Obama in 2007 : "Look for Bin Laden in Pakistan"

Yeah, this is one of those "I told you so moments."

Remember back during the Democratic primary debates, when the media slammed then-candidate Obama for being "naive" in his approach to foreign policy and terrorism, particularly in regards to Pakistan.

I went back through the vaults and found Obama's statements on Pakistan and Bin Laden.


From the November 7, 2007 Barack Oblogger  post "Obama Right About Pakistan"

Commentary: Who needs friends like Musharraf?

By Ruben Navarrette Jr.
Special to CNN

SAN DIEGO, California (CNN) -- This week, like a lot of Americans, I have Pakistan on my mind -- again.

The last time was in August when that country made a cameo appearance in the 2008 presidential campaign. When Sen. Barack Obama suggested getting out of Iraq and moving "onto the right battlefield in Afghanistan and Pakistan," and then pledged, if elected president, to go into Pakistan if our military was in hot pursuit of "high-value terrorist targets" (read: Osama bin Laden), his opponents pounced.

Rudy Giuliani suggested that Obama should be more accommodating of Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf. Mitt Romney said that Obama was "confused as to who are our friends and who are our enemies." Sen. John McCain called Obama's remarks "kind of typical of his naivete." And Sen. Hillary Clinton said that Obama's foreign policy views were "irresponsible and frankly naive."

And another piece by Clarence Page about Obama and Pakistan written in August 2007:

Obama's international melodrama

Senator, though right, takes flak from all sides

Clarence Page

August 12, 2007

Leave it to Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) to stir up an international incident by acknowledging something everyone already knew.

Obama's bombshell: If the Obama administration knows Osama bin Laden is in Pakistan and President Pervez Musharraf doesn't act to take him out, President Obama will. Obama's rivals in the race for the White House pounced, calling his stance naive and a sign of his lack of foreign policy experience. They didn't disagree with the policy. They didn't like the way he said it.

It probably wasn't a surprise to those in the highest levels of government that Osama Bin Laden was in Pakistan, but it took President Obama to complete the job that others could not.