Thursday, August 28, 2008

Why did Biden include India with Russia, weapons & terror?

I didn't watch Biden's speech. Or any for that matter. Not planning to watch McCain or any of the speeches there too. Am getting my updates from Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert :-)

But, a blog note at Reason caught my attention: that Biden talked about India as if it is a threat to America. The suspicious fellow that I am, well, I checked with the transcripts, and this is what Biden said:
And for the last seven years, the administration has failed to face the biggest forces shaping this century: the emergence of Russia, China and India as great powers; the spread of lethal weapons; the shortage of secure supplies of energy, food and water; the challenge of climate change; and the resurgence of fundamentalism in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the real central front in the war on terror.

I think Reason is right. Biden is cuckoo to equate India and China with Russia as a great power, and more so when the immediate follow up is "spread of lethal weapons." Come on, for a guy who is reputedly a foreign policy specialist, Biden ought to know that neither China nor India has threatened any country with any of the lethal weapons they possess. It is very easy for the audience anywhere to conclude, upon listening to Biden, that Russia, China, and India are our targets in the "war on terror" as much as Al Qaeda or Iran is. And it was not as if he was talking without notes--Biden read from a prepared speech. Well, all I know is the tired and stressed out call center operators in India are not the same as the suicide bombers of Al Qaeda!

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