On Gaffes...

The United States has made a number of what I consider foreign policy mistakes in the past, and many of them were based around acts of rashness. The Bay of Pigs and other misguided CIA-funded coup attempts; supporting Shah of Iran; Vietnam; Iraq; the Smoot-Hawley Tariff (it counts in my book).

But few if any of these mistakes were caused by a President standing up and saying something that went against the grain of the political establishment. The big ones occur when information doesn't flow and ideas are not challenged.

So when someone tells me that my candidate gaffed on foreign policy, I wince. Most recently, both Bill Richardson and Barack Obama have been accused of destabilizing Pakistan by openly discussing policy options there. But we need open, challenging thinking now more than ever before. Cowardice and ambiguity will only lead us towards the same mistakes we've made in the past.

Read the excellent speech on Pakistan Richardson gave on Friday. Look up what he's said about Bhutto in the past, in almost every single debate. If you disagree, write exactly what you disagree with, in policy terms. Send it to either Wyndam or me, and we'll post it.

But don't expect us to listen if you try to tell us that Richardson is naïve. I'm quite sure you are far more so.

--Alex