Biden and Richardson discuss Pakistan strategy

GOFFSTOWN, N.H. -- Democratic presidential candidates Bill Richardson and Joe Biden each spoke about the escalating situation in Pakistan, where the president there has declared a state of emergency.

Both were at a conference sponsored by the bi-partisan Center for Global Engagement at the Saint Anselm College Institute of Politics.

Both Richardson and Biden compared the situation in Pakistan to that of Iran in the late 1970s where the government eventually took American hostages. They said that to avoid that situation President Bush must reach out to moderate elements in Pakistan and encourage them not to support a more radical government, as is the threat if President Pervez Musharraf were to leave power.

For Biden the speech was billed as a major foriegn policy address and outlined short-term, near-term, and long-term goals.

Biden said he called Musharraf as well as opposition leader Benazir Bhutto. He said the felt Musharraf understood "the consequences for his country and for relations with the United States if he does not return Pakistan to the path of democracy."