, it bears repeating that Clinton responded presidentially in calling for an international investigation of Bhutto’s death.
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