Senators John Kerry and Joe Biden (Sen. Chuck Hagel's a no-show), meeting with reporters in the Capitol this afternoon to talk about their recently concluded trip to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, said the war in Iraq is hurting efforts elsewhere.

"Afghanistan is the forgotten war. Pakistan is the neglected frontier," Sen. Biden said.
He said that Afghanistan's fate is tied to Pakistan's future and that extremists flow between the two countries on what has become a "superhighway."

Biden called for an end to the war in Iraq, saying that the United States has spent in Pakistan in six years what it has spent in three weeks of military operations in Iraq.

"There will need to be a rational transition to parliamentary power," he said, emphasizing that the party should not focus on the grudges of the past. He said that he believes the best way to secure support of the Pakistani and Afghan people is to pour economic assistance into the governments.

"Ours is a long-term relationship," he said.

-- Harrison Keely, intern, The Washington Times